North Korea defied international pressure and launched its Unha-3 missile on April 12. U.S. and South Korean officials indicate that the missile failed several minutes after launch. Although Pyongyang had characterized the launch as that of a peaceful civilian satellite, it is a blatant violation of existing U.N. Security Council…
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, which has made war on its own citizens, has lost whatever legitimacy it once had. The United States correctly has called for Assad to step down from power. His regime has supported numerous Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Kurdish terrorist groups in attacks on Americans and…
Abstract: In September 2011, the Palestinian Authority requested membership for “Palestine” in the United Nations—violating its commitment under the 1993 Oslo Accords to seek statehood through negotiations with Israel. Prospective U.N. member states must first receive a recommendation from the Security Council. The Obama Administration has vowed to veto, if…
Abstract: Countries that receive U.S. foreign aid routinely oppose U.S. diplomatic initiatives and vote against the U.S. in the United Nations. While linking humanitarian and security aid to support of U.S. policy priorities would undermine the purposes and effect of that aid, the effectiveness…
On July 11–15, the United Nations held a third meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Arms Trade Treaty. The committee discusses the content of the treaty in advance of a meeting of the conference in 2012 to finalize the treaty and open it for ratification. This treaty is purportedly…
Abstract: In September 2011, the U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on a resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood. This resolution is linked to Palestinian efforts to obtain U.N. membership as a state and to delegitimize Israel. These efforts will have no legal significance because…
Abstract It may take years before the results of NATO’s military operations against Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s Libyan regime can finally be judged, but the issues raised by the crisis are of immediate importance. …
Palestinians are getting ready to divert the international spotlight away from the “Arab Spring” and focus it on their efforts to gain international recognition for a Palestinian state. Palestinian activists have called for a popular uprising against Israel on May 15. The two strongest Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, signed…
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless regime is deservedly threatened by mounting protests organized by long-suffering Syrians fed up with its harsh repression, notorious corruption, and rigid autocratic rule. But the Obama Administration has soft-pedaled its criticism of Assad’s dictatorship, eager to “engage” the stubbornly hostile regime despite its systematic repression…
It was recently discovered that as many as 1,000 people in Duekoue, Cote d’Ivoire, were killed between March 27–29.[1] It is unclear who is responsible for the killings. The U.N. claims that forces loyal to former President Laurent Gbagbo—who lost the recent election but has refused to leave…
On March 28, President Obama delivered a speech for the purpose of explaining his decision to use military force in Libya.[1] Although the President gave multiple justifications for the U.S. intervention, it appears more and more that his philosophical basis for ordering the use of force by the…
The killings and other atrocities committed in Libya, if confirmed, likely rise to the level of crimes against humanity, which are under International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction in the Rome Statute. But the ICC is supposed to be a court of last resort, becoming involved only if national authorities prove…
Abstract: Multilateralism is not an end in itself. It is one of many foreign policy tools, admittedly a very important one, in the diplomatic kit. For the United States, multilateralism faces its greatest challenge at the United Nations, where the all-too-frequent clash of worldviews…
The U.N. Security Council’s timid reaction to North Korea’s blatant and heinous attack of a South Korean naval ship is extremely disappointing—though not unexpected. China and Russia had been signaling for weeks that they were eager to abandon all concepts of upholding the rule of law and international rules of…
There is a clear difference of opinion between people who believe in a national defense policy directed solely by the protection of U.S. security interests and others—sometimes referred to as “transnational progressives”—who believe that the United Nations Security Council and other elements of the “international community” should have an influence…
The U.N. Security Council finally reached an agreement on Syria yesterday. In typical U.N. form, it amounts to more talk...…
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's comments earlier this week were a very revealing insight into the Obama...…
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wanted to reach her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign...…
Piracy off the Horn of Africa increases every year due to constant instability in the region. In 2008, 111 vessels were...…
Russia originally abstained from vetoing the U.N. Security Council resolution allowing operation “Odyssey Dawn” in...…
The United Nations has responded in several ways to the Libyan regime’s terrible acts over the past few weeks. None of...…
Although Iran and North Korea have received far more attention, Syria is belatedly becoming a prime focus of...…
President Barack Obama made waves during his trip to India by telling the Indian parliament that “in the years ahead, I...…
Iran’s embattled regime Saturday announced that it is ready to resume talks about Iran’s illicit nuclear activities,...…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently stated that there is no proof that Iran is building nuclear weapons....…