Morning Multilateralism
Wednesday, July 1 2020
At a meeting of the UN Security Council, the United States finds little support for its proposal on Iran sanctions, even from European allies. Meanwhile, the Security Council may finally be ready to adopt a resolution on the pandemic, after weeks of haggling. The draft resolution reportedly calls for a global ceasefire (with a few conflicts excepted) and only obliquely refers to the World Health Organization. The Trump administration had rejected previous drafts that referenced the WHO’s role more directly.
There is now a short list of candidates to serve as the next International Criminal Court prosector. The list includes four candidates, from Canada, Ireland, Nigeria, and Uganda. Those individuals were selected from a pool of more than 80 applicants. The committee charged with producing the short list conducted a series of virtual interviews with candidates. The incoming prosecutor will serve a nine-year, nonrenewable term and would take over at a tumultuous time in the court’s existence. The current prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, wraps up her term in June 2021.
A Colombian diplomat leading World Trade Organization talks on fisheries subsidies remains optimistic that a deal is possible. Reducing the fisheries subsidies offered by several major maritime countries has long been a goal for those seeking to restore global fisheries to health.
In arguments yesterday, Guyana’s legal team urged the International Court of Justice to confirm its border with Venezuela. The government of Nicolas Maduro has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and did not participate in the hearing.
A United Nations donor conference raised more than $7 billion in pledges to address the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
NATO’s secretary general calls for a global role for the alliance, noting that China is demonstrating “a clear pattern of authoritarian behaviour at home and increased assertiveness and bullying abroad.”
A U.S. Senate committee gets an earful from public health experts on the shortsightedness of the Trump administration’s plan to leave the World Health Organization.