Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist

New Evidence of Hezbollah’s Massive Arms Build-up in Lebanese Civilian Areas

Every calendar quarter the United Nations Security Council holds an extensive debate on the Israeli-Palestinian “situation.” The Israeli and Palestinian UN representatives make speeches following the Secretary General’s report on the current status, which are normally predictable restatements of their respective positions.

Syrian Peace Talks Remain on Hiatus

The war in Syria drags on, taking hundreds of thousands of lives and displacing millions of people. The conflict has created a power vacuum being filled by ISIS and other jihadist groups, while also serving as a proxy for the clashing geo-political strategic interests of Russia, the United States, Iran and other regional players. The United Nations has been helpless in trying to bring any order out of the chaos.

Terror Sponsoring Iran Takes U.S. to International Court

Iran has filed a complaint against the United States with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the seizure of two billion dollars in frozen Iranian assets, which are being held at Citibank in the U.S. The purpose of the seizure was to compensate American victims, their estate representatives, or surviving family members for the harms suffered as a result of Iranian-sponsored terror attacks.

UN Human Rights Chief’s Response to Jihadist Massacre: More "Robust Gun Regulation"

In response to the ISIS-inspired massacre at an Orlando nightclub on June 12th, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein focused on gun control. He said that such violent attacks are “the direct result of insufficient gun control.” He called on the U.S. to adopt "robust gun regulation" in order to counter the impact of gun violence on human rights.

Obama’s Syrian Refugee Policy Discriminates Against Christian Victims of Genocide

The Obama administration is rapidly accelerating its admission and resettlement of Syrian refugees. The administration is well on its way to meeting its target of taking 10,000 Syrians into the country by the end of the current fiscal year on September 30th.

Case Study of Out-of-Control Transnational Adjudicative Body

Multilateral treaties have become a bedrock of international law, especially since the end of World War II. More than 600 multilateral treaties have been sponsored by the United Nations out of the approximately 8,000 multilateral treaties entered into since World War II. In setting out the parties’ rights and obligations, norms of behavior and dispute resolution mechanisms, carefully written treaties that have buy-in from the member countries can reduce the potential for resort to armed conflict or economic warfare.

Obama Administration Cooperates with the UN on Open Borders

President Obama is reportedly planning to accelerate the screening process for Syrians claiming refugee status, so that they can be rapidly resettled in communities across the United States.

The UN World Humanitarian Summit Money Pit

Anyone who is serious about accountable, transparent delivery of humanitarian aid to people truly in need should think long and hard before making any further unconditional funding commitments to OCHA,

Fiery Exchange Between Israeli and Palestinian UN Envoys at Security Council

During the United Nations Security Council's April 18th quarterly "open debate" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon delivered an impassioned speech accusing the Palestinian leadership of inciting violence against Israeli civilians and honoring the terrorists. “The endless incitement and the ongoing glorification of violence,” by the Palestinians “is directly responsible for the murder of innocent Israelis,” he said.

UN Issues Deeply Flawed Audit of Corrupt Dealings Between the UN and Private Interests

As a result of an unfolding corruption scandal at the United Nations, serious unanswered questions have arisen about the rigor with which the UN vets the companies and their affiliated private foundations who seek to make donations to the UN. In order to keep the money flowing into UN coffers and make up for shortfalls in member state contributions to agency budgets, at least some UN offices appear willing to sell to private donors an opportunity to associate themselves with the image of noble sounding UN causes such as sustainable development.

How Putin is out-maneuvering Obama in Syria

In what has become a monthly ritual, the United Nations Security Council received a briefing on March 30th regarding the very dire humanitarian conditions in war-torn Syria.

Turkey is the Wrong Choice to Host the UN’s First Global Humanitarian Summit

The first-ever United Nations-sponsored World Humanitarian Summit is scheduled to take place May 23-24, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised Turkey’s “compassionate leadership” in hosting the summit and its “admirable commitment to humanitarian action.”

Prime Minister Trudeau Embraces the United Nations

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited United Nations headquarters in New York today and declared Canada's commitment to fully supporting the United Nations agenda, including the Paris climate change agreement, human rights (particularly the rights of refugees) and UN peacekeeping.

Iran’s Free Hand in Testing Dangerous Ballistic Missiles

The United Nations Security Council met in an “emergency” closed door session on Monday March 14th to discuss Iran’s recent testing of ballistic missiles reportedly designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The words “Israel must be wiped out” were written in Hebrew on the side of the missiles. These most recent tests followed in the wake of missile tests conducted last fall, which the Security Council did nothing about at the time.

UN Security Council Finally Passes Tough North Korean Measures, At Least On Paper

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on March 2nd that imposes tough new sanctions and tightens some of its existing measures against North Korea. Resolution 2270 (2016) was the Security Council’s latest and strongest response to the rogue North Korean regime’s ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile-related test activities in violation of a series of prior Security Council resolutions.

Venezuelan Hypocrisy at the UN Security Council

The United Nations Security Council held an open debate Monday on the topic of "Respect for the Principles and Purposes of the Charter as a Key Element for the Maintenance of International Peace and Security." Venezuela holds the presidency of the Security Council this month. Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs Delcy Rodríguez, sitting in the Security Council president's chair, delivered remarks in her national capacity that channeled the spirit of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Her self-righteous appeal for adherence to the UN Charter was an exercise in hypocrisy.

The UN’s “Frothing of Words”

Winston Churchill warned about the potential for the United Nations to turn into “merely a frothing of words.” If Churchill had seen the UN in action these last several weeks trying to deal with crises in Syria and North Korea, he would have concluded that his warning was not heeded.

Speculators and Alarmists Unduly Exaggerate Concerns over China’s Economy

According to the preliminary estimates of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China increased by 6.9 percent in 2015. Nevertheless, while this rate of growth of China’s economy compares very favorably with the U.S. growth rate of 2.4 percent, alarmists have offered dire assessments of the state of China’s economy as 2016 got underway and China’s stock market took a nose dive.

Don't Shoot at the Truth, Mr. Secretary General

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon came under heavy criticism last week from Israel and its supporters for remarks he delivered to the UN Security Council regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His critics, including yours truly, considered his remarks a one-sided takedown of Israeli policies and a justification for Palestinian violence against defenseless Israeli civilians.

UN Secretary General Starts New Year Rationalizing Palestinian Violence

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon began his January 26th briefing to the Security Council regarding the situation in the Middle East by declaring: “Sadly, 2016 has begun much like 2015 ended – with unacceptable levels of violence and a polarized public discourse across the spectrum in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.” True enough, but he left out the fact that 2016 has also begun, much like 2015 ended, with one-sided UN denunciations of Israel and excuses for Palestinian acts of terror. Ban Ki-moon’s first remarks to the Security Council this year on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are no exception.