PassBlue UN Podcasts

With UK’s presidency of the Security Council underway, PassBlue used its interview with Ambassador James Kariuki, the country’s deputy permanent representative, to ask about one of the most controversial pieces of UK foreign policy – a bill that could allow British government ministers to ignore injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights to suspend deportation of illegal migrants. We also heard directly from the ambassador why the UK and the United States blocked the airing of Russia’s Arria formula meeting in April.

The meetings are an informal way for Council members to brief one another and the world via UN WebTV. China and Russia have also blocked the broadcasting of these informal meetings.

We would like to know from you, the listener, if Council members should be allowed to block the broadcast of any Arria-style meeting. Please tweet us @pass_blue

We were also joined by Evelyn Leopold, a veteran journalist now retired from Reuters who has reported in Africa and been stationed at the UN for two decades. She discussed the peace stalemate in Sudan.

Finally, we continued our search for culpability over the Council’s inability to reinstate the transitional government of Sudan or sanction the fighting generals after the coup of 2022.

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In March, the Taliban opened a consul in the UAE. There are two possible results proffered by Dr. Mira Al Hussein, a Mideast expert, on the move: the militants gain international legitimacy or the US could be tempted to bolster the Taliban to attack Iran. Both parties have clashed over water rights this year. On this episode of UN-Scripted, we also reflect on how well the UAE has been at building economic relationships globally, as it leaves its military interventionist policy of the post-Arab Spring days behind.

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On April 26, the Security Council held a historic meeting on the use of Veto power. At that meeting, an initiative by France and Mexico to stop Council members from using veto in cases of atrocities was re-echoed.

Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, Switzerland’s first Security Council president, told PassBlue her country is actively pushing for the motion to become a resolution. Will it happen? So far, only two permanent council members support the initiative, which will be ten years in the making by 2025. Ambassador Baeriswyl also told PassBlue why Switzerland joined the EU in sanctioning Russia and gave a tale of caution on developments in Sudan.

This is the first part of our three part podcast series about the founding of the United Nations, featuring Stephen Schlesinger, author of the book "Act of Creation." The series was created by Dan Becker, a composer, educator and board member of UNA-USA in San Francisco.

It is focused through the prism of the San Francisco Conference, where for two months beginning on April 25, 1945, the UN Charter was hammered out and signed on June 26 1945. It's important to emphasize that this historical story is not only fascinating in its own right, but it's especially relevant to events occurring right now. There are big lessons to learn here, lessons about leadership, about isolationism, and about the power of an educated general public.

Stephen Schlesinger, Fellow at the Century Foundation New York, author, International Affairs analyst, and a few other caps, told PassBlue why the multilateral system is best served with Russian in it.

At the end, dealing with erring Permanent council members, a position all five have occupied in history, comes down to moral suasion.

Sitting president of the Security Council, Pedro Comissario chatted with PassBlue on Feb. 24, 24 hours after abstaining again on a UN resolution demanding Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine. He said that certain Western countries, including the US and UK, did the same on Resolution 1514, outlawing colonialism, but he denied that historic ties with the Soviet Union have any bearing on Mozambique's foreign policy today. Ryan Cummings at the Center for Strategic and International Studies differs. And as Mozambique battles a cholera outbreak triggered by tropical storm-induced floods, Comissario shares his painful brush with global warming. Enjoy our 25 minutes of consenting and dissenting views on Mozambique’s foreign policy in this episode of UN-Scripted.

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Remember Atlantis? The mythical city gobbled up by the ocean? This is happening to islands and villages in the Pacific.

Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, Malta's emissary to the UN and president of the UN Security Council for February, tells PassBlue that international law has no cover for the rights of islanders who could lose their home to the water in our lifetime. Malta will raise the matter of rising sea levels to the Council on Feb. 14. We also discuss with the ambassador the tetchy topic of irregular migration in the Mediterranean as well as her love for judo. All in UN-Scripted.

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North Korea pushed pacifist Japan to the edge in 2022, launching over 90 cruise and ballistic missiles, several of them landing in Japanese waters. Tokyo responded in kind, announcing a security strategy that would see it become the ninth-most militarized economy in half a decade. The Japanese are also wary of possible Chinese threats. Journalists at Japan’s press briefing earlier in the month wanted to know if Japan would discuss North Korea in the Council. One reporter was concerned about Japan’s intent to “counterstrike” in apparent renunciation of Article 9 of its constitution. Naoko Kumagai, director of the Japan Chair at the University for Peace, told PassBlue that the new security blueprint is “exclusively for defense.”

This episode of Un-Scripted is a recap of Japan’s plans for the month, with analysis from Professor Kumagai. We would bring you an exclusive interview with the ambassador at the end of the week.

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India has raised its oil purchases from Russia from about 0% at the beginning OF THE Year to an estimated 22% in October. As a large consumer, its buying from Russia is freeing up the market for other buyers, keeping oil prices down. On the 60th episode of UN-Scripted, we speak to the country’s first female permanent representative, Ruchira Kamboj. She says India has the sovereign right to meet the energy needs of its 1.34 billion citizens. We also speak to Shyama Venkateswar, a public policy expert and member of New York City’s Commission on Gender Equity. She wants India, who agreed to phase out coal in the global climate change agreements, to make implementing the Loss and Damage Fund part of its mandate this month.

Ghana takes the presidency of the UN Security Council at a deep time of uncertainty. Russia has just suspended its role in the only concession it has offered since Putin invaded Ukraine, the Black Sea grain deal, upsetting the UN and the rest of the diplomatic community. Ambassador Harold Agyeman talks about whether Western sanctions on Russia have hurt Global South economies, but he says it's the war itself that is affecting individuals globally. Agyeman also discusses the future of Ecowas, the regional group in West Africa; Ghana’s fossil drive in a heating climate; and life in New York. We are also joined by Azamati Ebenezer, a scholar studying for his Ph.D. in international relations at Oxford.

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