Post-Humanitarian Europe (Richard Gowan, ECFR)

If Europeans lose faith in the international humanitarian system, it will fail. EU governments and institutions account for half of all humanitarian spending, which adds up to $20 billion a year. Struggling with the political and financial costs of the refugee crisis, they are losing patience with United Nations agencies like the World Food Programme and UNHCR, and turning to alternatives - including unstable governments in the Arab world and Africa - to control the inflow of refugees and migrants. We may be headed for a post-humanitarian Europe, increasingly at odds with the UN

http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_post_humanitarian_europe_7033

Disillusion at the UN: From Srebrenica to Aleppo (Richard Gowan, ECFR)

“Enthusiasm. Disillusion. Realism. This has been the history of the United Nations over the last five years.” That was the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s summary of his tenure as secretary-general when he had to quit the UN under American pressure in 1996. It was a diplomatic understatement. During his time in office, he was faced with the Somali debacle, Rwandan genocide and Srebrenica massacre. It is sadly ironic that Boutros-Ghali’s death this month has coincided with another period of profound disillusion at the UN.

http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_disillusion_at_the_un_from_srebrenica_to_aleppo6006

China’s incomplete investments in the UN (Richard Gowan, ECFR)

Is China ready to play a bigger role at the United Nations? Western diplomats have long been both intrigued and frustrated by Beijing’s attitude towards the UN. The quality of its diplomats in New York has notably risen over the last decade, but they have often remained passive in the face of major crises, following Russia’s lead over conflicts such as Syria. As I noted last June, China is often an “absent power” in UN debates, perhaps because “Beijing simply doesn’t care enough about the UN enough” to invest more in it.

http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_chinas_incomplete_investments_in_the_un5094