A Marriage of Inconvenience: The U.S. and the U.N.

For decades, the United Nations and the United States have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. But when the U.S. pursues its own agenda, strains in the marriage rise to the surface. Can the U.N. and the U.S. preserve their relationship?

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Program Overview

  • Hosts: : Ray Suarez and Deborah Amos
  • Original Airdate: Jan 2008

America’s high hopes for the United Nations have been tempered by frequent frustration. The U.N. can be inefficient and bureaucratic, and it doesn’t always follow the will of the United States. And yet, for better or worse, the two continue to work together.

In segment one, Ray Suarez examines the challenges faced by a new UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region.

In segment two Deborah Amos traces the history of the U.S. and the U.N. with Dr. Edward Luck of the International Peace Academy and see why this “marriage of inconvenience” is necessary.

Deborah Amos gains insight into the U.S. diplomatic efforts to get U.N. support for the 1991 Persian Gulf War in segment three.

In segment four, Ray Suarez reports on the U.N. Human Rights Council, one of the United Nations’ most respected commissions. With the inclusion of countries accused of human rights abuses, the U.S. continues to boycott the UNHRC. We talk to former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, as well as other U.N. Human Rights representatives from around the world for their take on the U.S. boycott of the Council.

Guests on this program include:

Kristen Silverberg, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations

Alberto Fernandez, US Charge d’Affairs for Sudan

Jane Holl Lute, Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping

Deborah Derrick, Executive Director of the Better World Campaign

Jan Eliasson, UN Special Envoy for Darfur

Dr. Ed Luck, Vice President and Director of Studies at the International Peace Academy

James Baker, former Secretary of State

Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Adviser

Thomas Pickering, former US Ambassador to the UN

Dennis Ross, former Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff

John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the UN

Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, first president of the Human Rights Council and permanent representative of Mexico to the UN in Geneva

Itzhak Levanon, Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva

Martin Scheinen, UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur

Andrew Clapham, Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva

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“I would never agree or go along with the idea that somehow the United States should never act unless it got a U.N. resolution authorizing the action. You don’t want Chad telling you when you can and can’t pursue your vital national interests.”
- James Baker, former Secretary of State, on why the U.N. should never have a veto over U.S. actions.