Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Sergio Vieira de Mello, November 1997. Sergio, as he was known, was a high-ranking troubleshooter for the UN when he died with 21 colleagues in the 2003 attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad. A biopic of him has just been released. MILTON GRANT/UN PHOTO
The UN General Assembly Hall, packed with delegates from across the world’s nations. The diplomats all need to eat, but where, they may ask, in New York City? BASIL D. SONFI/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
New Yorkers know full well to avoid East Midtown Manhattan around mid-September. During those few weeks, when the United Nations General Assembly opens its annual session, multiple street blocks go into a major security gridlock in this part of town.
Andrew Bremberg, Trump’s nominee as ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. The vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his candidacy has been delayed as a leading Democrat has demanded more details on a separate matter: the White House’s new migration agreements. GAGE SKIDMORE/CREATIVE COMMONS
One of several common spaces in the new Norwegian consulate and mission to the United Nations in New York, located in a high-rise building on the 35th floor, near the UN. The wood-slatted ceiling evokes a rustic Norwegian cottage, a favored destination for people back home. LAURA GUERRERO
Vice President Pence suddenly showed up at the UN on April 10, 2019, to demand that the Security Council strip the current Venezuelan ambassador’s UN credentials. That has not happened. The US mission to the UN lacks a permanent representative amid an outflow of a range of personnel. Some UN diplomats say, “There is no one left.” MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
Hasmik Egian, center, director of the Security Council Affairs Division of the UN, receiving requests from diplomats who want to speak at the emergency Council session on Venezuela, Jan. 26, 2019. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
Jockeying for a two-year seat on the United Nations Security Council starts early — way early. Three countries are already vying for the two open seats in the regional group known as Weog — Western Europe and Others — for the 2021-22 term. The election is June 2020, and the “others” are Australia, Canada, Israel and New Zealand.
Phil McAuliffe, an Australian midcareer diplomat who has created a website, the Lonely Diplomat, for fellow professionals to “genuinely reconnect with ourselves, with those around us and with the communities in which we live,” he said.
“We diplomats have a strange life,” says Phil McAuliffe. “It’s hard for others to truly understand.”
After serving in posts around the world, he ought to know. Now this veteran of the diplomatic life has decided to go public.
Meet diplomacy’s new spokesperson, champion and interpreter, a k a the Lonely Diplomat.
