The news of India’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council was reported with a sense of elation by the national media. Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna referred to it as a “chance to prove worth” for the big throne indicating India’s claim for permanent membership of the Security Council. The South […]
Last week the United Nations held a summit on the Millennium Development Goals. This is a set of venerable aims laid out in 2000 and intended to be accomplished by 2015. They include things like improving gender equality and ending extreme poverty. While some people indeed treat them as something to strive for, the goals […]
Last week I attended the annual meeting of the UN Development Program (UNDP)’s Civil Society Advisory Committee. The significance of this committee for UN accountability merits attention. The UN – and most donor countries, for that matter – spends a good deal of time preaching the importance of civil society. As the line goes, civil […]
Two significant topics are causing buzz in maternal and infant health circles: (1) on Monday, the Lancet published an article that shows significant decline in the number of maternal deaths, from 526,300 deaths in 1980 to 342,900 deaths in 2008, representing a 35% decline; and (2) today, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has announced a joint action plan […]
Though it has yet to be confirmed, it appears Swedish diplomat Staffan di Mistura will replace Kai Eide as the top UN official in Afghanistan. Mistura has recently worked for the UN’s World Food Programme and as an official in Iraq. He served as director of fundraising and external relations for the U.N.’s office in […]
The Foreign Minister of Bangladeshi, Dr. Dipu Moni declared that member states attending the UN Climate Change Conference soon to be held in Copenhagen must give grants–not loans–to countries that are victims of the consequences of global climate and environmental change. Addressing the Climate Vulnerable Forum in the Maldives, Begum Moni said “River erosion, land slide, […]
For most of its existence, the UN hasn’t dealt with oil, gas or mining much. It has gotten involved on mostly small scale, small bore development projects, and, of course, the disastrous oil-for-food program in Iraq. Natural resource development is considered an internal matter, and one involving the private sector — a part of the […]
President Hugo Chávez gave an interview to CNN’s Larry King shortly after his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last week. It provides some further perspective into the Venezuelan President’s take on the world, and perhaps shows a more human side that is not always covered by international media. Chávez talked about his personal […]
Countries within the Southern Hemisphere are on the move. This past weekend member states of UNASUR and the African Union met on Margarita Island, Venezuela, in order to strengthen ties between their countries and continents. One of the ideas proposed by President Hugo Chávez, as well as Moammar Gadhafi, of Libya, is an alliance among […]
A synopsis of U.S. Economic Foreign Policy issues on the agenda as global leaders gather for the 64th U.N. General Assembly; and kudos to Foreign Policy & the Global Economy from the NYT’s ‘The Caucus’ blog.
With a meeting of global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week, one wonders what Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will say. During his speech in 2006 he referred to US President George W. Bush as the devil. This time around, will he critique Barack Obama in the same way? In late March, after […]
The debate over Israeli and Palestinian conduct during the 2008-2009 Gaza War continues, this time with the release of the UN Human Rights Council report on the issue. Commonly referred to as the Goldstone Report after the head of the special commission, South African jurist Richard Goldstone, the 575 page report found that both sides […]
– The New York Times has a great article on the post-Aquino Philippines, which discusses the disillusionment many Filipinos feel with the state of their society. The conclusion is that although the political structure of the nation changed the underlying political culture did not, which resulted in the lackluster political and economic performance that has […]
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice, outlined the administration’s purpose and goal in the speech that was delivered later in the day at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, and has been termed by the Administration a ‘New Era of Engagement’ with the world.
Is Aung San Suu Kyi’s star power waning after nearly two decades of political and social isolation under house arrest? What affect is this having on the countries democracy movement? These questions are explored in a recent New York Times article. There is no way to tell how representative this person is, but… “I […]