John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — It’s long been an economic truism that the United States pays the lions share of the UN budget. Moreover the European Union (EU) countries contribute the largest bloc of dues of the 193 member organization. Well, there’s good and bad news. The USA’s budget assessment is no longer as […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — It should come as no surprise that a country haunted by the aftermath of civil war, challenged by military coups, mired in corruption, and facing the undertow of poverty would be a prime candidate for drug smuggling. Add a geographic location on the nexus of transportation routes, but off […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Regions of a vast landlocked country, remote but strategic, has fallen under the control of Al Qaida terrorists and fundamentalist forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled a regime which persecutes women, imposes stringent Sharia law, and desecrates and destroys ancient towns and even mosques. The outside world […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — One year ago the renowned author, playwright, and former President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel died at age 75. In tribute to this extraordinary European Renaissance Man, I’m reissuing my column in the spirit of memory and the season. “Havel’s career as literary figure, intellectual and a political […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — First, the good news. The United States has been re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council along with Germany and Ireland. So too have been South Korea and Japan. Now fasten your seat belts for the rest of the eighteen new selections to the 47 member Geneva-based Council which […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The Falkland Island Road Show has come to the United Nations, with all the political trappings of drama, hyper-nationalism, and self-righteous moralizing. The focus remains on the future of this windswept British territory in the South Atlantic claimed by, and also once invaded by, neighboring Argentina. Now thirty years […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Shadows of the Cold War returned to the UN during the recent elections for President of the General Assembly where a previously agreed to candidate from Lithuania was challenged, and subsequently defeated, by a Russian-backed contender from Serbia. What was originally expected to be a consensus vote selecting a […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — When it comes to media censorship we think of the usual pantheon of dictators and autocrats who unashamedly shut down news outlets, stifle the free flow of information, and throw journalists in jail. And it’s in countries like North Korea, Cuba, and Islamic Republic of Iran where print and […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Despite the persistent economic headwinds which are expected to slow economic expansion this year, “growth in the Asia and the Pacific area remains better than in any other region; continuing as an anchor of stability and a new growth pole for the world economy.” That’s the guardedly optimistic prognosis […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — A spate of seven seemingly unexplained serial killings has shocked France with the uncomfortable realization that the specter of terrorism has not vanished. But the shootings of three soldiers and later, the calculated cold- blooded rampage at a Jewish school killing a rabbi and three children, turned the tragedy […]