• Peace and Security

     

    The UN Approves a New Peacekeeping Force to Fix Mali

    by  • April 25, 2013 • Africa, Peace and Security, Security Council • 

    Displaced Malians

    The United Nations Security Council has authorized a new, ambitious stabilization mission to be deployed in Mali, consisting of nearly 13,000 military and police personnel who will begin operating on July 1 with a mandate of one year to provide security to “key population centers.” The mission, called Minusma (for Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in [...]

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    When Intervention by Foreign Powers Is Justified

    by  • April 24, 2013 • Human Rights, Peace and Security, Security Council, Women's Issues • 1 Comment

    David Phillips

    One of the most complicated dynamics in international relations is whether foreign powers should intervene when a government is creating a humanitarian crisis among its own people. David L. Phillips, a former a senior adviser to the United States Department of State and to the United Nations, has repeatedly dealt with this problem, and in [...]

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    Try a More Balanced Approach to Iran, Report Advises

    by  • April 18, 2013 • Asia, Peace and Security • 

    Isfahan market in Iran

    WASHINGTON — If the term “track two” sounds like an announcement at Grand Central Terminal in New York, it has an altogether different meaning farther east at United Nations headquarters. Diplomats there suspect they’re hearing “track two” talks; that is, informal talks aimed at resolving problems, although the talks neither involve them nor any other official [...]

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    More Bark Than Bite in North Korea

    by  • April 17, 2013 • Asia, Disarmament, Peace and Security, Security Council • 

    Kim Jong-un

    Theodore Roosevelt’s approach to foreign policy was to “speak softly, and carry a big stick.” Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, has confused the two. North Korea’s rhetoric is nothing new — in fact, it’s become de rigueur for Pyongyang to threaten war whenever it wants an increase in its foreign aid allowance, much [...]

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    Western Sahara: A Chance for Change or to Stay Stuck in Time

    by  • April 10, 2013 • Africa, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Refugees, Security Council • 

    MINURSO Monitors Ceasefire in Western Sahara

    The saga of Western Sahara, a disputed territory that has been stuck in limbo in North Africa for decades, will receive its annual nod this month by the United Nations Security Council, but this time actual changes may be afoot if the council acts more decisively, particularly on human-rights matters. Christopher Ross, the UN secretary-general’s [...]

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    A New UN Brigade Will Make Combat Moves in Congo

    by  • April 11, 2013 • Africa, Peace and Security, Security Council • 

    Nyanzale refugee camp children

      For the first time, the United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution allowing UN troops to go on the offensive in a mission against armed rebels. The combat intervention brigade will operate as part of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco). The [...]

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    Australian Academics Want Women’s Voices Heard at the Security Council

    by  • April 2, 2013 • Peace and Security, Security Council, Women's Issues • 

    Woman laying out leather

    A new network of women academics from Australia and New Zealand is keeping a close eye on Australia’s new two-year term as an elected member of the United Nations Security Council. The academics have organized a collective to track how well the UN’s most powerful body and Australia itself adhere to the landmark Women, Peace [...]

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    The UN Adopts an Arms Treaty “With Teeth”

    by  • April 3, 2013 • Disarmament, General Assembly, Peace and Security, US-UN Relations, Women's Issues • 

    Peter Woolcott, Australia ambassador to the UN

    The momentous adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty at the United Nations has been greeted with much enthusiasm worldwide but also strong skepticism as the reality of carrying out its aim — regulating international transfers of conventional arms — sets in. “Effectiveness will be slow as it comes into force,” Peter Woolcott, the permanent representative [...]

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    Life for Women and Girls in Afghanistan Grows Deadlier

    by  • March 20, 2013 • Asia, Peace and Security, Security Council, Women's Issues • 4 Comments

    Afghan woman in a burqa, Kabul.

    With the deadline for the departure of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan just a year away, civilian casualties in the country remain alarmingly high, says a new report from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama). Although the report said the number of casualties had decreased for the first time in six years, [...]

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