It is hard to imagine that there is not a single adult in Trump’s orbit to tell him that withdrawing from the many UN agencies that provide critical humanitarian services undermine rather than advance the US’ national interest and global standing Alon Ben-Meir · Trump's Assault on the UN is Self-Defeating There is no other…
Hamas’ savage October 2023 attack and Israel’s horrific war of retaliation have reignited the call for a two-state solution. I applaud the joint French-Saudi UN initiative in support of a two-state solution in the hope that it will awaken the international community and end this most destructive and most protracted conflict since World War II…
The UN, which was established to foster global peace and stability, has now become a paralyzed institution that inadvertently contributes to raging conflicts because it is constrained by an archaic structure that no longer meets the dramatically changed world order The United Nations, established in 1945 at the end of World War II, has sadly…
This article was originally published at Devex The upcoming United Nations General Assembly’s annual gathering comes at a time of extremely heightened international tension. For this reason, it must focus on three critical issues affecting every nation: climate change, human rights violations, and the pervasiveness of violence worldwide As the UN prepares for its annual…
US financial support of various UN organizations is critical not only for the fulfillment of their humanitarian causes but also to serve America’s best national interests. Such support bolsters its global leadership role and influence, enabling it to walk on high moral ground During Donald Trump’s presidency, the United States withdrew from several international organizations….
One of the main impediments to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the complete lack of trust between the two sides. What makes the conflict even more intractable is that neither side believes that their distrust can be mitigated given the history of the conflict, their contrasting objectives, and the day-to-day experiences reinforced by the constant…
The stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and the lack of prospects for their resumption anytime soon has persuaded the Palestinian Authority (PA) to chart its own course by applying to the United Nations General Assembly (U.N.G.A.) as a non-voting member state. However uncertain the prospect of such a move may be from the PA’s perspective, there…
The latest UN resolution sponsored by Western powers (the United States, England and France) designed to increase the pressure on Assad and force him to step down was once again rejected by Russia and China, making it abundantly clear that all diplomatic efforts have come to a dead end. If Russia, the main proponent of…
After fifteen months of relentless slaughter, the developments in Syria, with shockingly inordinate amounts of slain women and children, have demonstrated the international community’s ineptitude and contemptible moral bankruptcy in the face of horrific carnage. The failure to stop the crisis stems from the international community’s unwillingness to take stern measures to end the killing while it continues to take cover under the Annan plan and mouths countless verbal condemnations of the Assad regime, knowing full well that they will not succeed. Those that can change the course of events in Syria, including the US, EU, Turkey and the Arab League, have shamefully demonstrated the most startling shortsightedness coupled with wishful thinking in the face of insurmountable odds.
With the suspension of the observer mission in Syria, Mr. Annan has conjured yet another “ingenious” reformation of his beleaguered plan by calling for the creation of a “Syria Contact Group” that perplexingly includes Iran and Russia, who have and continue to provide President Assad with the means by which he slaughters his own people. While Mr. Annan is genuinely trying to end the killings by diplomatic means, his desire to preserve his reputation as an international mediator continues to stand in the way. Annan’s new plan (like the previous ones) will soon prove futile. Meanwhile, thousands of more innocent Syrians will die due to the West’s inability to garner the moral courage to decisively act.