United States Foreign Relations United Nations

In a decision that is becoming something of an annual tradition, the U.N. Human Rights Commission on Tuesday rejected a Clinton administration resolution that sought to condemn China for political and religious repression. The commission, meeting in Geneva, voted 22 to 18, with 12 abstentions, to take no action on the issue this year. In 1999, the vote was strikingly similar: 22 to 17, with 14 abstentions. Although U.S. officials acknowledge that they had no realistic hope that the U.N.

The Bush administration has notified the United Nations in a letter disclosed Monday that the war on terrorism might extend beyond Afghanistan and could continue even if Osama bin Laden is killed or captured. The message--dated Sunday and signed by John D. Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the world body--puts the U.N. on notice that the current U.S. military action is unlikely to end quickly and could become far more controversial in countries that now nominally support the effort.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Wednesday made his first "foreign" visit since taking office--to the international territory of the United Nations--to sketch out how the Bush administration plans to work with the world body. "It's a time of challenges, a time of opportunity and also a time of risk and danger, and we know the important role the U.N. will play," he said after an hourlong meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The U.N. Security Council reacted strongly and promptly to the attacks on the United States, passing a broad resolution the day after the assault that condemned terrorism and supported Washington's right to retaliate. But what Washington wants most from the United Nations is that it not get in the way. On Sept. 12, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1368, defining the attacks on New York and the Pentagon as acts of war and allowing the U.S. to respond appropriately.

The Bush administration has notified the United Nations in a letter disclosed Monday that the war on terrorism might extend beyond Afghanistan and could continue even if Osama bin Laden is killed or captured. The message--dated Sunday and signed by John D. Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the world body--puts the U.N. on notice that the current U.S. military action is unlikely to end quickly and could become far more controversial in countries that now nominally support the effort.

When U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrives in Washington today for his first official visit, his initial meeting--before sessions with President Clinton, Sen. Jesse Helms, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the National Press Club--will be a 45-minute chat with the 10-member Minnesota congressional delegation. Annan, born in the West African nation of Ghana, had his first exposure to America in the early 1960s as an undergraduate at small Macalester College in St. Paul.

The Security Council authorized a European-led, heavily armed special U.N. force for Bosnia-Herzegovina in a vote before dawn Friday after days of delay caused by the misgivings of Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress. The influence of the Republicans on such a key foreign policy issue clearly embarrassed the Clinton Administration, which had to stand back at one point and watch Senate Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.

Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali launched a priority search Tuesday for a successor to the United Nations' chief Haiti envoy, who has resigned and criticized the United States for a "total absence of consultations" in last-minute negotiations to persuade Haiti's army leaders to step down.

The United States on Thursday agreed for the first time that nations from the Third World should be allowed to become permanent members of the powerful U.N. Security Council. Ambassador Bill Richardson and Princeton Lyman, assistant secretary of State for international organizations, said the United States would vote to add as many as three developing countries, along with Germany and Japan, to the council's permanent membership.

In a nearly unanimous vote, the Senate agreed Tuesday to pay off almost $1 billion in U.S. back dues to the United Nations--but conditioned it on the world body cutting Washington's share of future budgets by one-fifth and accepting a package of financial reforms. The measure, sent to the House on a 98-1 vote, would do little to reduce the steadily growing tensions between the United Nations and its most affluent member because the bill permits payment of far less than what the U.N.

The scope of Friday's airstrikes on Iraq may have sent a strong signal about the Bush administration's resolve to squeeze the regime of Saddam Hussein, but Washington also may have played directly into the Iraqi leader's game plan. At its heart, Hussein's strategy in the decade since he was forced to retreat from his invasion of Kuwait has been to make Iraq appear a victim rather than a villain.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Wednesday made his first "foreign" visit since taking office--to the international territory of the United Nations--to sketch out how the Bush administration plans to work with the world body. "It's a time of challenges, a time of opportunity and also a time of risk and danger, and we know the important role the U.N. will play," he said after an hourlong meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

By a 99-0 vote, the Senate on Wednesday approved a carefully crafted deal with the United Nations to pay off almost $1 billion in unpaid dues, ending an embarrassing standoff that had threatened to brand the United States a deadbeat nation. In exchange for the U.S. agreement to pay the back dues, the U.N. cut Washington's share of the organization's $1.1-billion annual administrative budget from 25% to 22% and agreed to reduce the U.S. assessment for the $3-billion peacekeeping program from 30.

The United Nations agreed in principle Friday to reduce the U.S. share of the world organization's budget, a major step toward ending a standoff with Congress that has caused festering resentment and left the U.N. scrimping for the funds that it believes are needed to carry out its mission. Richard C. Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

CNN founder Ted Turner has offered to make up the $35-million difference between the dues that the United States owes to the United Nations for 2001 and the amount that Congress is willing to pay. Turner's offer is intended to help Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, clinch a deal for a permanent reduction in the U.S. share of the U.N. budget and to bring an end to Washington's chronic debts to the world body, U.S. officials and a Turner representative said.

In a decision that is becoming something of an annual tradition, the U.N. Human Rights Commission on Tuesday rejected a Clinton administration resolution that sought to condemn China for political and religious repression. The commission, meeting in Geneva, voted 22 to 18, with 12 abstentions, to take no action on the issue this year. In 1999, the vote was strikingly similar: 22 to 17, with 14 abstentions. Although U.S. officials acknowledge that they had no realistic hope that the U.N.

After their first encounter with the Clinton Administration's new policy directive on peacekeeping, several members of the U.N. Security Council feel bruised, chastened and somewhat angry. The test case came last week when the council buckled under U.S. pressure and delayed the dispatch of 5,500 more troops to ravaged Rwanda. The Americans, explaining their reasons for the delay, cited the need for a realistic assessment of what can be done in that woeful Central African country.

Officials in Washington and other Americans have loosed a torrent of criticism at U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali recently, but the professorial statesman insists that it does not perturb him at all. "It is healthy," he said in an interview with The Times. "It proves that the United Nations is active. It proves that the United Nations takes positions. And I welcome all those criticisms. I may not share their point of view, which is normal, but I welcome them. . . .

In a nearly unanimous vote, the Senate agreed Tuesday to pay off almost $1 billion in U.S. back dues to the United Nations--but conditioned it on the world body cutting Washington's share of future budgets by one-fifth and accepting a package of financial reforms. The measure, sent to the House on a 98-1 vote, would do little to reduce the steadily growing tensions between the United Nations and its most affluent member because the bill permits payment of far less than what the U.N.

The United States on Thursday agreed for the first time that nations from the Third World should be allowed to become permanent members of the powerful U.N. Security Council. Ambassador Bill Richardson and Princeton Lyman, assistant secretary of State for international organizations, said the United States would vote to add as many as three developing countries, along with Germany and Japan, to the council's permanent membership.