Welcome to my new blog, which will provide original reporting and analysis on events at the United Nations. This site will chronicle the work of the tens of thousands of U.N. civil servants who run this global institution as well as the diplomats from 192 countries, including the United States, who jockey for influence there.
The blog is called Turtle Bay after the midtown Manhattan neighborhood where the U.N. headquarters complex is located. The real Turtle Bay got is name from the 17th century Deutal Bay farm, an 80-acre tract bordered by the East River. The area was later known for housing some of city's slaughterhouses and breweries before being turned over to the United Nations in the late 1940s.
As for me, I've been covering the United Nations for well over a decade, principally for the Washington Post, and I'm very excited by the opportunity Foreign Policy has given me to offer far more intensive coverage of the U.N. than would be possible in a daily newspaper.
I hope Turtle Bay will become a regular read for U.N. staff, diplomats, scholars, and foreign policy enthusiasts, but I also intend to make it accessible enough for anybody who is interested in understanding this often misunderstood institution and the sometimes colorful cast of characters who bring it to life. I promise to divulge as much diplomatic gossip, the stranger and funnier the better, as I can dig up.
The intent of this blog is not to boost the United Nations or to needlessly flog it for its failings. I simply take it for what it is -- an institution that has established a central role in managing many of the world's messiest problems, and deserves greater attention and scrutiny than it generally receives.
Turtle Bay will shine a spotlight on the U.N.'s management of a far-flung empire of international aid workers, mediators, and peacekeepers. It will follow the U.N.'s most powerful body, the Security Council, and assess its role in managing key security crises, including the international effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and the ongoing attempts to persuade North Korea to get rid of the atomic bombs it already has.
But I will also report on the plight of U.N. aid workers, who have emerged as a key target of al Qaeda, uncover tales of corruption within the U.N.'s ranks, track key diplomatic appointments, and publish confidential, or hard to find, documents on key political events of the day.
Beyond scoops, I also aim to draw attention to the history of the U.N. and its role in developing new ideas and institutions -- like U.N. peacekeeping, the doctrine of humanitarian intervention, and war-crimes tribunals -- that alter the way we think about the world. I'll also be tweeting interesting U.N.-related items reported elsewhere, so follow my new Twitter feed for the latest news.
The site's launch comes as the Obama administration has decided to step up cooperation with foreign governments and international organizations, particularly the United Nations. I will try to assess how successful the United States is in applying this strategy in a place where Washington's rivals have long joined together to foil American ambitions.
But the blog will go beyond Washington politics, inviting readers behind the scenes, introducing them to the key players who compete for power and influence, from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to representatives of America's adversaries. I appeal to everybody that belongs to the wider U.N. community to participate in this adventure and share their stories and news tips.
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