UN-Scripted

As president of the Security Council in October, Kenya is leading the Council on its first international trip since the pandemic began, to Mali and Niger. Kenyan Ambassador Martin Kimani joins us to discuss his country’s priorities for the month, including counterterrorism, small-arms weapons, and women, peace and security. We also speak with Dr. Geoffrey Lugano, a lecturer at Kenyatta University, based in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you searching for a meaningful way to further your career in international development? Is it your dream to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges? Consider Seton Hall University’s executive graduate programs in international affairs. Attend a webinar to find out how you can specialize in up to 13 research areas, including conflict management, international law and human rights, foreign policy analysis and more. As a graduate candidate you’ll have th

It is that time of year again: The UN General Assembly's meeting with world leaders returns in a hybrid format after being virtual last year. Which heads of state and government are coming? What should you watch for? We've got your guide to the 76th UNGA session. We speak with Nigerian Ambassador Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, who was the 74th president of the General Assembly, about what to expect. We also spoke with Estonia’s Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets. Disclaimer: Following the publication of this podcast, the President of the General Assembly has specified that the United Nations honor system for vaccination and Covid-19 testing remains in place for UNGA, and that UN authorities won't verify vaccination status upon entering the United Nations Headquarters. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you searching for a meaningful way to further your career in international development? Is it your dream to tackle some of the wo

Ireland takes over the presidency of the Security Council in September with Afghanistan still in crisis. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason discusses her country's commitment to Afghan women and girls as the Taliban assume control of the country, and she shares her plans for the month with the UN General Assembly high-level week fast approaching. We are also joined by Rory Montgomery of the Royal Irish Academy, a former diplomat. MUSIC CREDIT: 'Morrison's Jig,' a traditional Irish folk song, is named for Irish-American fiddler James Morrison, who recorded it in the 1930's. The original composer is unknown. A jig is a lively Irish folk dance. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring leading global voices? Do you want to learn more about how international issues directly affect people locally? Global Connections Television presents the insights of global influencers at-no-cost to viewers and prog

As India assumes the Security Council presidency in August, it seeks to show the world that it deserves a permanent seat at the horseshoe table. On this episode, we are joined by Indian Ambassador to the UN, T.S. Tirumurti, as well as foreign policy expert Mohamed Zeeshan. Zeeshan is a staff writer at the Diplomat, a foreign affairs publication, and has written a book called, "Flying Blind: India’s Quest for Global Leadership." Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you thinking of a career working for the United Nations or its agencies around the world? Is it your dream to serve in your country’s foreign ministry, but you don’t know where to start? We may have the answer. The Centre for United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham in the UK offers a Masters Degree in United Nations and Diplomatic Studies. The degree can be taken full-time over one year or part-time over two. Graduates will gain a firm grounding in the

France takes over the presidency of the Security Council at a major turning point in its foreign policy: it has announced it is scaling down its long military presence in West Africa. Also this month: France hosts the final Generation Equality Forum, in Paris. We talk to French Deputy Permanent Representative Nathalie Broadhurst and a French political scientist, Franck Petiteville, of Sciences Po University, about what the change of the military mission means for France, the Sahel region and President Macron's political future. We also discuss France's commitment to gender equality at home and abroad. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you thinking of a career working for the United Nations or its agencies around the world? Is it your dream to serve in your country’s foreign ministry, but you don’t know where to start? We may have the answer. The Centre for United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham in the UK offe

On this episode, we have a very special guest: Eva-Maria Liimets, Estonia's foreign minister, as well as Estonian ambassador to the UN, Sven Jurgenson, who assumes the Security Council presidency in June. Estonia is the only country in the world that is not a monarchy that is led by a woman president and a woman prime minister. We discuss how women have assumed top roles in Estonia's government, its agenda for the month of June and the winding up of the UN secretary-general selection process. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you searching for a meaningful way to further your career in international development? As you set new goals for 2021 and beyond, consider Seton Hall University’s executive graduate program in international affairs. Attending a webinar is the perfect way to learn how you can customize your studies by specializing your research in areas such as global health security, conflict management, and more. As a

China assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council for May, trying to control the narrative around the Covid-19 pandemic, Myanmar and human rights all in one month, in a packed agenda. In this episode, you’ll hear from Dr. Rosemary Foot, an Oxford professor who has recently published a book titled "China, the UN, and Human Protection: Beliefs, Power, Image." We also talk with Peter Irwin, a program officer at the Uighurs Human Rights Project, a nonprofit defending the persecuted Muslim-minority Uighurs in the province of Xinjiang, China. And stay tuned for a surprising May 17 session on "emerging technologies," which China has mysteriously dropped into the calendar. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you searching for a meaningful way to further your career in international development? As you set new goals for 2021 and beyond, consider Seton Hall University’s executive graduate program in international affairs. Atten

As Vietnam assumes the UN Security Council presidency, harsh crackdowns by the Myanmar military continue in the country after the Feb. 1 coup d’état. And since Vietnam presented itself as a "bridge builder" when it joined the Council in January 2020, its ability to bring the 14 other members together on specifically preventing further atrocities in Myanmar will be rigorously tested this month. We talk about the challenges with Vietnam’s ambassador to the UN, Dang Dinh Quy, and experts Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran from the Wilson Center in Washington and Kyle Springer from the Perth USAsia Center, a think tank in Australia.

The newly arrived American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, hits the ground sprinting as she assumes the presidency of the Security Council in March. On today's episode, we speak with retired Ambassador Ruth A. Davis, one of the ambassador's longtime mentors; Peter Yeo, President of the Better World Campaign and Senior Vice President at the United Nations Foundation; and Mark Ballard, reporter for the Louisiana newspaper The Advocate, who has written an extensive profile of the ambassador. MUSIC CREDIT: 'Zodico Stomp' by Clifton Chenier, the Grammy-award winning 'King of Zydeco' (1955). Zydeco is a music genre that blends blues, R&B, French accordion music, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you searching for a meaningful way to further your career in international development? As you set new goals for 2021 and beyond, co

Britain assumes the Security Council in February with a new ambassador: Permanent Representative Barbara Woodward, who was most recently her country's ambassador to China. In this episode, she shares how her new job compares with working in Beijing and how staying fit helps her get through tense diplomatic negotiations, wherever she lives. Richard Gowan, a UN expert at the International Crisis Group and a popular, witty commentator in UN circles in New York, joins us on the show. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you searching for a meaningful way to further your career in international development? As you set new goals for 2021 and beyond, consider Seton Hall University’s executive graduate program in international affairs. Attending a webinar is the perfect way to learn how you can customize your studies by specializing your research in areas such as global health security, conflict management, and more. As a graduate ca

It has been 10 years since the Arab Spring, which started in Tunisia in 2011 and forced the exile of its president and strongman, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Now, a democratic Tunisia assumes the UN Security Council rotating presidency in January as an elected member. To discuss Tunisia's priorities and diplomatic strategy, we are joined by Tunisia’s ambassador to the UN, Tarek Ladeb, and Youssef Cherif, director of Columbia University’s Global Center in Tunis and a political analyst specializing in North Africa. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you thinking of career working for the United Nations or its agencies around the World? Is it your dream to serve in your country’s foreign ministry, but you don’t know where to start? The Centre for United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham in the UK is offering a new fully online Masters in United Nations Studies. The degree can be taken full-time over one year or part-t

PassBlue is a non-profit media site, and we depend on your generous donations to help us report on important stories about the UN. In December, PassBlue takes part in NewsMatch, a national matching-gift campaign that drives donations to nonprofit newsrooms. If you give today at https://www.newsmatch.org/organizations/passblue, NewsMatch doubles your donation, up to $5,000. For a nonprofit like us, this is a big deal and will help us continue to report exclusive stories at the UN throughout the year. ----- South Africa wraps up its two-year term on the Security Council as Council president in December. On this episode, the mission's Political Coordinator Marthinus van Schalkwyk and International Relations expert Dr. Sithembile Mbete give us a preview of the country's priorities for the month, and look back at its achievements over the last two years. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring le

“America is back”: In this episode, we detail the challenges the new White House faces to fully commit to the UN again, including rejoining all the UN entities and agreements it left, resigned from or defunded under the Trump administration, like the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization. To sort it all out, we ask three experts: Larry Johnson, a professor at Columbia Law School and a former legal affairs expert at the UN; a Franco-British climate change specialist, Paul Watkinson, who participated in the Paris accord’s negotiations; and Jordie Hannum, the head of the Better World Campaign, an organization that works to enhances the US-UN relationship. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring leading global voices? Do you want to learn more about how international issues directly affect people locally? Global Connections Television presents the insights of global influencers at-no-

St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island nation in the Caribbean, is the smallest country ever elected to the Security Council, and this month, it assumes the Council Presidency for the first time. There is nothing conventional about the country’s ambassador, Rhonda King. On this episode, she shares with us her government’s sometimes confusing foreign policy; how getting cancer inspired her to leave her accounting career and become a writer; and how most of her top staff at the UN mission are women. Caribbean expert Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner, a professor at the City College of New York and the City University of New York, also shares her thoughts on St. Vincent's unique foreign policy. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring leading global voices? Do you want to learn more about how international issues directly affect people locally? Global Connections Television presents the insights of g

The Nobel Committee awarded the World Food Program a Nobel Peace Prize this month, for 2020. This is the UN system's 12th time winning the world's highest recognition for peace, and it comes as the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. PassBlue contributor Clair MacDougall shares with us how David Beasley, the Executive Director of the WFP, reacted to finding out about the win on his tour of the Sahel region of Africa, and the significance of Nobel Committee's choice amid a global pandemic and the decline of multilateralism. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring leading global voices? Do you want to learn more about how international issues directly affect people locally? Global Connections Television presents the insights of global influencers at-no-cost to viewers and programmers. GCTV is independently produced, and reaches more than 70 million potential viewers worldwide each wee

Russia has a new deputy ambassador at its UN mission in New York: Anna Evstigneeva, the first woman to hold the position there. Evistgneeva, who originally hails from St. Petersburg, gives us her take on Russia's Security Council presidency this month as the Council tackles high-stakes topics such as the expiration of the arms embargo on Iran and the aftermath of a military coup in Mali. We also chat with Anton Barbashin, the editorial director of Riddle, a Russian-focused think tank, and a fellow at the Atlantic Council. Based in Moscow, Barbashin describes the glass ceilings women still face in Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring leading global voices? Do you want to learn more about how international issues directly affect people locally? Global Connections Television presents the insights of global influencers at-no-cost to viewers and programmers

On Sept. 21, 2020, the United Nations opens the 75th General Assembly session. But this year's debate will be unlike any other. As the Covid-19 pandemic still rages and because travel restrictions remain in effect in New York City, the usual retinue of heads of state and their delegates will be mostly staying home –– sending video speeches instead. We chat with an e-diplomacy expert, Jovan Kurbalija, of the Maltese nonprofit organization Diplofoundation, about how world leaders can project themselves dynamically in the digital format; and with a NYC-based Mexican journalist, Maurizio Guerrero, on what Latin American leaders will be saying this year. To read Stéphanie's exclusive coverage of where women world leaders fall on the General Assembly speaking list, visit: https://www.passblue.com/2020/09/10/how-long-do-you-have-to-wait-to-hear-a-woman-at-the-unga-53-speakers-to-be-exact/ Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you look

Niger assumes the Security Council presidency this month, bringing the voice of Africa’s Sahel region to the body as it and its neighbors battle terrorism and chronic instability in the region. On the show, we talk with Ambassador Abdou Abarry about the country's plans for the Council, especially as the United States triggers the snapback provision of the Iran nuclear deal, and Michael Shurkin, an American expert on West Africa for the Rand Corporation. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring leading global voices? Do you want to learn more about how international issues directly affect people locally? Global Connections Television presents the insights of global influencers at-no-cost to viewers and programmers. GCTV is independently produced, and reaches more than 70 million potential viewers worldwide each week. The show covers everything from human rights to climate change, from peace an

As the world unites to help Lebanon recover from a blast that decimated parts of its capital on Aug. 4 and killed nearly 200 people, some powerful members of the Security Council in New York are arguing over the mandate renewal of the UN's peacekeeping mission in the country, UNIFIL. On today's show, we talk to Ambassador Amal Mudallali, the ambassador of Lebanon to the UN, about her hopes for the relief effort and the future of her country. We also interview Karim Makdisi, a professor at the American University of Beirut, who explains the dominating tensions between the US and France over the role of Unifil in Southern Lebanon. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- Are you looking for a talk show featuring leading global voices? Do you want to learn more about how international issues directly affect people locally? Global Connections Television presents the insights of global influencers at-no-cost to viewers and programmers. G

Indonesia assumes the Security Council presidency this month, and two big items are on its agenda: burgeoning its role as a 'bridge builder' between small and large powers on the Council, and transitioning the Council to in-person voting on Council resolutions. On today's show, we hear from Indonesian Ambassador to the UN, Dian Triansyah Djani, as well as Dr. Moch Faisal Karim, Assistant Professor in International Relations at Bina Nusantara University, located in the in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Although Indonesia is a regional power in Southeast Asia and the fourth most populated country in the world, Ambassador Djani describes his country's diplomatic style in the UN Security Council as “quiet” — an approach requiring patience and tolerance of its members. Links: PassBlue's website: www.passblue.com Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @PassBlueUN Instagram: @passblue