To Save Us From Hell

"A rare bright spot amid the disastrous conflict in the Gaza Strip" is how UNICEF described the successful first phase of a massive polio vaccination campaign in Gaza. Polio was confirmed three weeks ago, and over the last several days, UNICEF, the WHO, and UNRWA have taken advantage of humanitarian pauses in the fighting to administer hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses. In our first segment,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org On August 8th, a committee representing most UN Member States approved a draft text of a new United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime. Despite the support from the majority of UN member states, civil society and private sector groups are arguing against its adoption. In fact, the proposed Convention on Cyber...

The Summit of the Future is a two day confab on September 22 and 23 that kicks off the opening of the United Nations General Assembly and High Level Week. It is being billed as “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to revitalize the UN and multilateralism in a time of great global turmoil and restore trust in international cooperation as a means of solving common global challenges. That may sound imp...

As certified UN-Nerds, Anjali Dayal and Mark Leon Goldberg's ears always perk up when they see the UN represented in pop culture. In this special episode of To Save Us From Hell , we take a deep dive into how the United Nations is portrayed in popular music, television shows, and film. From Lou Reed to Charlize Theron to Doctor Who —we explore the cultural impact of the United Nations from the 195...

Our first segment discusses both spurious and verified accusations that some UNRWA staff in Gaza may have been involved October 7th attacks. Two new reports this week shed light on how wild accusations against UNRWA are less than credible. Our second segment looks at how the UN is approaching the war in Sudan, which by the numbers is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. We discuss a Securit...

Before we sat down to record this week’s episode, authorities in Iran announced that Hamas’ political leader, Ismael Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran. This news came just hours after Israel claimed responsibility for the targeted assassination of a top Hezbollah commander, who was killed in retaliation for a gruesome missile attack in the Golan Heights. Amidst this flurry, there is a heightened prosp...

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield visited Port-au-Prince this week in a show of support for UN-backed efforts to bring a modicum of stability to Haiti. Her visit comes on the heels of the deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti and a recent vote in the Security Council to back the UN’s Office in the country. In our second segment, we discuss the kick off of the race...

It’s been a tumultuous week in American politics: an assassination attempt on Trump, JD Vance nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate, and the ongoing Republican National Conventions. In this episode of To Save Us From Hell , we take a look at what a second Trump presidency would mean for the United Nations. We discuss Trump’s views and approach to the UN from his first term in off...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org If Biden declines to run for re-election, the most likely replacement is Vice President Kamala Harris. In this week’s episode of To Save Us From Hell we take a deep dive into Kamala Harris’ views of the United Nations. We discuss how she’s engaged with the UN since becoming Vice President and why there are some...

A new month means a new president of the UN Security Council. On July 1, Russia took the helm of the most powerful body in the United Nations system and announced that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would chair two Security Council meetings during Russia’s presidency. The problem is, Lavrov is under a travel ban and asset freeze by the United States for his actions related to Russia’s invasion of...

The United Nations Interim Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has more peacekeepers deployed per square kilometer than any other UN peacekeeping mission in the world. These peacekeepers have helped avert an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah in the past, but tensions are very high right now. Our second segment focuses on a summit this week between Taliban officials and representatives of about 30 g...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.globaldispatches.org For most of the history of the United Nations, China was not a major power. The China of today was only given its seat at the UN in 1971. (Prior to that, the seat was occupied by Taiwan.) For the subsequent two decades, China was mostly focused inward. It was not until relatively recently that China has taken a...

As we sat down to record the episode, Vladimir Putin was being feted in Pyongyang by Kim Jong Un. The two had just signed a security pact revived from the Cold War era, signaling an ever-closer alliance and marking the death knell of nearly 20 years of North Korea nuclear diplomacy at the Security Council. Meanwhile, over the last ten days we’ve seen the first meaningful progress at the Security C...

"To Save Us From Hell" is a new weekly chat show about the United Nations. Each week, two veteran UN watchers break down the latest news from the United Nations, giving our audience insights into what is driving the agenda at UN headquarters and in its operations around the world. Co-host Mark Leon Goldberg is a veteran journalist who is editor in Chief of UN Dispatch and founder of Global Dispatc...