Episodes
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The race to succeed António Guterres is unofficially underway. His term as UN Secretary-General ends in December 2026, but the backroom jockeying has already begun. In this episode, Mark and Anjali are joined by Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group to break down the early contenders, how shifting geopolitics could shake up the selection proc…
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"Nobody wins in trade wars," said António Guterres as he left a UN Security Council meeting this week. But it’s clear there’s at least one big loser: American diplomacy. This week, Anjali and Mark break down how the Trump tariffs are rippling through the UN — and how they’re complicating diplomacy on issues that have nothing to do with trade. We also speculate on who Trump might tap as his next envoy now that Elise Stefanik is out. Plus, we dig into the UN’s role in Gaza as both diplomacy and humanitarian aid grind to a halt, and what’s next for the World Food Program after a stunning announcement — and sudden retraction — from a senior DOGE official.
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The UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration are two entities now squarely in the crosshairs of their once-strongest backer. Both agencies rely heavily on American funding—but with that funding now cut, they’re laying off staff by the thousands. Anjali and Mark discuss the impact of these cuts on the agencies themselves, as wel…
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The Trump administration has turned the United Nations into a battleground in its war on gender equality. At the Commission on the Status of Women this week, the U.S. sought to block references to gender equality…in a conference dedicated to that very cause! Meanwhile, at the Security Council, the U.S. refused to join a statement condemning the Taliban’…
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On Monday February 24, the General Assembly convened for a long-scheduled vote marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a stunning shift, the United States abandoned its European allies and abruptly sided with Russia in an attempt to block any condemnation of Russia’s aggression and any affirmation of Ukrainian sovereignty.
This …
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org
The Trump administration’s fight against DEI has come for the United Nations. In this episode of To Save Us From Hell, Anjali Dayal and Mark Leon Goldberg discuss what we are seeing unfold at the UN in terms of Trump’s push against inclusion and gender equity. These moves are already disrupting the regular order of business at the UN, and we explore wha…
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The major city of Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, is now under the control of a Rwanda-backed rebel group. UN peacekeepers in the area were unable to repel the assault but continue to play a key role in protecting civilians from violence. Meanwhile, the Security Council has held emergency meetings to address this growing crisis, w…
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In this special live recording of To Save Us From Hell, Anjali Dayal and I break down the highlights (and lowlights) from the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s pick as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Elise Stefanik, a member of Congress from New York and a staunch Donald Trump loyalist, did not project the hardcore MAGA vibes one might expect during her confirmation hearing. As Anjali and I discuss, she came across as a fairly conventional Republican—hitting many familiar GOP talking points about the United Nations but avoiding any indication that she believes the U.S. should withdraw from the UN or pursue anything particularly radical.
Our conversation was recorded live using Substack’s new livestream platform and is available wherever you listen to To Save Us From Hell, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and right here in the Substack app. The video of our recording is below!
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org
A new year. A new United Nations. In this 2025 debut episode of To Save Us From Hell, Anjali Dayal and I discuss what to expect in the year ahead at the United Nations. We cover a lot of ground—from the new composition of the UN Security Council to China’s new status as a major funder of the UN system, the chaos Trump is likely to bring, and much, much more.
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org
It’s a new day in Damascus. But what about New York? For the last 14 years, the United Nations’ role in Syria has been relegated to the circumscribed (but vital) task of supporting the humanitarian needs of Syrians. Now, there is an opportunity for the UN and the broader international community to support Syria’s political transition, post-conflict reco…
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We cover a lot of ground in this week’s free episode. Just hours before we recorded our conversation, the ICC issued formal arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Anjali Dayal and Mark Leon Goldberg explain what this means for the UN. We then travel to Baku for an update on COP29 before heading back to UN headquarters to discuss the latest US veto of a Gaza ceasefire resolution. Finally, we check in on the new UN Humanitarian Chief, Tom Fletcher, who started his role this week.
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In this special post-election edition of To Save Us From Hell, Mark Leon Goldberg and Anjali Dayal explain what to expect — and what not to expect — from Donald Trump’s approach to the United Nations during the next four years. Will he burn Turtle Bay to the ground? Mostly ignore the UN? Cozy up to Russia at the Security Council? And will the next UN Ambassador be Anjali’s old Middle School classmate? We discuss all this and more!
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UNRWA is a unique humanitarian agency. It is both a humanitarian relief provider for millions of Palestinians across several countries, and in many places, it functions as a de facto municipal government, providing services like schools, healthcare, and trash collection. Together, UNRWA provides a social safety net for 2.5 million people in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
And now, all of that might end.
Earlier this week, the Knesset passed a bill that would effectively force UNRWA to cease operations in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. The bill establishes bureaucratic barriers that prevent the Israeli government from cooperating with UNRWA, effectively dismantling it by making it impossible for UNRWA to operate in the West Bank and East Jerusalem without Israeli consent. In Gaza, it technically could continue its operations, but practically, UNRWA would not be able to function. It would lack the ability to coordinate with the Israeli government to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian goods or interact with Israeli inspectors who vet all goods entering the Gaza Strip. UNRWA is the single most important humanitarian agency still operating in Gaza, and when this bill comes into force, it will simply be unable to function in that capacity.
On this special episode of To Save Us From Hell, Anjali Dayal and I take a deep dive into the implications of Israel’s decision to evict UNRWA. We discuss UNRWA’s unique history as a UN agency, its singular role in Palestinian life, and explain why a wildly diverse set of countries — from Cuba to the United States — has condemned Israel’s actions against UNRWA.
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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 -
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org
UNRWA is a unique humanitarian agency. It is both a humanitarian relief provider for millions of Palestinians across several countries, and in many places, it functions as a de facto municipal government, providing services like schools, healthcare, and trash collection. Together, UNRWA provides a social safety net for 2.5 million people in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
And now, all of that might end.
Unlock the episode: https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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The Israeli Defense Forces have continued their deliberate attacks on UN peacekeeping positions in southern Lebanon, including an incident in which UNIFIL Blue Helmets were injured by white phosphorus, an incendiary chemical agent used by the Israeli army. Why does this keep happening, and what can make it stop? Meanwhile, António Guterres finds himself in hot water with the Ukrainians for his attendance at the BRICS Summit in Russia, and a major UN conference on biodiversity is underway in Colombia.
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org
Over the last week, Israel has directly targeted the positions of UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon. Several peacekeepers have been injured, but none killed—yet. The real tragedy of these ongoing attacks against UNIFIL is that they are undermining the one entity that can provide an off-ramp to further escalation in Lebanon and throughout the region. The path to de-escalation runs through UNIFIL. But for the moment, UNIFIL is, very literally, in the path of Israeli tanks.
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The UN Human Rights Council consists of 47 member states that serve three-year terms. They are elected to their seats by a vote in the General Assembly. Unlike most General Assembly votes, this one is done by secret ballot. On October 9, the UN General Assembly considered 19 candidates for 18 open seats on the Human Rights Council. The loser? Saudi Arabia. (Phew.)
In this week’s episode of To Save Us From Hell, we take a deep dive into the UN Human Rights Council — how it works, some of its big accomplishments, some of its deficiencies, and why countries with questionable human rights records are sometimes elected to it. (Though not Saudi Arabia, this time around.) Co-host Anjali Dayal and I then make our 2024 Nobel Peace Prize predictions!
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org
In the 79 years of the United Nations, no country has ever declared a UN Secretary General Persona Non-Grata—until now. On Wednesday, Israel made history when it PNG’d Antonio Guterres, saying he was no longer welcome to set foot on Israeli soil. The reason? In a statement condemning Iran’s attack on Israel, he apparently didn’t condemn it enough. Meanwhile, can the UN stop the escalating war between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran? And finally, we are down to two candidates to be the next Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. We discuss all this and more! https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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It’s an annual UNGA tradition!
For the umpteenth year in a row, Richard Gowan, Anjali Dayal, and I sit down for a wide-ranging chat about all things UNGA. Richard Gowan, of course, is the oft-quoted UN expert who serves as the UN Director of the International Crisis Group.
The three of us caught up a few hours after Biden’s farewell UNGA address and spent a good portion of our conversation dissecting his speech and reflecting on how the United Nations has changed during Biden's tenure as U.S. President. We also discussed Antonio Guterres’ speech and his coinage of a catchy new phrase to describe geopolitics today: “purgatory of polarity.” We kick off, however, by discussing the drama that unfolded at the Summit of the Future, where Russian malfeasance threatened to torpedo years of negotiations—all at the last minute.
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Linda Thomas-Greenfield made big waves around the UN this week when she rolled out a new and rather detailed American proposal for reforming the staid United Nations Security Council. The proposal is quite concrete and would likely be popular among most of the 193 UN member states. But is this just a cynical ploy to curry favor with Africa and much of the developing world ahead of UNGA? And how could a plan like this turn from an idea into concrete action? In today’s episode, Anjali Dayal and Mark Leon Goldberg dissect the Biden administration’s push for Security Council reform — and whether or not it can succeed.
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