Helmut Volger
Helmut Volger has written and edited several books about the UN, including A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations, of which the second revised edition was published by Brill Academic Publishers in 2010. He is also a co-founder of the German UN Research Network (www.forschungskreis-vereinte-nationen.de).
BERLIN — When Christoph Heusgen was appointed Germany’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York City in 2017, there were critical comments by foreign policy experts and journalists in our country. They voiced doubts about whether Heusgen, who had …
- Categories: OPINIONS, Security Council
- Helmut Volger
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Everyone familiar with the United Nations knows that its relationship with its key member, the United States, has been and still is subject to far-reaching changes. The periods when the US administration and the Congress make use of the competencies …
- Categories: BOOKS, US-UN Relations
BERLIN — At the start of Germany’s sixth two-year term in the United Nations Security Council, the media attention in Germany is unusually high: numerous journalists on TV and radio are asking diplomats, politicians and foreign policy experts about their …
- Categories: OPINIONS, Peace and Security, Security Council
- Helmut Volger
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To provide readers who want information about the United Nations that is intelligent and concise yet comprehensive is a challenging task for every author: he or she must outline a puzzling system of principal organs, specialized agencies, programs, funds, commissions …
- Categories: BOOKS, UN Agencies
BERLIN — It is a widely held view in political circles here that Germany has not been adequately represented in the United Nations, apart from its relatively frequent elected membership to the Security Council, which Germany has held five times …
- Categories: OPINIONS, UN Agencies
BERLIN — Since 1946, the United Nations Depository Library Program — consisting now of more than 360 depository libraries in more than 130 countries — has provided scholars, journalists, politicians, diplomats and the broader public with access to what is …
- Categories: General Assembly, OPINIONS
BERLIN — From the beginning, the member states of the United Nations understood the great significance of efficient communication: in resolution 13(I) of Feb. 13, 1946, the General Assembly established the Department of Public Information in the Secretariat and emphasized: …
- Categories: OPINIONS
- Helmut Volger
- •
For many people in the world, the United Nations is often associated with peacekeeping, one of the most visible activities of the world body in its efforts to maintain international peace and security. Peacekeeping was created in the late 1940s …
- Categories: BOOKS
- Helmut Volger
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Founded in 1946 with noble goals, namely “to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture,” the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has in fact achieved considerable progress, above …
- Categories: BOOKS
BERLIN — If you take a close look at the public schedule of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it becomes evident that he travels a lot to member states, even more than his charismatic and most active predecessor Kofi Annan. …
- Categories: OPINIONS
- Helmut Volger
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The United Nations is now discussing in a broad consultation process the sustainable development goals: a new universal set of ambitions for economic and social development, made up of targets and indicators that all countries are expected to use to …
BERLIN — The history of the United Nations Environment Program is illustrative in two respects: it reflects the changing importance of environmental issues within the UN system and it demonstrates that dedicated people in a UN organization can master the …
- Categories: OPINIONS
- Helmut Volger
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The Security Council is the most important political body of the United Nations. If you conÂsider the council uncommunicative and dominated by the great powers, and if you search for ways to improve its democratic qualities without amending the UN …
- Categories: BOOKS
Working most of the time, far away from the attention of the world public, an international organization was recently in the limelight: the World Trade Organization. After lengthy negotiations on liberalization measures in world trade, which started in 2001 and …
- Categories: OPINIONS
- Helmut Volger
- •
BERLIN — The fight against hunger became a primary goal of the United Nations system early on. In 1943, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt convened an international conference that reached agreement on the founding of the Food and …
- Categories: Humanitarian Aid, UN Agencies
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