It is no secret that the global economy has taken a major hit from Covid-19. While graduations from universities, colleges and other schools were canceled or moved online, there is still an entire class of young people entering the job market who are passionate about multilateralism, global development, human rights and sustainability. But how can they land a coveted, highly competitive entry-level job at the United Nations or a related agency, in a pandemic? On today's episode, we chat with Ste...
Jul 21, 2020•16 min
Germany is regarded as one of the most powerful defenders of multilateralism in the world right now and has largely resisted the current global wave of populism and isolationism. But Chancellor Angela Merkel, the face of Germany since 2005, is retiring in 2021. What role will the country play on the world stage without her? As Germany begins its last presidency of the Security Council in its two-year term in July, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen shares his plans for the month and his vision for Ger...
Jul 05, 2020•15 min
Happy Birthday, UN Charter! As the United Nations turns 75, UN-Scripted looks at the past, present and future of the organization through the sharp eyes of elders and youth. In this episode, you’ll hear from former heads of states, diplomats and United Nations officials on what they believe are the UN’s greatest accomplishments and the path ahead for the organization. In this episode, you'll hear strong, controversial opinions: disillusioned UN youth delegates, elders desperate for international...
Jun 26, 2020•46 min
Bonjour! If you want to learn a new language to add to your list of quarantine ambitions, now may be the time to learn some very basic French — at least diplomatic French. In June, France assumes the Security Council presidency and is insisting on leading its meetings in la langue de Molière. On the show, we're joined by two longtime French diplomats: France’s current ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, who played a key role in the negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal, and a former French ...
Jun 01, 2020•21 min
Dr. Jillann Farmer has managed her share of crises as United Nations medical director, such as the Ebola outbreak in 2014 in West Africa and the Syrian chemical attacks that occurred in the country soon after that epidemic. Last winter, Dr. Farmer was ready to move on to a new job after 7 years at the UN to return to her native Australia, when the coronavirus pandemic quickly incapacitated New York City, putting the thousands of UN employees working at the Headquarters at risk. In this exclusive...
May 18, 2020•27 min
In May, Estonia assumes the UN Security Council presidency for the first time ever, bringing with it global expertise in cybersecurity and digital governance, just when the world seems to need it most. On this episode, we are joined by Estonian Permanent Representative Sven Jorgensen, who has been representing Estonia abroad even before it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and Lauri Malksoo, an international law expert and professor at the University of Tartu, in Estonia. Links:...
Apr 30, 2020•21 min
The coronavirus pandemic could change dynamics in the global political landscape that seemed unchangeable only last month. Will sanctions regimes be one of its victims? Many parties in the international community are debating whether to loosen sanctions in certain countries to help them fight the pandemic, but critics say that bad actors are using the pandemic as political opportunism to lift sanctions. On today's show, we welcome two experts: Hilal Elver, the UN special rapporteur on the right ...
Apr 20, 2020•22 min
As the Dominican Republic assumes the Security Council presidency in April, Special Envoy José Singer Weisinger is inheriting a body fundamentally changed by the Covid-19 pandemic. He's presiding over "informal" video teleconference meetings and a flexible schedule from his country's capital, Santo Domingo, instead of from the Security Council chambers in New York City. Still, Singer wants the world to know one thing: "the Security Council is engaged and completely transparent." Links: PassBlue'...
Apr 02, 2020•23 min
**BONUS EPISODE** Will the world's war against the coronavirus stop (at least temporarily) all other wars? Secretary-General Antonio Guterres certainly hopes so. Still working in a mostly-empty UN headquarters, Guterres has made a global call for cease fires of all conflicts...with mixed results. And if Guterres gets sick himself, who is in charge of the United Nations? PassBlue reporter Laura Kirkpatrick investigated the line of succession for the top position at the UN. No one knows how long t...
Mar 27, 2020•32 min
On March 13, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres ordered New York-based personnel to start working from home from March 16-April 13. In this episode, we explore the question: How is working remotely affecting diplomacy? To answer it, we talked to four diplomats from four countries, all based in New York, about how their respective missions to the UN are handling the crisis: Rodrigo Carazo, the Costa Rican ambassador to the UN, Deputy Permanent Representatives Dmitry Polyanskiy of R...
Mar 19, 2020•19 min
The coronavirus -- COVID-19 -- outbreak is on everyone's minds right now, and the United Nations is no exception. As China assumes the Security Council rotating presidency for March and tries to stay focused on its top priorities, we look at how the outbreak has affected Chinese diplomacy here in New York and how it led to limiting the biggest annual women's rights meeting in the world, the Commission on the Status of Women, to just one day, on March 9. A Hong Kong-based China expert, Dr. Courtn...
Mar 06, 2020•29 min
**DOUBLE FEATURE ALERT** U.S. President Trump has made good on his campaign promises to redefine America's relationship with the rest of the world – for better or for worse, depending on perspectives -- and the United Nations has in many ways been the epicenter of his "American First" policy abroad. Most recently, his peace proposal for Israel and Palestine scraps decades of UN Security Council binding resolutions on the matter and even got one ambassador recalled. But what alternative visions t...
Feb 21, 2020•40 min
This month, A royal family comes to the UN, and it’s not Meghan and Harry on their first North American tour after Megxit. It’s the royal family of Belgium, making their first ever appearance before the UN Security Council. But that's not the only exciting event Belgian Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve has on the agenda for Belgium's presidency this month. In an exclusive interview, he opens up about his diplomatic experience, the European perspective on Brexit, and Belgium's top prioritie...
Feb 06, 2020•24 min
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the words "United Nations"? Melissa Fleming, UN Under Secretary General for Global Communications, spends a lot of time thinking about how people all over the world answer that question. A newcomer to UN headquarters in September, with a big agenda ahead (like the UN's 75th anniversary), Fleming wants the UN to become synonymous with positivity and real solutions. In the process, can she improve what some see as the UN's image problem? ------- H...
Jan 27, 2020•27 min
As the United Nations Security Council faces rising tensions between the United States and Iran in the Middle East, Vietnam assumes the Council presidency this month as well as the chairmanship of the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN)for 2020. On this week's show, we chat with two experts about how Vietnam may navigate the global crisis alongside its own priorities: Noeleen Heyzer, a distinguished fellow at the University of Singapore and former diplomat and high-level UN official, ...
Jan 08, 2020•20 min
China's investments around the globe purportedly came with "no strings attached." But many countries on the receiving end of those investments are now declining at the United Nations to denounce China's human rights record, even as its treatment of the Uighurs becomes increasingly difficult to deny. Co-host Stéphanie Fillion brings us up to speed. Also, we bring you an exclusive interview with the highest-ranking US citizen at the UN: Rosemary DiCarlo. She shares with us what it’s like to be a f...
Dec 22, 2019•22 min
Because the UN is located in New York City, the ambassadors don't often get to see the rest of the US, let alone experience "Southern hospitality." No more. As Security Council President this month, US Ambassador Kelly Knight Craft is taking the council "home for the holidays" to her home state of Kentucky. PassBlue Editor Dulcie Leimbach travelled to the horse capital of the world to see what's in store for the ambassadors, and learn more about Knight Craft's hometown and family history. PassBl...
Dec 06, 2019•29 min
African summits may be in vogue, and Russia’s recent summit in Sochi is no exception. PassBlue correspondent Joe Penney traveled to to the Black Sea resort to report on Russian President Vladimir Putin's pitch to African leaders: promoting a second African independence, this time financial, including offers of major developments like nuclear power. Yet, Russia is the #1 supplier of weapons to Africa, and many Russian and African delegates didn't pass up a chance to hold and pose with Kalashnikov...
Nov 20, 2019•22 min
Amid Brexit turmoil at home and a looming election, the United Kingdom has assumed the November Security Council presidency with a mission: to remind the UN of its work serving ordinary people and civilians. As the UK hosts a series of meetings about conflicts in places it previously colonized or controlled, everyone is watching to see whether, post-Brexit, the UK will stick with Europe at the UN or carve out a position all its own.
Nov 07, 2019•24 min
You read that correctly: tensions between Russia and the United States are overshadowing important work at the United Nations, á la the Cold War. Only this time around, Iran has joined Russia's efforts to disrupt routine committee work to protest US denials of visas to Russian and Iranian diplomats and foreign officials. Our very own Stéphanie Fillion broke the story. Also on our radar: the gap between feminists in the global North and South is widening thanks to the debate about decriminalizing...
Oct 24, 2019•16 min
South African Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila is not like other ambassadors: he doesn't shake hands, he does a fist bump, and instead of calling you Madam, he'll call you Sister. As a member of Nelson Mandela's party, he spent a decade in exile during Apartheid. Now, he's committed to carrying out Nelson Mandela's vision for peace in Africa by focusing his Security Council presidency on removing weapons from the hands of youth, reasserting the AU's presence on Libya, and taking the Council on ...
Oct 09, 2019•25 min
Our UN General Assembly recap with PassBlue journalists Sonah Lee and Laura Kirkpatrick, in less than 25 minutes. The divide between the "globalists" and the "patriots" defined the week. With President Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in the latter camp, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's nighttime lament of a bygone world without AI, French President Emmanuel Macron was one of the last bastions of multilateralism. Where did that leave Turkey’s President Erdogan? Somewhere in-betw...
Sep 27, 2019•25 min
Heads of state are descending on New York City for the 74th season of the UN General Assembly, and there is so much going on it's hard to know what to pay attention to. With help from the UN press corps and veteran New York Times UN bureau chief Barbara Crossette, we tell you who and what to watch for and remember some touchstones from past UNGA's.
Sep 19, 2019•20 min
From television shows like Chernobyl and Stranger Things to news coverage of in recent years of Russian interference in US elections, Americans remain ever-fascinated by Russia - but how Americans see Russia is not how Russia sees itself. In light of Russia’s September Security Council presidency, we take listeners inside Russia’s mission on the Upper East Side to find out what First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy thinks the West gets wrong about Russia - and what he thinks of...
Sep 04, 2019•27 min
She calls herself a homemaker, a consultant, a philanthropist, and recently acquired the title of "ambassador." But who is Kelly Knight Craft, the incoming US ambassador to the United Nations? Our columnist Irwin Arieff poured over her financial records and associates and examined her time as ambassador to Canada. He shares what he found, as well as highlights from her confirmation hearing.
Aug 20, 2019•23 min
August is a traditionally slow month at the United Nations, but Ambassador Wronecka of Poland has other plans for her country's Security Council presidency. On this episode, she previews the biggest events and shares about her long diplomatic career, being a woman in a male-dominated diplomatic corp, and finding authentic Polish food in New York City.
Aug 06, 2019•19 min
Along the East River in Midtown's Turtle Bay neighborhood, United Nations Headquarters looms over blocks of foreign missions and hotels, restaurants and shops whose main clientele are diplomats, UN staff and visiting dignitaries. But what goes on behind the UN's tightly-guarded gates? From PassBlue, a new podcast taking listeners inside the UN to hear from the diplomats themselves and the reporters covering them. Episodes out August 2019.
Jul 31, 2019•2 min
In this exclusive interview with PassBlue, Ambassador Karen Pierce of the United Kingdom explains the value of fashion in diplomacy, the challenges women diplomats still face, and offers advice to both other senior women and those coming up through the ranks. For a print version of this interview, visit passblue.com.
Jun 12, 2019•7 min
