BU Now » United Nations

BU professor tells Congress

Dick Taffe — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:02:39 +0000

International relations Professor Augustus Richard Norton, a former U.N. peacekeeper in Lebanon and author of “Hezbollah: A Short History,” testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs about assessing the strength of Hezbollah. In his testimony, Norton made clear that Hezbollah remains a major influence in Lebanon because it’s the only military force see as capable of repelling the Israeli army.

“One key to reducing Hezbollah’s mass appeal may be to reduce the threat of war, rather than heighten it. So long as the threat prevails, Hezbollah will be a prime beneficiary.”

Contact Augustus Richard Norton, 617-353-7808, arn@bu.edu

North v. South Korea tensions mount

Dick Taffe — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:46:44 +0000

With military and political tensions increasing daily on the Korean Peninsula, Secretary of State Clinton says America will stand by South Korea as it seeks UN action to redress North Korea’s apparent sinking of South Korean warship. International relations Professor Thomas Berger, a specialist on government and political culture in East Asia, says today’s situation has “disturbing parallels” to the 1930s when economic turmoil and political weakness let to events that resulted in World War II.

“The international community is faced with a series of unfortunate events, any one of which by themselves could be managed, but which taken together could prove catastrophic … We can only hope that the international community – including the United States – shows greater wisdom this time around.”

Contact Thomas Berger, 617-353-5351, tuberger@bu.edu

UN “Rio + 20″ preparations under way

Dick Taffe — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:17:32 +0000

Preparations have begun at the United Nations for the global sustainable development summit to be held in Brazil in 2012, with the “Rio + 20″ summit to mark the 20th anniversary of the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro which was held 20 years after the 1972 environmental conference in Stockholm. International relations Professors Adil Najam, director of the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and Henrik Selin, a research fellow at the Center, write in a New Strait Times commentary that sustainable development is the key to a “Rio + 20″ agreement.

“They should seek to craft a global new deal for sustainable development; a deal that could finally help bridge the North-South divide by tackling poverty as well as over-consumption, environmental degradation as well as social justice, and greenness of the economy along with sustainable livelihoods.”

Contact Adil Najam, 617-358-4000, anajam@bu.edu; Henrik Selin, 617-358-2590, selin@bu.edu

A new UN climate chief

Dick Taffe — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:31:51 +0000

The United Nations secretary-general soon will name a new UN climate chief on the heels of the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen negotiations. International Relations Professor Adil Najam, director of the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and lead author of the UN’s climate change panel that shared the 2007 Nobel Prize, says the choice is critical for guiding future negotiations. In a commentary in New Straits Times, Najam suggests the attributes needed in a new UN climate chief.

“There is an opportunity here for the secretary-general to send a real signal about the centrality of sustainable development to climate change and global environmental governance. It would be a pity if this opportunity is missed.”

Contact Adil Najam, 617-358-4000, anajam@bu.edu

Pushing for nuke test ban

Dick Taffe — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:44:58 +0000

The Obama administration is pushing Congress to ratify the 1996 U.N. nuclear test-ban treaty and increase appropriations to monitor America’s aging stockpile without testing. Philip O’Neill, author of “Verification in an Age of Insecurity” who teaches national security law at the BU School of Law, says extra monitoring is good but addresses only part of the nation’s verification dilemma.

“There remain issues pertaining to our ability to monitor evasion through low yield tests; interpretation of what activity is properly constrained; the adequacy of the policing mechanism; the requisite certainty now needed in verification; and what standard to apply through the ratification process itself. Each is fair game in the renewed consideration of the comprehensive test ban.”

Contact Philip O’Neill, 617-951-2253, poneill@eapdlaw.com

Israel says no to Gaza inquiry

Dick Taffe — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:37:57 +0000

Israel has dismissed the UN fact-finding mission’s recommendation that the Israeli government launch an independent investigation into “serious violations” of international law during last year’s war in Gaza. Journalism Professor Bob Zelnick, a former ABC News Middle East correspondent and author of “Israeli Unilateralism: Beyond Gaza,” says the UN report authored by South African jurist Richard Goldstone misses the mark.

“The Goldstone report is yet another example of how the UN’s anti-Israel bias has deprived it of any meaningful role in the peace process.”

Contact Bob Zelnick, 617-353-5007, bzelnick@bu.edu