United Nations
Aid and development links: Nile dams, refugees as investment, teaching salaries, and more
The Davos summit is taking place this week. At the Center for Global Development, Michael Clemens and Kate Gough argue that human mobility and migration solutions should be a…
An emerging role for the UN in the North Korean crisis
Last month, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman visited North Korean officials to promote a political solution to heightened tensions over…
Does the nuclear weapon ban treaty warrant the Nobel Prize?
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for:
Its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian…
Trump breathes fire but the UN is safe
Thirteen post-war US presidents have addressed the UN General Assembly, from Truman to Obama, from Kennedy to Reagan, but Tuesday's address from Donald Trump will surely enter the…
How the UN Security Council failed Syria
The UN Security Council has unequivocally failed the Syrian people: over 400,000 of whom have been killed, over 5 million of whom are refugees, and around 6.3 million of whom…
The Interpreter's best of 2016: The UN secretary-general race
Around every five years the world takes a crash course in UN politics when the top job threatens to change hands. With Ban Ki-moon's second term finishing on 31 December 2016, and…
Rudd as Secretary-General: UN should have decided, not Turnbull
Kevin Rudd's bid to nominate as a candidate for the next UN secretary general (SG) has been vetoed by the Turnbull Government. This is more than a little embarrassing for…
UN Security Council bid: How Australia should sell itself
It's leaders' week at the UN. The 70th Session of the General Assembly is open for business under the Presidency of Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark. General-Secretary Ban Ki-Moon is…
Australia makes another tilt at the UN Security Council
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has just announced that Australia will bid for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2029-30.
That's 15 years from the end of our last Security…
Australia's prime ministerial shuffle is hurting its diplomacy
When the rest of the world dealt with Australia in the past, it was familiar figures that emerged from the VIP planes and who stretched out their experienced hands. For over a…