International Organizations

How Iran and the Gulf Arab States Can Start a Dialogue Again

By Hussein Ibish

It’s hard to overstate the regional impact of the rivalry between Iran and several Gulf Arab states—most notably Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—bordering in recent years on enmity. While these countries haven’t come close to direct warfare, tensions have impacted many regional conflicts in the Middle East including in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, […]

Iran-Israel Animus Exacerbates the US-Iran Divide

By Barbara Slavin

NEW YORK — Iran’s mellifluous foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was in characteristic form Saturday afternoon as he sparred with a small group of journalists and US-Iran hands and fulminated against the policies of the Trump administration. Iran would survive the latest barrage of US sanctions, Zarif insisted, noting President Donald Trump’s relative isolation at […]

TRADE IN ACTION September 21, 2018

By Global Business & Economics Program

Trump puts America first at the United Nations

By Ashish Kumar Sen and David A. Wemer

“The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship,” US President Donald J. Trump told the assembled leaders, but “we only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”

The United Nations is in session. Here’s what to expect.

By David A. Wemer

With a litany of speeches, meetings, and the high-profile chairing of a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting by US President Donald J. Trump, what can we expect from the world body this week?

9 Facts you should know about the United Nations

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The UN Charter states that the main purpose of the world body is to—“maintain international peace and security,” “develop friendly relations among nations,” “achieve international co-operation in solving international problems,” and “be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.”