The UN in Music, Movies and TV

As certified UN-Nerds, Anjali Dayal and Mark Leon Goldberg's ears always perk up when they see the UN represented in pop culture. In this special episode of To Save Us From Hell, we take a deep dive into how the United Nations is portrayed in popular music, television shows, and film. From Lou Reed to Charlize Theron to Doctor Who —we explore the cultural impact of the United Nations from the 1950s to today.

What Would a Second Trump Presidency Mean for the UN?| An Interview with Malta's UN Ambassador

It’s been a tumultuous week in American politics: an assassination attempt on Trump, JD Vance nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate, and the ongoing Republican National Conventions. In this episode of To Save Us From Hell, we take a look at what a second Trump presidency would mean for the United Nations. We discuss Trump’s views and approach to the UN from his first term in office, how COVID-19 completely changed his attitudes towards the UN, and what we can expect from a second Trump presidency. This includes a deep dive into what Project 2025 says about the United Nations, including the potential for the US to withdraw from the UN altogether.

In our second segment, we speak with Malta’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Vanessa Frazier. Malta serves on the Security Council, and Ambassador Frazier was chiefly responsible for the only meaningful Security Council resolution on Gaza, which she crafted in November and which led to the release of over 100 hostages and the only sustained cessation of hostilities to date. We share with you an excerpt of that interview. Our full conversation with Ambassador Frazier is available exclusively to paying supporters.

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Ukraine and Russia Clash at the Security Council | The Sustainable Development Goals Get Their Annual Check Up | Kamala Harris + the UN?

If Biden declines to run for re-election, the most likely replacement is Vice President Kamala Harris. In this week’s episode of To Save Us From Hell we take a deep dive into Kamala Harris’ views of the United Nations. We discuss how she’s engaged with the UN since becoming Vice President and why there are some subtle but important distinctions between her approach to the UN and that of President Biden.

We kick off at the Security Council, where an emergency meeting on Ukraine led to a revealing clash between the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors. The meeting followed Russian airstrikes on a children’s hospital in Kyiv, which Russia denied. Things got particularly heated when the Russian Ambassador, acting in his capacity as President of the Security Council, raised procedural objections against letting Ukraine into the meeting(!).

We also discuss an event around the UN that should attract more media attention than it actually does. The High-Level Political Forum is the third-largest annual gathering at the United Nations and serves as an annual check-up on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The centerpiece of this meeting includes over 40 “Voluntary National Reviews” in which countries report and discuss their own progress towards the SDGs. We discuss what’s happening at this year’s High-Level Political Forum and the merits of peer pressure as an accountability mechanism for the SDGs.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.globaldispatches.org/subscribe

Get a discounted subscription to the show at this link: https://www.globaldispatches.org/SaveUs

Can Peacekeepers in Lebanon Stop a War? | How Should the UN Engage the Taliban? | Plus, What Does China Want from the United Nations?

The United Nations Interim Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has more peacekeepers deployed per square kilometer than any other UN peacekeeping mission in the world. These peacekeepers have helped avert an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah in the past, but tensions are very high right now.

Our second segment focuses on a summit this week between Taliban officials and representatives of about 30 governments and international institutions, convened in Doha under UN auspices. This meeting is controversial and has earned reprobation in some circles for the fact that no Afghan women will be represented.

Finally, we share an excerpt of our interview with Courtney Fung, an academic who studies Chinese diplomacy and its approach to the United Nations. This is a 15-minute excerpt of our full 40-minute interview that is available to our paying supporters. The interview covers China’s evolving relationship to the UN, including how the policies and strategies it pursues are changing as it becomes a more robust global power.

Haiti in the Spotlight | Race for President of the General Assembly | Olympic Hopes

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield visited Port-au-Prince this week in a show of support for UN-backed efforts to bring a modicum of stability to Haiti. Her visit comes on the heels of the deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti and a recent vote in the Security Council to back the UN’s office in the country.

In our second segment, we discuss the kickoff of the race for the 80th President of the General Assembly, who will take office next year and profoundly shape the process of selecting the next UN Secretary-General. We also discuss the concept of an “Olympic Truce” embraced by the United Nations and the UN-backed effort to establish a Refugee Olympic Team.

This episode is freely available across all podcast listening platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. You can also listen directly in Substack.

What Russia's New Pact with North Korea Means for the United Nations | Plus, Progress on Gaza and Sudan at the Security Council, and Who Should Replace UN Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths?

As we sat down to record the episode, Vladimir Putin was being feted in Pyongyang by Kim Jong Un. The two had just signed a security pact revived from the Cold War era, signaling an ever-closer alliance and marking the death knell of nearly 20 years of North Korea nuclear diplomacy at the Security Council. Meanwhile, over the last ten days we’ve seen the first meaningful progress at the Security Council on the two worst crises in the world: Gaza and Sudan. We discuss what lead to a near-unanimous Security Council resolutions on a Gaza ceasefire proposal and a Sudan resolution aimed at stopping an attack on a major city in Darfur. We discuss whether or not these resolutions can push the warring parties to a cessation of hostilities and what to make of a rather awkward (and heated!) encounter between the Sudanese and Emirati ambassadors to the UN.

We wrap up with conversation about Martin Griffiths, the top UN humanitarian official who is leaving his post at the end of the month. We discuss why the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs is arguably the second most important position at the UN behind the Secretary-General, who might replace him—and why this position has always gone to a British diplomat in recent years. The last non-Brit to hold this post, Jan Egeland, joins us to offer his advice for the incoming top UN humanitarian official.

Also discussed:

* Why a new UN report on children and armed conflict has exacerbated already deteriorating relations between Antonio Guterres and the Israeli ambassador the UN.

* Why Malta’s UN ambassador Vanessa Frazier’s stock is rising around the UN.

* Is Jan Egeland the ultimate United Nations Superhero Man?