Kofi Annan’s greatest achievement as UN secretary general was his deft steering of the UN General Assembly to accept the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine at the 2005 World Summit.
Ban Ki Moon and R2P
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United Nations
60-Second Expert: The U.S. and the UN Disability Treaty
In December 2006, 139 states signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It was the first human rights treaty of the 21st century and also the first of its kind geared towards protecting the rights of people with disabilities. The United States was and remains conspicuously absent from among the signatories, despite being a leader in domestic disability law and policy.
Ratify the UN Disability Treaty
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, or the Convention) is the first human rights treaty of the 21st century. The CRPD is also the first legally binding international instrument with the power specifically to protect the rights of the world’s largest minority, some 650 million persons with disabilities.
Overhauling Global Finance
The global financial crisis has discredited the financial institutions that played a part in causing it. Discussions of radical alternatives are beginning to flourish, with the world’s governments rushing to consult experts who previously found themselves out in the cold.
The UN Racism Conference: Halls of Shame and Fame
Now that the recent UN conference on racism is over, it’s time to look at what really happened behind the bluster. Some countries that engaged in serious and constructive negotiation came out with their reputations enhanced. Those that postured at the expense of racism’s victims, however, emerged looking foolish or worse.
Missing an Anti-Racism Moment
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?
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
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
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
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.