UN Security Council (UNSC)

Adela Raz, Vice-President of the 75th session of the General Assembly and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations, chairs the general debate of the General Assembly's seventy-fifth session. Sitting at an appropriate socially distanced space is Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. Both wear face masks.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Sept. 18-25)

General Debate opens; leaders urge cooperation and UNSC reform; Trump attempts to snapback sanctions on Iran, allies decline; and Special Envoy for Syria describes "ray of hope"…

Sep. 25, 2020 Lyes Jalali

Volkan Bozkir, President of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, does not wear a face mask while opening the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly. To his right and somewhat socially distanced is Secretary-General António Guterres, who wears a face mask.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Sept. 11-18)

The UN General Assembly opens its 75th session in NYC; the Security Council extends UN missions in Afghanistan, Libya; UN fact-finding missions in Venezuela and Syria issue reports;…

Sep. 18, 2020 Tim Hirschel-Burns

Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Alberto Arreaza holds the Charter of the United Nations during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Caracas, on January 28, 2019.

The UN Charter’s Original Effect on State Sovereignty and the Use of Force

In 1945, not all states were UN members and not all territories were states: Dehn explains how use of force and self-defense rights under the Charter reflect these different statuses…

Aug. 27, 2020 John Dehn

A facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, north of Akto in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

Policy Options in Response to Crimes Against Humanity and Potential Genocide in Xinjiang

The international community can unite in myriad ways to end the stunningly sweeping abuses China is committing against Uyghurs.

Aug. 25, 2020 Beth Van Schaack

Two people in camo with guns nearby. Cover of U.N. Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) publication, “Guidelines to facilitate the use and admissibility as evidence in national criminal courts of information collected, handled, preserved and shared by the military to prosecute terrorist offences.”

The UN Guidelines on “Battlefield” Evidence and Terrorist Offences: A Frame, a Monet, or a Patchwork?

In December 2019 the United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), with the support of the traditional alphabet soup of other U.N. organizations focused…

Aug. 21, 2020 Robert Cryer

The UN Security Council Is About to Dangerously Undermine Fair Trial Guarantees

Dangerous flaws in a current draft U.N. Security Council resolution on foreign fighters need to be addressed, if the Security Council is to live up to its responsibility to respect…

Aug. 20, 2020 Simon Crowther

Judges Walid Akoum, Janet Nosworthy, David Re, Micheline Braidy and Nicola Lettier preside over the first hearing in the trial of four people accused of murdering former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague on January 16, 2014.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon is Set to Issue Historic Ruling on the Assassination of PM Hariri

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon will release its long-awaited judgment in the case involving the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The verdict, set to…

Aug. 17, 2020 Beth Van Schaack

Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen on a screen for a virtual Security Council meeting.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (July 25-31)

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Just Security’s weekly series keeping readers up to date on developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security,…

Jul. 31, 2020 Kamran King

United Nations Security Council delegates arrive at Sittwe airport on May 1, 2018 to meet with Myanmar officials and to inspect the latest situation in Rakhine state, home of the minority Rohingya Muslims.

The Rohingya Genocide and the ICJ: The Role of the International Community

(Editors Note: This article is part of a special Just Security forum on the ongoing Gambia v. Myanmar litigation at the International Court of Justice and ways forward.) When it…

Jul. 28, 2020 Nadira Kourt

Getting Serious About Protecting Health Care in War

After years of indifference to examining whether its rules of engagement and other operational directives and practices contribute to the scourge of violence against health workers,…

Jul. 28, 2020 Leonard Rubenstein

General Assembly Seventy-third session High-level plenary meeting to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the International Labour Organization. Vice President held virtually.

The UN Cannot Live on Past Laurels: The Time for Courageous Leadership on Anti-Black Racism Is Now

The U.N. and its specialized agencies must take action to redress anti-Black racism within and beyond its institutional walls.

Jul. 22, 2020 Adelle Blackett

A demonstrator holds a sign that read 'Peace and dialogue' as women from different parts of Ecuador march through the streets of Quito to ask for peace and to repeal the economic measures taken by President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno on October 12, 2019 in Quito, Ecuador.

Trump Administration’s Women, Peace and Security Plans: Blueprint for Action or Empty Promises?

The president and his officials take many actions diametrically opposed to these plans. But Congress and civil society can keep the pressure on.

Jul. 20, 2020 Ambassador Donald Steinberg