To Save Us From Hell

The major Financing for Development Conference wrapped up in Seville last week with the so-called Compromiso de Sevilla, which commits countries to accelerating efforts to fund the Sustainable Development Goals and support economic and social development in lower-income countries. In our first segment, we are joined by Michael Sheldrick, co-founder of G…

Bombs are dropping in Iran and Israel, with no end in sight and the very real prospect that the United States might imminently join the fight. As a hot war unfolds in the Middle East, frantic diplomacy is also underway at both the United Nations and the IAEA.

In the first (and free) segment, Mark and Anjali take a deep dive into a parallel diplomatic process on Iran’s nuclear program that is unfolding alongside the escalating war. After the jump, they discuss the implications of the Trump administration’s decision to walk out of a major UN conference on financing for development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mark and Anjali then react to breaking news that the United Nations is poised to abandon its lease at the historic and stately Palais Wilson in Geneva, which once housed the League of Nations and is now the headquarters of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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The General Assembly selected five new members of the Security Council and one new President of the General Assembly this week in not-so-hotly contested elections. These new Security Council members will take their seats in January, and former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will assume the PGA gavel at UNGA in September. So what can we expect…

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The UN is facing a major budget crunch. So how is it responding? One answer is UN80—a reform effort championed by the Secretary-General aimed at reducing the cost of operating the world body. Some proposals are beginning to take shape, including staff cuts, merging certain agencies, and—more controversially—shifting operations out of expensive cities li…

The race to succeed António Guterres is unofficially underway. His term as UN Secretary-General ends in December 2026, but the backroom jockeying has already begun. In this episode, Mark and Anjali are joined by Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group to break down the early contenders, how shifting geopolitics could shake up the selection proc…

"Nobody wins in trade wars," said António Guterres as he left a UN Security Council meeting this week. But it’s clear there’s at least one big loser: American diplomacy. This week, Anjali and Mark break down how the Trump tariffs are rippling through the UN — and how they’re complicating diplomacy on issues that have nothing to do with trade. We also speculate on who Trump might tap as his next envoy now that Elise Stefanik is out. Plus, we dig into the UN’s role in Gaza as both diplomacy and humanitarian aid grind to a halt, and what’s next for the World Food Program after a stunning announcement — and sudden retraction — from a senior DOGE official.

The UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration are two entities now squarely in the crosshairs of their once-strongest backer. Both agencies rely heavily on American funding—but with that funding now cut, they’re laying off staff by the thousands. Anjali and Mark discuss the impact of these cuts on the agencies themselves, as wel…

The Trump administration has turned the United Nations into a battleground in its war on gender equality. At the Commission on the Status of Women this week, the U.S. sought to block references to gender equality…in a conference dedicated to that very cause! Meanwhile, at the Security Council, the U.S. refused to join a statement condemning the Taliban’…

On Monday February 24, the General Assembly convened for a long-scheduled vote marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a stunning shift, the United States abandoned its European allies and abruptly sided with Russia in an attempt to block any condemnation of Russia’s aggression and any affirmation of Ukrainian sovereignty.

This …

The Trump administration’s fight against DEI has come for the United Nations. In this episode of To Save Us From Hell, Anjali Dayal and Mark Leon Goldberg discuss what we are seeing unfold at the UN in terms of Trump’s push against inclusion and gender equity. These moves are already disrupting the regular order of business at the UN, and we explore wha…