As the name suggests, the United Nations (UN) should represent the union of all nations around the globe. However, it is far from the truth. We are all living in a disparate world in which every country is speaking its own language. There is no cohesion even when the problems, in general lines, are the…
The mission of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security. As we enter into a new decade in the midst of a global pandemic, this mission should be held with even higher regard than it has in the past. The UN We Want for the World We Deserve should comprise of states…
An Open Letter to Friends of the United Nations The only head of state so far committed to physically addressing the opening of the new UN General Assembly session is US President Trump. As the rules for COVID-19 allow only one of the six seats of each country’s delegation in the General Assembly Hall to…
This is the year of the UN’s 75th anniversary (“UN75”), basically 75 years since the end of World War II. It has been a turbulent 75 years. No new world war but a serious Cold War and many regional confrontations costing the lives of millions. When the UN was created in 1945 it had only…
While the fight to cope with the lethal effects of COVID-19 on people and the economy is continuing around the world, another kind of fight is also raging, for geo-political predominance between the world’s foremost powers. In this fight of the titans, the ‘little guys’ are paying the price, be it the individuals that suffer…
US President Trump has just surpassed himself in the disrespect that he shows to international institutions, and the truth. His disdain for any kind of broadly-accepted rules that would constrain his freedom of action is clearer than ever, as is his unhinged behaviour and his use of all possible means to keep his popularity and…
The corona virus pandemic has sickened nearly 2 million people, killed over 100,000 and wrought economic ruin around the world within the space of a few months. It is a global calamity such as humankind has not witnessed since the Second World War. It is also an opportunity and an imperative for the United Nations…
The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an annual event that has been attracting increasing attention in recent years, as the impacts of climate change intensify and are now visible virtually to all. The latest UNFCCC COP is taking place in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to…
24 October is celebrated every year as UN Day because it was on this day in 1945 that the United Nations Charter entered into force. The charter, the closest we have to a constitutional document for the whole world, is an international treaty that the victors of the Second World War agreed to abide by…
Since I left the United Nations in the summer of 2012, I feel a bit nostalgic for the high-level gatherings in New York every year when late September comes about. I was a member of the UN Secretariat, which means working for the UN Secretary-General and the world as a whole, not for any particular…
