Un Foundation Ceo Speaks About Geopolitics The Tartan

Leo Migdal
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un foundation ceo speaks about geopolitics the tartan

United Nations Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Cousens joined Heinz College professor and former Ambassador Sarah Mendelson Wednesday, April 9 as a guest speaker for the fireside chat “Advancing Multilateralism in a Challenging Geopolitical... Cousens and Mendelson’s discussion is the third and latest entry in the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management’s speaker series “Challenges and Opportunities to Sustainable Development in the United States and Beyond.” Cousens began by detailing the U.N. Foundation’s origins and its relationship to the U.N. “The U.N.

Foundation was created in 1998 by media entrepreneur Ted Turner, the founder of CNN,” Cousens said. “[Turner] believed that international cooperation was indispensable in an interconnected world. And he believed that the United Nations in particular, was a singular essential institution to make all of that practical and real and to stand up for those values.” When the United States failed to pay its dues to the U.N. — adding up to “about a billion dollars” in appears in 1998 — Turner had been angered as “he thought the U.N. deserved a little bit better than that, particularly from a country that had the most to do with creating it in the first place.” Consequently, “he surprised quite a few people by going to...

Association of the United States and announcing that he was giving a billion privately, which was the same amount that the US was in debt.” However, Cousens explained that “it turned out that you couldn’t, as a private individual, do that in those days. And so they created the foundation, initially, as a channel for that gift.” Cousens emphasized the precedent that this set: “The Gates Foundation wasn’t created yet. The Giving Pledge hadn’t started yet. So he was the kickoff to that new generation of philanthropy among high net worth individuals who really wanted to do purposeful things with their money.” Elizabeth Cousens grew up with an insatiable curiosity about world events.

This early interest has led to a remarkable career of service, including significant roles with the United Nations, both in the New York headquarters and areas of armed conflict like Bosnia and Haiti. At the United Nations Foundation, she oversees the organization that was formed thanks to Ted Turner’s $1 billion contribution and that today works alongside the United Nations “to collaborate for lasting change and innovate... UN FoundationLinked In Twitter Beat Malaria Twitter Facebook LinkedIn The international community “seems incapable of coming together” to respond to intensifying crises, pushing the multilateral system into dysfunction and deadlock in a more fragmented world, the United Nations Secretary-General warned this September at... António Guterres told Heads of State and Government that the only way out of the current global state of spiralling geopolitical tensions is through multilateralism. He emphasized that leaders must return to the principles upon which the UN was established, saying that humanity is creeping “ever closer to a great fracture”.

The world needs more “statesmanship, not gamesmanship and gridlock”, he declared. He highlighted the misery that the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine has unleashed and expressed deep concern that nuclear disarmament is currently at a standstill. Across the Sahel, a series of coups is destabilizing the region while terrorism gains ground. Meanwhile, the global humanitarian system is on the verge of collapse. The world has much to do. For one, it must phase out coal, oil, and gas, with developed countries and emerging economies reaching net zero in the next several decades.

“We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don’t reflect the world as it is,” the Secretary-General stressed. Dennis Francis (Trinidad and Tobago), President of the General Assembly’s seventy-eighth session, similarly called on Heads of State and Government to come together to address war, climate change, debt, poverty, and famine. “These crises are directly impacting the lives and well-being of billions of people around the world,” he stressed. On Ukraine, he expressed concern over the continued violation of that country’s territorial integrity, stressing: “We all want this war to end”. Further, speaking as a citizen of a climate-vulnerable region, he emphasized that Member States must deliver concrete results. “We do not lack capacity,” he said, adding: “What we lack is the will to act.”

In concluding remarks on the final day of the high-level debate on 26 September, Mr. Francis observed that the Assembly had heard from 136 Heads of State and Government, as well as 40 ministers, of which 20 were women. Noting progress made by Member States in pursuing his call “to act together, in solidarity”, he praised a record number of voices speaking at the UN. “We have it within us today to heal our divisions, find integrated solutions that reflect our universal values and commitments, and usher in a brighter tomorrow,” he added. [Prefatory Note: What follows is an interview conducted by Daniel Falcone withHans von Sponeck and myself on our collaborative book Liberating the UN: Realism with Hope (Stanford University Press, 2024). This interview was previously published in CounterPunch in late October.

Since the interview Donald Trump has been elected the next President of the US, which would augur bad news for the UN, particularly in the areas of peace and security, and human rights.] The United Nations: Failure by Design, Reform by Demand By Richard Falk, Hans von Sponeck and Daniel Falcone Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied, Richard Falk, and former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Hans von Sponeck, are... In this question and answer with Daniel Falcone, they break down the main arguments of their book along with the relevance of the UN Summit of the Future as well as the prospects for... Falk and von Sponeck complicate the term geopolitical term realism and discuss the ramifications for how global governance can move forward with hope.

Daniel Falcone: Can you discuss the general thesis or main arguments of the book and how they connect to, take say, the specific UN failures in making a difference in Ukraine and Gaza, along...

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United Nations Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Cousens joined Heinz College professor and former Ambassador Sarah Mendelson Wednesday, April 9 as a guest speaker for the fireside chat “Advancing Multilateralism in a Challenging Geopolitical... Cousens and Mendelson’s discussion is the third and latest entry in the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management’s speaker series “Ch...

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Foundation was created in 1998 by media entrepreneur Ted Turner, the founder of CNN,” Cousens said. “[Turner] believed that international cooperation was indispensable in an interconnected world. And he believed that the United Nations in particular, was a singular essential institution to make all of that practical and real and to stand up for those values.” When the United States failed to pay i...

Association Of The United States And Announcing That He Was

Association of the United States and announcing that he was giving a billion privately, which was the same amount that the US was in debt.” However, Cousens explained that “it turned out that you couldn’t, as a private individual, do that in those days. And so they created the foundation, initially, as a channel for that gift.” Cousens emphasized the precedent that this set: “The Gates Foundation ...

This Early Interest Has Led To A Remarkable Career Of

This early interest has led to a remarkable career of service, including significant roles with the United Nations, both in the New York headquarters and areas of armed conflict like Bosnia and Haiti. At the United Nations Foundation, she oversees the organization that was formed thanks to Ted Turner’s $1 billion contribution and that today works alongside the United Nations “to collaborate for la...

The World Needs More “statesmanship, Not Gamesmanship And Gridlock”, He

The world needs more “statesmanship, not gamesmanship and gridlock”, he declared. He highlighted the misery that the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine has unleashed and expressed deep concern that nuclear disarmament is currently at a standstill. Across the Sahel, a series of coups is destabilizing the region while terrorism gains ground. Meanwhile, the global humanitarian system is on the ...