Diplomacy & Crisis News

The joint United Nations-African Union mission in the Darfur region of Sudan (UNAMID) will officially end operations on Thursday, when the Government of Sudan will take over responsibility for the protection of civilians in the area.

The people of the restive region of Darfur in Sudan have seen the joint United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) as a "saviour" according to a writer for UN News who grew up in Darfur.

The President of the United Nations General Assembly has urged everyone around the world “to continue to work together” to end the coronavirus pandemic, and to build an inclusive and sustainable future. 

At UN News, 2020 started with a hope that the year would be one of peace for Syria’s children.  However, in the weeks that followed, the news cycle was upended by the coronavirus pandemic, that not only changed what we covered, but also how we covered UN-related news around the world.  

More than 10 million children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeast Nigeria, the Central Sahel, South Sudan and Yemen will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday, warning that without urgent action, the numbers could rise further. 

Citizens hungry for information turned to the media during the pandemic, but governments around the world used the crisis to restrict journalists.

Old narratives about the city fell apart this year, but new ones can still be born.

From the tragedy of whistleblowers to imperiled nuclear talks to the State Department's struggle with diversity, here are some of our articles that had an outsized impact this year.

The country will become only the third in Latin America to allow unmitigated access to the procedure.

With millions forced to work from home this year, offices and shops closing as part of containment measures, and travel severely curtailed everywhere, it was inevitable that the economy would suffer. In part five of our look back at 2020, we focus on the seismic effect that COVID-19 has had on the global economy.

This article is the English version of : John Solal-Arouet and Denis Tersen, « Trump et l’avenir de la politique commerciale européenne », published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 82, Issue 1 , 2017.

“In general, if we want free trade, it is to alleviate the condition of the laboring class, but, surprisingly, the people, whose thus provided bread is cheap enough, is very ungrateful.”

Karl Marx, Speech on free trade, 1848.

The United States has chosen a protectionist and isolationist president. Of course, promises and programs do not automatically become policies once the election is past. But a candidate’s program that attacks China and Mexico, threatens to leave the World Trade Organization (WTO), denounces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Paris climate agreement, refuses to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Project (TPP) negotiated by his predecessor, becomes a commitment for the president.

And this all the more so since, while he cannot liberalize on his sole initiative without the consent of Congress, he can put in place border protection measures on his own, or block a treaty by refusing to submit it to the legislative power. On anti-globalization, the new US president shows some coherence: closing borders, for goods and services, as well as for people.

The first nominations do not negate his campaign rhetoric: Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce; Peter Navarro, an “on the defensive but not protectionist” economist heading the newly created National Trade Council, and Robert Lighthizer, head of the US Trade Representative Office (USTR). They attracted attention through declarations critical of China, and by defending the interests of the “old” industries. Reagan administration veteran Robert Lighthizer, who will lead the trade negotiations, is a well-known anti-dumping lawyer.

In the Reagan period, the villain was Japan, the United States having obtained under pressure voluntary export restriction agreements from their “partner”. This was before the WTO, before the “global value chains” that allow US companies to split their production between countries, primarily China, and import or reassemble their products in the United States, and it was at the time of a Japanese market of which the level of closure to imports was far beyond that of China.

Trump’s tweets, these “chin butts” of the digital age, aimed at companies with investment intentions in Mexico, are also in line with the campaign. The president’s inaugural address on January 20 dispelled any doubts: “Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.” The first announcements from the White House that evening called for the withdrawal of the TPP and the renegotiation of NAFTA. We have reached that point.

Donald Trump is not alone. Brexit came before, and populist movements are progressing all over Europe. CETA with “Ôsmall” Canada (0.6% of French foreign trade) nearly stopped at the signature stage, and its future is uncertain. One could meet these major developments with relative indifference, and consider that, by a trick of history, the populists will rid us of this dangerous free trade and bad agreements such as the TTIP. Moreover, as we have been taught, infrastructure – the material basis, the productive forces – precedes superstructure; world trade is progressing less rapidly than the world’s “wealth” and has even been declining over the past four years. Are we heading clearly and without regret toward the era of deglobalization? […]

Read the rest of the article here.

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Powerful digital tools using artificial intelligence (AI) software are helping in the fight against COVID-19, and have the potential to improve the world in many other ways. However, as AI seeps into more areas of daily life, it’s becoming clear that its misuse can lead to serious harm, leading the UN to call for strong, international regulation of the technology.

A group of independent UN human rights experts called on Ugandan authorities to end the arrest, detention and judicial harassment of political opponents, civil society leaders and human rights defenders.

The Netherlands has violated a child’s rights by registering children under the category “nationality unknown” as opposed to Stateless – leaving them ineligible to access international protections, the UN Human Rights Committee  declared on Tuesday.  

Puisque Washington entend assurer le « leadership » de la croisade démocratique — « L'Amérique est de retour, prête à diriger le monde », a proclamé M. Joseph Biden le 24 novembre 2020 —, les pays satellites feraient bien de comprendre que les Américains ne s'accordent plus sur l'identité de leur (...) / États-Unis, États-Unis (affaires extérieures), Russie, Chine, Relations internationales, Géopolitique - 2021/01

Despite heated language, the U.S. goals haven’t changed.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed Lebanon’s decision to bring to justice the man found guilty of killing two UN peacekeepers decades ago.

Nous assistons à la plus dangereuse confrontation entre la Russie et les Etats-Unis de ces dernières décennies, la pire sans doute depuis la crise des missiles de 1962. / États-Unis (affaires extérieures), Russie, Ukraine, URSS, Conflit, Géopolitique, Histoire, Idées, Idéologie, Relations (...) / États-Unis (affaires extérieures), Russie, Ukraine, URSS, Conflit, Géopolitique, Histoire, Idées, Idéologie, Relations internationales, Stratégie - 2014/10

Progress made towards sustainable development by the Atlantic Ocean nation, Cape Verde, is under serious threat due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to the United Nations’ most senior official in the country. In this blog, UN Resident Coordinator Ana Patricia Graça, explains how the UN is supporting the small island country to rebound from the impact of the virus.

Americans are aware that Democrats and Republicans have become polarized—but they’ve misunderstood how.