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By Avi Shlaim
By Orville Schell
$22
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 Scott Garner (CC-BY-ND)
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The Russian ambassador to the United Nations on Monday said an unnamed country (“I’m sure you can guess which”) was engaged in a “filibuster attempt” to block a statement condemning the violence in Gaza.
Posted on Nov 19, 2012
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 Photo by Syria Freedom (CC-BY)
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After returning from his first diplomatic mission to Syria and reporting to the U.N. Security Council, envoy Lakhdar Brahimi confirmed that things are as bad as they seem, and he doesn’t currently see a way forward.
Posted on Sep 24, 2012
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 Abode of Chaos (CC BY 2.0)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told heads of state from nonaligned countries that Tehran “has no interest in nuclear weapons but will keep pursuing peaceful nuclear energy.”
Posted on Aug 30, 2012
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 Flickr / PanARMENIAN_Photo
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Former United Nations secretary-general and current U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said Tuesday that his bid to get Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (above) and his administration to accept a peace plan Annan proposed has been successful. Enacting it, however, is another matter.
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 AP / Misha Japaridze
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On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov signaled a shift in his country’s position vis-à-vis the ongoing crisis in Syria, indicating that Russia may be willing to cooperate more with the U.N. Security Council’s proposed plan, but with some stipulations.
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 AP / Richard Drew
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the United Nations Security Council on Monday to appeal once again to the international community about the crisis in Syria, making pointed remarks in the general direction of China and Russia as she urged all member nations to get with the regime change program, and soon.
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 How I See Life (CC-BY)
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By Noam Chomsky, TomDispatch —
In the years of America’s conscious, self-inflicted decline at home, “losses” have continued to mount elsewhere.
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 AP / Muzaffar Salman
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By Ivo Mijnssen — The Kremlin risks international isolation with its uncompromising stance on Syria, but Russia has powerful incentives to protect Bashar al-Assad.
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 Flickr / PanARMENIAN_Photo
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On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council’s attempt to pass a resolution strongly encouraging regime change in Syria, which by definition would mean the end of President Bashar Assad’s tenure in office, was again met with resistance from Russia.
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 AP / Local Coordination Committees in Syria
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As the crisis in Syria reached new levels of urgency Friday, the United Nations Security Council met to work up a resolution pressuring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. The U.N. group faced a formidable challenge, however, from a prominent and permanent member, according to the BBC.
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 cnn.com
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On Monday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen paid a visit to Libya to announce the end of the military campaign that began seven months ago and culminated in the death of Col. Moammar Gadhafi on Oct. 20.
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made his official request to the Security Council on Friday, asking it to grant Palestine full membership in the United Nations.
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 AP / David Karp
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made his formal request to the Security Council on Friday for full membership in the United Nations, a request that, if granted, could lead to the official declaration of a Palestinian state.
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 Flickr / World Economic Forum
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations Security Council next week, a move that intensifies already considerable tensions in one of the Middle East’s most intractable conflicts. (more)
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.jpg) Flickr / Pennello
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Two separate polls found that the majority of Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza see another intifada on the horizon if negotiations don’t yield progress soon. (more)
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 news.bbc.co.uk
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A French warplane has fired the first shots over Libya under a U.N.-enforced no-fly zone that began on Saturday. The plane reportedly targeted a Libyan military vehicle during an attack by pro-Gadhafi forces against rebels in the city of Benghazi.
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 news.bbc.co.uk
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The Gadhafi government has declared a cease-fire in its offensive against opposition fighters, apparently in response to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, which calls for a no-fly zone and “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians.
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 Wikimedia Commons / Bernd Untiedt, Germany Some rights reserved
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On the same day that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhadi told the people of rebel Benghazi he would show “no mercy,” the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution brought by the U.K., France and Lebanon to allow “all necessary measures” except invasion to protect Libya’s civilian population.
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 AP / Sebastian Scheiner
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The U.S. has vetoed a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Israel to halt the building of illegal settlements on Palestinian land, saying its passage would “harden the positions of both sides.”
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 AP / Sebastian Scheiner
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Although the U.S. never has been a neutral arbiter in the Middle East, it’s still surprising that Washington has now reportedly promised Israel a long-term security agreement—including 20 F-35 fighter jets and a pledge to veto any damaging U.N. resolution—in exchange for a 90-day extension of the Israeli freeze on constructing settlements in the West Bank. Updated
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 bbc.co.uk
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India’s future role in the United Nations might just bump up a big notch soon, thanks to Barack Obama’s endorsement. The president officially announced his support for India’s permanent inclusion on the U.N.‘s Security Council on Monday ... (continued)
Posted on Nov 8, 2010
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 AP / Vahid Salemi
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When it comes to registering disapproval for Iran’s nuclear program, certain key members of the international community keep pushing the same button—that would be the one marked sanctions. But is this becoming more of a rote reflex than an effective strategy?
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 AP / Hasan Sarbakhshian
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Here’s President Barack Obama’s take on the stringent new sanctions the U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to impose on Iran: They’re “the toughest sanctions ever faced by Iran.” Right, now here’s Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the same topic ... (continued)
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 bbc.co.uk
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One video shows a man who may well be Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri claiming that he was abducted by Americans and is now being held in Tucson, Ariz.—in which case, whoever kidnapped him should make sure he has the right papers. (continued)
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 AP / Amr Nabil
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Relations between Israel and friends like Turkey and the U.S. went south following Monday’s raid on a flotilla en route to Gaza, as differing reports emerged to challenge Israel’s account ... (continued)
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 U.S. Marine Corps / Lance Cpl. Christopher M. Burke
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Tensions between North and South Korea are spiraling out of control. The north has cut all ties, and Kim Jong-il reportedly ordered his forces to prepare to defend against attack. Seoul continues to push for satisfaction in the U.N. Security Council after the north allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship. (continued)
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 Wikimedia Commons
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While a dinner party may not be the most agreeable setting for talks on nuclear diplomacy, Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki treated representatives of all 15 member nations of the U.N. Security Council to a meal in Manhattan on Friday night in an effort to re-engage the international community regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
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 U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Nicole Ketchen
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Before the invasion of Iraq, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw’s top legal adviser warned that the use of force was “contrary to international law” and “would amount to the crime of aggression.” (continued)
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 AP / Gregory Bull
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It’s been a long and agonizing week for survivors and aid workers since last Tuesday’s catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, and containing the chaos is seemingly impossible when as many as 1.5 million Haitians are homeless, 200,000 or more have died and supplies are in desperate demand. ... (continued)
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 Wikimedia Commons / Bjoertvedt
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His term as the United Nations’ official envoy to Afghanistan is up in March, and in his last address to the world body Kai Eide didn’t sound especially optimistic about the state of the country. In fact, Eide said Wednesday, if certain “negative trends” he sees at work “are not reversed,” the situation in Afghanistan could “become unmanageable.”
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 AP / Khaled Omar
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A controversial report about last winter’s war in Gaza, generated by the United Nations and headed up by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, was the subject of debate at the U.N. Security Council Wednesday, largely owing to the fact that the report accuses both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes.
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 AP / Fraidoon Pooyaa
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While the Obama administration continues to mull over its options regarding America’s commitment to the war in Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council has voted to urge “member states to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources” to the ongoing conflict.
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 AP / Ajit Kumar
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A U.N. Security Council session led by President Obama has adopted a resolution calling for nuclear disarmament, focusing largely on measures aimed at halting weapons proliferation and lowering the risk of “nuclear terrorism.”
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 AP photo / Lee Jin-man
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The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting following what North Korea described as a satellite launch but what the U.S. and South Korea said was actually a long-range missile test. The U.S., the European Union, Japan and South Korea have all weighed in with varying degrees of concern, while China and Russia have urged calm and restraint.
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 AP photo / Sebastian Scheiner
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Israeli forces crossed into Gaza on Saturday night, launching ground attacks and seriously ratcheting up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following a week of bombardment from intensive airstrikes. The United Nations Security Council met that evening in New York about the mounting Mideast crisis.
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Once again, the cease-fire is off between the Israelis and Palestinians, and even though the United Nations has again weighed in with Security Council Resolution 1850, which supports a two-state solution, the new measure is not likely to change things in the near future. Over to you, Mr. President-elect.
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 AP photo / Khalil Hamra
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By Robert Fisk — No one in 1967 dreamed that the Israeli-Arab conflict would still be in ferocious progress 41 years later, but the wording in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 has something to do with this ongoing clash.
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 AP photo / George Abdaladze
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Despite calls from international officials late in the week urging Russia to hold its fire against neighboring Georgia, Russian forces showed no sign of backing off over the weekend, nor had the United Nations managed to make headway in curbing the conflict. Update
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 AP photo / Abd Raouf
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Although an International Criminal Court prosecutor has accused Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir of genocide in Darfur, Bashir begs to differ and Sudan is refusing to cooperate with the court. Meanwhile, some United Nations representatives are preparing to leave Sudan as concerns build about a potential violent backlash to the charge.
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Iran’s nuclear program is once again raising concerns among members of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who claim in a new report that, despite earlier signs of cooperation this year, Tehran is leaving key questions unanswered about possible plans to ramp up its uranium enrichment capabilities by the end of this summer.
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 The Sydney Morning Herald
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Iranian President and up-and-coming schoolyard brawler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared in a televised address Wednesday his country’s willingness to “bloody the enemy’s nose” in order to defend its national sovereignty. At issue is Iran’s controversial nuclear program, which Ahmadinejad has declared is negotiable only with U.N. nuclear officials, not the politicized Security Council.
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 AP photo / Sgt. Armando Monroig, U.S. Army
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Americans serving in Iraq will have to wait until the next president takes office before they can expect any substantial changes in troop numbers, if Bush follows the latest recommended plan from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
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 AP photo / Vahid Salemi
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The good news, according to the U.N.‘s nuclear agency, is that Iran earlier was forthcoming with information about its nuclear program. The bad news is that Iran is not now offering the same level of transparency, is reportedly still enriching uranium in defiance of the Security Council and may be, according to the BBC, cooperating just enough to avoid additional sanctions. Above, Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili.
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The Security Council is set to approve an expansion of the U.N.‘s presence in Iraq. Meanwhile, the organization’s staff association, representing thousands of employees around the globe, voted unanimously to oppose the measure and recall U.N. workers already in Baghdad.
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The United Nations hasn’t had much of a presence in Iraq since a car bomb blew up its headquarters back in 2003, but that could soon change. The U.S. and Britain have begun pushing a Security Council resolution that would expand the U.N.‘s mandate in Iraq, with a focus on diplomacy and human rights.
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The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved the world’s largest peacekeeping force, with as many as 26,000 troops and police officers, to take over operations in Darfur. The joint effort between the U.N. and the African Union will have the necessary mandate to defend civilians and aid workers, but it remains unclear how quickly the force can be deployed.
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Over the objections of other members, the UK has brought the climate change debate to the U.N. Security Council. Russia, China and Pakistan said it was the wrong venue for the issue, but U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett pointed out that rising sea levels, mass migration and economic catastrophe would almost certainly impact global security.
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The Sudanese government has indicated to the United Nations Security Council that it will allow a second phase of U.N. peacekeepers to deploy, retreating from the long-held position that such a force would compromise its sovereignty. However, Khartoum has a history of reneging on promises to the U.N.
Posted on Apr 16, 2007
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 news.bbc.co.uk
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Iran responded defiantly Sunday to U.N. Security Council sanctions by announcing it would press ahead with nuclear enrichment. “Previously we said repeatedly that if the Westerners wanted to exploit the UN Security Council it will not only have no influence but make us more determined to pursue our nuclear goals even faster,” said Iran’s top nuclear negotiator.
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