The InterDependent

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.

In 1992, I met a group of indigenous delegates at the UN attending a preparatory meeting for the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. I was struck by the quality of their presence and their deep sense of connection to community, nature and the earth. I felt strongly that I should ask them what they needed. They said they wanted to have their conference documented.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s term ends on Dec. 31, and he announced his bid for a second term on June 6. But months earlier, he had already begun his political activities to gauge his chances of receiving consent of the permanent five members of the Security Council, the most important precondition for his re-election by the General Assembly.