Tag Archives: united nations

Document: U.S. Response to Syria

Document: U.S. Response to Syria

A map of the Syrian conflict and the displaced refugees. US State Department Graphic

A map of the Syrian conflict and the displaced refugees. US State Department Graphic

The following is from the Jan. 14, 2014 Congressional Research Service report: Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response.

Fighting continues across Syria, pitting government forces and their foreign allies against a range of anti-government insurgents, some of whom also are fighting amongst themselves. Since March 2011, the conflict has driven more than 2.3 million Syrians into neighboring countries as refugees (out of a total population of more than 22 million). Read More →

Opinion: Why Saudi Arabia and Israel Have Teamed Up Against Iran

Opinion: Why Saudi Arabia and Israel Have Teamed Up Against Iran

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Saudi-Arabia-IsraelAs negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland work out the final details for an agreement that will allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Iran’s nuclear facilities in return for relief of some of the economic sanctions on Iran, hawks in Washington, Tel Aviv and Riyadh have come together in opposition to the proposed deal. The P5+1 diplomatic initiative (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany) reached an initial agreement with Iran in November. Read More →

Diplomatic Solution to Syria's Chemical Weapons will not be Easy

Diplomatic Solution to Syria’s Chemical Weapons will not be Easy

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UN chemical weapon inspectors

UN chemical weapon inspectors

After a major chemical attack in the Ghouta area of Damascus, Syria, the United States and many of its allies struggled to find a response. Attempting to enforce its “red line”, America sought to conduct a series of limited strikes against the Syrian regime to deter future chemical warfare and degrade its capability to conduct it.

Yet steadfast allies such as Britain balked at attack, while the domestic outcry at home force the administration of President Barack Obama into requesting a vote on an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF)—which stood little chance of passing in Congress. Read More →

Document: U.N. Syrian Chemical Weapons Report

Document: U.N. Syrian Chemical Weapons Report

The following is the United Nation’s chemical weapons report on the Aug. 21, 2013 chemical weapons incident in Syria. From the report:

Conclusions:
On the basis of the evidence obtained during our investigation of the Ghouta incident, the conclusion is that, on 21 August 2013, chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale. Read More →

Document: U.N. Report Calling For Moratoria on Lethal Robots

Document: U.N. Report Calling For Moratoria on Lethal Robots

From the summary of the U.N. Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns. The report calls for a suspension of lethal robotic technology until international rules can be drafted:

Lethal autonomous robotics (LARs) are weapon systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further human intervention. They raise far-reaching concerns about the protection of life during war and peace. This includes the question of the extent to which they can be programmed to comply with the requirements of international humanitarian law and the standards protecting life under international human rights law. Read More →

U.N. Report Singles Out Two Navy Weapons Programs

U.N. Report Singles Out Two Navy Weapons Programs

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An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft is transported on an aircraft elevator aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft is transported on an aircraft elevator aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo

An April U.N. report calling for suspending the use deadly robotic weapon systems singled out two Navy systems, the Phalanx ship protection weapon system and the Navy’s test platform for carrier-based unmanned vehicles as part of a report recommending an international moratoria on so-called “lethal autonomous robotics.”

Report author Christof Heyns, a human rights professor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, mentioned the Phalanx and the Unmanned Combat Air System Aircraft Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) X-47B as examples of weapon systems with at least some degree of autonomous operation. Read More →

China at Odds with U.N. Treaty

China at Odds with U.N. Treaty

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China is rejecting the U.N. Law of the Sea treaty. Xinhua Photo

China is rejecting the U.N. Law of the Sea treaty. Xinhua Photo

On Jan. 22, Ma Keqing, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, was summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila and handed a note verbale informing her that the Philippines was initiating a legal challenge to bring China before an arbitral ribunal under the terms of the U.N. Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Read More →

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