Diplomacy and International Politics

WASHINGTON — The United States government has decided to stop all funding it gives to a United Nations agency that provides assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees, ending a decades-long policy of supporting it, according to a former senior United States aid official.

Nicholas Burns, former American diplomat and current professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, joined Chad to react to the current situation in Syria and his thoughts on how the United States need to handle it.

It was the debut speech heard around the world – Donald Trump at the United Nations, putting American First and other nations on notice. Over the course of 41 minutes, the president criticized the Iran nuclear deal, promised to “totally destroy” North Korea if its leader Kim Jong-Un – otherwise known as “Rocketman” – continues his path and vowed to crush the “loser terrorists” in the Middle East.

In a conversation with Professor Nicholas Burns, Ban Ki-Moon, who served as UN Secretary-General from 2007 to December 2016, touches upon his transition from the diplomatic to the academic world, UN efforts to confront climate change under his leadership, and reconciling political realities with the achievement of long-term, global aims.

David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, discusses the drivers behind the displacement of over 65 million people and the changes that must be made to existing political and humanitarian systems in order to address the crisis on a global scale.

Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns joins CBSN to discuss the Syrian conflict after a chemical weapons attack killed dozens of civilians in Idlib, prompting an emergency meeting at the United Nations.

Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, European Union Ambassador to the United Nations, spoke at the Kennedy School as part of the Future of Diplomacy Project’s annual ‘Europe Week’ series.