United Nations Archives - Page 13 of 30

Missing an Anti-Racism Moment

by John Feffer, Stephen Zunes | Apr 22, 2009

In boycotting the United Nations conference on racism, the Obama administration demonstrated that just because an African American can be elected president doesn’t mean the United States will be any more committed than the Bush administration in fighting global racism. Rejecting calls by liberal Democratic members of Congress, leading human rights groups, Pope Benedict XVI, and most of the international community to participate, the Obama administration instead gave into pressure by Congressional hawks and other anti-UN forces by joining a handful of other nations refusing to participate in the historic gathering.

U-20: Will the Global Economy Resurface?

by Walden Bello, John Feffer | Mar 30, 2009

The Group of 20 (G20) is making a big show of getting together to come to grips with the global economic crisis. But here’s the problem with the upcoming summit in London on April 2: It’s all show. What the show masks is a very deep worry and fear among the global elite that it really doesn’t know the direction in which the world economy is heading and the measures needed to stabilize it.

Strategic Dialogue: Responsibility to Protect

by Steve Fake, John Feffer, Kevin Funk, Trevor Keck, Bridget Moix, Shaun Randol | Mar 23, 2009

As part of our Empire Strategic Focus, Foreign Policy In Focus asked several experts to weigh in on whether Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is an important step forward for the international system or a step backward to great power intervention, and how should the Obama administration approach this doctrine. Shaun Randol strongly embraced the new principle, Trevor Keck and Bridget Moix emphasized the preventative aspects of R2P, and Kevin Fake and Steven Funk offered a skeptical appraisal. In this dialogue, they take the conversation one step further.

Turkey: Uniter or Divider

by John Feffer | May 30, 2008

Turkey wants to rotate onto the Security Council after a nearly 50-year absence. The Turkish leadership has claimed that the country can serve as a bridge across a growing gap between the West and the Islamic world. Although it has made great strides over the last decade to strengthen its credentials as a mediator, Turkey still faces divisive problems with its minority populations at home and its neighbors abroad. Nevertheless, Security Council membership may prompt Turkey to live up to its declared standards and move to resolve outstanding issues with Greece, Armenia and ethnic and religious minorities domestically.

Global Cooperation: The Candidates Speak

by Howard Salter, Emily Schwartz Greco | Mar 26, 2008

When George W. Bush first campaigned for the presidency, his foreign policy plans hinged on building a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and reducing U.S. involvement in small-scale military engagements in general, and “nation building” in particular. When he took office 2001, he inherited a nation at peace, with a record budget surplus.

Barack Obama on Diplomacy

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes | Jan 17, 2008

The rise in popular support for Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy reflects the growing skepticism among Democratic and independent voters regarding both the Bush administration’s and the Democratic Party establishment’s foreign policies. Indeed, on issues ranging from Iraq to nuclear weapons to global warming to foreign aid, as well as his general preference for diplomacy over militarism, Obama has also staked out positions considerably more progressive than the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

The Future of Peacekeeping

by Jean-Marc Coicaud, John Feffer | Dec 28, 2007

Peace operations continue to be one of the most visible areas of activity of the United Nations, one which the international organization can have a critical impact. Consider, for instance, that peacekeeping operations are growing. In October 2004, the surge in peacekeeping activity raised the number of peacekeepers to 54,200. The number of civilian police also increased to 5,900 and the civilian staff to 11,600. By the fall of 2005, the 18 operations around the world employed 83,000 troops, police, and civilian personnel – a more-or-less fivefold increase in the field personnel since 2000. By the fall of 2006, the deployment number had reached an all-time high of 93,000 men and women.
At the same time, peacekeeping operations are becoming more complex and comprehensive. In particular, with many of their tasks increasingly focusing on peacebuilding in post-conflict transitions, peace operations are now linked to longer-term development approaches, which call for integrated programs both within and outside the UN system. The UN Peacebuilding Commission was created to meet these new needs by strategically coordinating the actions of the different actors involved in peacekeeping.

Interview with Edwidge Danticat

by John Feffer, E. Ethelbert Miller | Oct 16, 2007

FPIF’s E. Ethelbert Miller talks with Edwidge Danticat about her new memoir, U.S. immigration law, and U.S.-Haitian relations.

Annotate This: The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

by John Feffer, Yifat Susskind | Oct 5, 2007

Last month, after 30 years of advocacy by Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations finally passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This Declaration is more than a hard-won victory for Indigenous rights. It embodies a progressive global approach to issues that confront us all, including the environmental crisis that is poised to spiral into ecological collapse if we do not slow global warming.

Hope in Darfur

by John Feffer, Stephen Heidt | Aug 3, 2007

On July 31, the UN Security Council (UNSC) passed resolution 1769 authorizing the creation of a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force to be deployed to the Darfur region of Sudan. This resolution has been hailed as a historic landmark on the way to fulfilling the “responsibility to protect” established in humanitarian law. Supporters of the resolution believe that this peacekeeping force will end the ongoing genocide, which has left 7,000 civilians dead each month.