The InterDependent

A new mediation service, the Independent Diplomat, appeared on the international scene in 2004, providing advice to governments and political groups who adhere to democratic principles. One of its most recent projects, for example, was helping South Sudan to establish itself as a new country.

The United Nations finalized work on its Arms Trade Treaty last month, in time for a 2012 deadline, adopting a declaration in favor of limiting illegal arms sales across borders. The treaty’s aim is to prevent the international trade of illegal weapons from getting into the hands of those who could hurt civilians, in places like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Yet U.S.

Some world issues appear as easy to support as motherhood and apple pie. But not in the Security Council, where Germany and its supporters spent many hours recently in negotiations before the council issued a mild statement on climate change’s effect on international peace and security.

The Pacific Island nations succeeded in their big push for better recognition within the United Nations system through a name change from the Asian Group, to which they all belong, to the Asia-Pacific Group. It is only the third time since the creation of the UN in 1945 that such a "change of Group nomenclature,” as it is called, has occurred.