In the Issue

• The UN and R2P: Just Alphabet Soup?
• Powers and Principles: International Leadership in a Shrinking World
• Getting China Right
• Global/Regional Systems and the Changing Global Order
• Get to Know Your (Other) President
• Beyond Hockey, Lipstick, and Bailouts

Features

The UN and R2P: Just Alphabet Soup? In 2005 when the nations of the world agreed it is a responsibility of states to protect their populations against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes again humanity, it was a historic moment in the advancement of human rights and humanitarian norms. The difficulty has come in putting the responsibility to protect (R2P) into practice. In a new policy analysis brief from the Stanley Foundation, Edward Luck addresses the legal issues, the conceptual and political challenges, and the institutional issues R2P faces at the UN. A Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General, Luck also shared his thoughts at a recent event in Washington, DC. Listen to the audio.

Powers and Principles: International Leadership in a Shrinking World. The rise of new powers, fractiousness within the world community, the increase of diverse and unfamiliar threats, a rapid pace of change, and ambiguity in the role of the US as an upholder of global norms all present serious challenges to the rules-based international order. How will we know, over the coming years and decades, that rising powers are becoming pillars of the multinational system? This is the core question posed by the Stanley Foundation's Powers and Principles project, which is examining what current and rising global stakeholders can do to bolster the rules-based order.

Getting China Right. What kind of China policy should the US have? Stanley Foundation Program Officer Michael Schiffer and Nina Hachigian of the Center for American Progress offer a list of recommendations in a recent piece for the Far Eastern Economic Review: embed China, manage both potential downside and upside risk, collaborate with China, cooperate with other nations to influence China, reestablish US moral authority, and prepare to compete globally. Read the full article here.

Global/Regional Systems and the Changing Global Order. Across politics, economics, culture, military strength, and more, a new group of countries have growing influence over the future of the world. And a number of issues vital to US and global security are rapidly evolving due to a changing global order. The role of global and regional institutions (like the UN and NATO) is one of four crosscutting issues the Stanley Foundation sees shaping the global scene. Learn more about these institutions' influential roles in international affairs and the challenges they pose for the changing global order. This article is part of a series related to the Stanley Foundation effort "Rising Powers: The New Global Reality."

Beyond the Headlines

Get to Know Your (Other) President. Former leftist-Nicaraguan foreign minister, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, now serves as president of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). D'Escoto was unanimously elected by the 192 UNGA member states after running unopposed. He is an ordained Roman Catholic priest and was an active supporter of the Sandinista government, which fought against US-backed Contra rebels in the 1970s. This political involvement earned d'Escoto criticism from Pope John Paul II. He is a fierce critic of US action in Iraq. In an address to the 63rd session of the UNGA, d'Escoto warned that some member states' "addiction to war" threatened the credibility of the UN. He came into the position with the stated goal of democratizing the UN, and looks to raise questions about the veto power of the five permanent member states. However, with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Georgia and a global financial crisis on the rise, he has inherited an assembly focused on other issues. D'Escoto, who began his term in September, will serve as president of the assembly for one year. 

Beyond Hockey, Lipstick, and Bailouts. The presidential race and the failing economy have monopolized American media attention as of late. While Americans have been quipping about the merits of hockey, lipstick, and bailouts, many countries around the world have moved forward in focusing on cooperative solutions to global issues. China is taking the lead in a high-level meeting with the UN, which will focus on the development and transfer of green technologies across borders. The European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) launched a joint Energy Partnership in early September. The EU-AU partnership will focus on cooperation in developing efficient and affordable energy in Africa.

In politics, the EU has been instrumental in peace negotiations between Russia and Georgia after war broke out between the two nations. Under French President Nicolas Sarkozy's six-point peace plan, Russian troops will withdraw in early October. In the Middle East, there is new hope for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The newly elected Israeli Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni reiterated her commitment to a two-state solution in her first foreign policy speech. Many see her election as a positive step in the peace process. Nicaraguan priest Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann began his term as the president of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, while UN peacekeepers worked together to protect 90,000 Darfuris from attack in Sudan.