Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, Sept. 26, 2018 (AP photo by Frank Franklin II).

Is the European Union becoming an effective diplomatic force in the Security Council? Advocates of a common EU foreign policy have long called on the bloc to play a greater role at the United Nations. Germany is even formally committed to the idea of an EU seat on the council. The union has gradually become more prominent in the General Assembly as well as in debates on development aid over the past two decades. But it has not had the same impact in the Security Council. Britain and France have defended their special status as permanent members and been wary […]

U.N. peacekeepers from Rwanda patrol the streets of Bangui, Central African Republic, Feb. 12, 2016 (AP photo by Jerome Delay).

What does a small spat in the Security Council over the Central African Republic, or CAR, tell us about the state of major power relations? Last week, the council was unable to agree on the terms of a six-month extension to the 13,000-strong United Nations stabilization mission in CAR, known by its French acronym MINUSCA. The diplomats gave themselves a month to fix their differences over the operation’s mandate. There seem to be three main points of contention. One is Moscow’s insistence that the council endorse a Sudanese-Russian effort to mediate the fragmented country’s conflicts. France, the former colonial power, […]

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the opening session of the Paris Peace Forum at the Villette Conference Hall in Paris, France, Nov. 11, 2018 (SIPA photo by Eliot Blondet via AP Images).

Peace is complicated. That is the overriding, if unintended, message of this week’s Paris Peace Forum, a new multilateral conclave initiated by the French government to commemorate the end of World War I. The organizers claim that the event is based on the “simple idea” that “international cooperation is key to tackling global challenges and ensuring durable peace.” That is pretty much where the simplicity ends, however. Over 100 groups from around the world are in Paris to present their ideas about peace to 2,500 participants. Their approaches to the issue are, to put it mildly, eclectic. One organization hopes […]

A supporter waves a flag with an image of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 29, 2018 (AP photo by Leo Correa).

Will the world’s middle powers save the liberal international system, or conspire to sink it? For the past decade, believers in international cooperation and multilateral institutions have invested a lot of hope in states like Brazil, India and South Korea. Such powers are big enough to play a major part in managing global order, the optimists argue. But unlike China and the U.S., they are not so big that they can disregard international rules and arrangements altogether. The not-quite-superpowers gained new diplomatic clout in 2008, when the U.S. and its European allies turned to the Group of 20 countries to […]