US Foreign Relations

Bolivia’s Priority in the UN Security Council: Why Conflicts Begin

Pass Blue - 2018-10-01 - Original post - Cached copy

Evo Morales, left, the president of Bolivia, with Sacha Llorenty Soliz, the country’s envoy to the United Nations, waiting with others for the Security Council meeting on nonproliferation to start. President Trump, leading the debate, arrived late, Sept. 26, 2018. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
Welcome back to our monthly column, Security Council Presidency, providing insight into the United Nations Security Council member sitting in the rotating seat of the presidency every month and featuring a capsule of the country itself.

Europe and Others Help Fund the UN Palestinian Agency, Filling US Void

Pass Blue - 2018-09-27 - Original post - Cached copy

Pierre Krahenbuhl, who runs the UN agency for Palestine refugees, left, and President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine. The agency, called Unrwa, said it raised $118 million in a fund-raising lunch at the UN on Sept. 27, 2018, leaving a $68 million gap for the year, after the Trump administration ended its $300 million annual contribution.

In a First, Trump Chairs the UN Security Council, but Nothing Happened

Pass Blue - 2018-09-26 - Original post - Cached copy

 
Donald Trump led his first-ever UN Security Council debate, on nonproliferation, on Sept. 26, 2018. In a surprisingly subdued but stern meeting attended by many heads of state representing the Council’s members, they spoke on a range of issues, from the use of chemical weapons to the Iran nuclear deal. Out of the blue, Trump warned China not to interfere with US midterm elections and to stay out of future US voting. KACIE CANDELA

At the UN, Trump Declares: America Embraces ‘Patriotism’

Pass Blue - 2018-09-26 - Original post - Cached copy

President Trump entering the UN General Assembly hall before addressing the annual debate, Sept. 25, 2018. In his second speech to the UN Assembly as president, Trump was even more adamant than last year about emphasizing America’s “sovereignty,” claiming this year that the country “will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control and domination.” RICK BAJORNAS/UN PHOTO

The UN Shudders as ‘Trump Week’ Closes In

Pass Blue - 2018-09-20 - Original post - Cached copy

Donald Trump, president of the United States, prepares for the first time to address the General Assembly’s annual general debate, Sept. 19, 2017. He is scheduled to speak at the UN this year, starting with a brief meeting on the global drug problem on Sept. 24. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
A year after his bombastic debut at the United Nations as president of the United States, Donald Trump returns on Monday, Sept. 24, to lead a US effort to spur global action to stem the narcotics and opioid plagues. Could the US be asking the UN for help this time?

Ambassador Haley’s Delusions of Grandeur

Pass Blue - 2018-09-13 - Original post - Cached copy

President Trump, Ambassador Nikki Haley and H.R. McMaster, who was the US national security adviser at the time, Oct. 20, 2017. Haley said she had direct access to the president, but she never revealed what she talked to him about, the author notes.
There’s a rumor going around that Donald Trump is a master diplomat, a whiz at foreign affairs whose America First policies have taken the world by storm and won widespread admiration for his leadership skills.

The US vs. Unrwa: Who Really Loses?

Pass Blue - 2018-09-07 - Original post - Cached copy

For the first time, students from the West Bank met students from Gaza through an Unrwa summer program. Here, they say farewell after a camping activity, July 20, 2017. The US decision to end funding to the UN agency that administers to Palestinian refugees will damage everyone in the region, including Israel, the author argues. FADI THABET/UNRWAY 
It is entirely the United States’ prerogative to cut off its voluntary contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or Unrwa.

Subscribe to US Foreign Relations