• International Peace Institute

     

    The UN Security Council Chamber Reopens With a Touch of Class

    by  • April 29, 2013 • Secretary-General, Security Council • 

    UN Security Council Chamber reopening

    The Norwegians have always influenced the direction of the United Nations either subtly or directly, starting with the world body’s first secretary-general, Trygve Lie, hailing from Norway. Now, with the reopening of the Security Council Chamber after being closed for three years, the country is once again leaving its mark. It not only paid for [...]

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    Guatemala’s Role on the Security Council, as Viewed by Its Ambassador

    by  • March 5, 2013 • ICC, Security Council, UN Diplomats • 3 Comments

    Gert Rosenthal, Guatemala's ambassador to the UN

    Gert Rosenthal does not sound like a Spanish name, but the mother of Rosenthal, the Guatemalan ambassador to the United Nations, was born there and his father was German. To complicate matters, “a little accident happened,” he said, as his parents, Florence and Ludwig, left Germany in the 1930s, and Rosenthal was born in Amsterdam. [...]

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    Ban Ki-moon’s New Team Earning Positive Reviews

    by  • August 8, 2012 • GOINGS-ON, Secretary-General • 4 Comments

    Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, new head of public information at the UN

    When leaders of the world start descending on the United Nations in September for the opening of a new General Assembly session, there will two new internationally well-known figures in prominent positions at the top of the organization. In July, Jan Eliasson of Sweden became the UN’s deputy secretary-general, and in mid-August, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal of [...]

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    Leaving Liberia, a ‘Fragile State’

    by  • March 19, 2012 • Africa • 5 Comments

    ellen loej

    Top United Nations officials generally wait until they leave their jobs before they speak candidly about the conditions they faced and the problems that remain. So Ellen Margrethe Loj, who has ended her four years as UN special envoy in Liberia, did not mince words in New York about Liberia’s painful recovery and challenging elections, [...]

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    At the UN Nuclear Watchdog, It’s Not Just About Iran

    by  • February 25, 2012 • Climate and Environment, Development • 2 Comments

    IAEA and FAO

    United Nations international atomic inspectors confirmed that Iran is moving apace on producing nuclear fuel at an underground site, but that is not what Kwaku Aning, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency, wanted to talk about on a visit to New York. Nor did his colleague, Geoffrey Shaw, an Australian who represents the [...]

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    Where Will the News Be in 2012?

    by  • January 18, 2012 • Africa, Middle East • 2 Comments

    Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in Africa, is to hold a presidential election to replace the recently deceased Malam Bacai Sanhá. Here, a former Colonial-era building on an island near the coast. JOE PENNEY

    Even before unforeseen events like natural disasters or outbreaks of new conflicts occur this year, as they always do, 2012 will be full of important political news, with elections not only in the United States but also around the world, some in countries that are crucial to the stability of their regions. The International Peace [...]

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