In The News

Turkey Seeks to Lock in Long-Term Security

Soner Cagaptay November 18, 2013
Turkey briefly tried isolation until the Arab Spring when it pivoted toward the United States: “The two nations worked with other countries to oust Moammar Gaddafi in Libya that year and, early on, coordinated policies against the Assad regime,” writes Soner Cagaptay. But the United States could not win UN Security Council approval for sanctions or intervention in Syria, due to vetoes from...

The Dilemma of Desperation Migration

Joseph Chamie November 14, 2013
Poverty, conflict and overpopulation have historically forced migrants to pursue opportunity in wealthier nations. Modern migrants have more options for low-cost travel, yet nations have more organized registration, border surveillance and enforcement tools, explains Joseph Chamie, former director of the UN Population Division. Thus, transit countries face new pressures. The desperate in North...

Typhoon in Philippines Casts Long Shadow Over UN Talks on Climate Treaty

Henry Fountain, Justin Gillis November 13, 2013
Those worried about climate change are not waiting for scientific deliberation that Typhoon Haiyan is a consequence of a warming planet. The typhoon is reported to have killed thousands in the Philippines, and relief organizations struggle to reach survivors with needed food, water and supplies. Some delegates in Warsaw for UN talks on a climate treaty point to the typhoon as “the cost of...

Human Rights Groups: Drone Strikes Kill More Civilians Than US Admits

Craig Whitlock October 22, 2013
Human Rights Watch investigated six US drone strikes in Yemen and reports that 69 percent of 82 killed were civilians – undercutting claims that drone technology targets specific threats. “[T]he human rights groups said they were able to shed further light on the incidents by interviewing survivors, other witnesses and government officials in both countries,” reports Craig Whitlock for the...

Saudi Arabia Rejects UN Security Council Seat

Nate Rawlings October 21, 2013
Saudi Arabia – along with Chad, Chile, Lithuania and Nigeria – won a secret vote in the UN General Assembly for rotating seats on the UN Security Council and became the first country to reject the honor. “Its diplomats cited the council’s inability to take firm action on the current crisis in Syria (ostensibly the fault of vetoes from Russia and China) and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (...

Treaty Curbing Mercury Emissions Becomes International

October 18, 2013
A new global treaty will limit products and processes that can release mercury – which attacks the nervous system – and require safe storage before the year 2020. This includes batteries, some fluorescent lamps, skin-whitening soaps, thermometers and blood pressure devices, and the convention will also control the biggest sources of mercury pollution including “emissions and releases from...

Climate Panel Says Upper Limit on Emissions Is Nearing

Justin Gillis September 27, 2013
A UN panel that assesses and advises on climate change reports the phenomenon is well underway and likely to get worse, with human emissions as the cause. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has also listed a carbon budget for the globe: “To stand the best chance of keeping the planetary warming below an internationally agreed target of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels...