A publication of UNA-USA

Bringing global issues to the local level

US-UN Relations

Revisiting the Early-History Pages of the UN

By Laura Trevelyan | Jun 20, 2011

Dan Plesch’s book, “America, Hitler and the UN,” is something of a historical revelation. First school, then university and then four years covering the United Nations itself taught me that it was created by the victorious Allies at the end of World War II, not in the middle.

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U.S. Refugee Bureau Chief Is Heading to Academia

Eric Schwartz, U.S. assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, announced recently that he was leaving his position at the State Department to work as dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

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UN Insiders Dine on Schnitzel Overlooking the City

By Irwin Arieff | May 10, 2011

Let's face it, the United Nations cafeteria is looking a bit forlorn these days.

With a years-long renovation of UN headquarters under way, the cafeteria, which is located on the ground floor of the Secretariat complex at the south end of the UN compound, is pretty thoroughly boxed in by construction that includes asbestos removal.

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The UN Is Essential to US Foreign Policy, an Obama Official Stresses

By Barbara Crossette | Feb 07, 2011

As Republicans in the House of Representatives gear up to fundamentally change Washington’s relations with the United Nations, the Obama administration’s top official dealing with international organizations struck back forcefully last week, calling critics out of date and a threat to American policy gains.

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UN Reform and Congress, a Perennial Topic Rears Its Head

By Steven A. Dimoff | Feb 01, 2011

Washington -- The longstanding debate in Congress over conditioning American financial support for the United Nations system on the world body’s adoption of reform measures entered a new phase when the House Foreign Affairs Committee convened a panel recently to discuss the way forward.

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For Rice, December Couldn't Have Been Busier

By Dulcie Leimbach | Jan 10, 2011

The United States took its turn in the rotating presidency seat at the Security Council in December, opening up some meetings to nongovernmental groups as well as to youngsters, allowing those who are not normally allowed entrée into the horseshoe arena a taste of the power that the council wields.

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Do Public-Private Partnerships Help Meet Millennium Development Goals?

By Alan Averyt | Aug 16, 2010

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight held a hearing on July 27 on achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals through public-private partnerships. The witnesses described ways in which public-private partnerships have been used to increase funding and successfully support US projects for many years.

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US-UN Funding: Congress Adopts Emergency Spending Bill and Begins Work on 2011 Budget

By Alan Averyt | Aug 04, 2010

Before adjourning for its monthlong August recess, Congress sent to President Obama a fiscal-year 2010 emergency spending bill containing nearly $100 million for UN peacekeeping to cover expenses for Haiti. It also began consideration of fiscal-year 2011 appropriations bills to finance US contributions to the United Nations. In an environment of intense political pressure to limit federal spending, the House and the Senate, with a slight exception, met or exceeded the president’s financing requests for UN peacekeeping, US dues to the UN and UN specialized agencies and voluntary contributions to UN programs.

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Art en Route: Turning a Book About the Birth of the UN Into Film

By Stephen Schlesinger | Jul 21, 2010

Last fall, I was having drinks in New York with two documentary filmmakers, Romuald Sciorra, and Estelle Moser. We were discussing our favorite subject, the United Nations, and its latest doings. All three of us are longtime UN aficionados.

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Working Magic on the Airwaves in UN Radio’s Heyday

By Thomas Honsa | Jul 13, 2010

March 26, 1950, marked an important day in Americans’ relations with the United Nations. No treaty or agreement was signed, no leader named, no commission formed, just a radio broadcast. That night NBC carried Norman Corwin’s “Document A/777,” a dramatization of the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although forgotten today, “Document A/777” was a landmark broadcast, a high point in the career of a great American radio personality, and it exemplifies the vigorous UN presence on contemporary American airwaves and the enthusiastic hope and confidence citizens placed in the UN following World War II.

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