“It would be useless to suggest a non-American”
Welcome to our first issue of Blue Smoke, a new monthly newsletter that will shine a spotlight on senior appointments at the United Nations. This edition’s title is a quote from a senior UN figure in...
View Article“It’s confidential”!
Welcome to the second (March) issue of Blue Smoke, a new monthly newsletter shining a spotlight on senior appointments at the United Nations. When will the most senior leadership positions at the UN...
View ArticleUnmerited: where does it stop?
Welcome to the April issue of Blue Smoke, a new monthly newsletter shining a spotlight on senior appointments at the United Nations.We all know that top UN jobs are frequently awarded as political...
View ArticleA Matter of Time
Welcome to the May issue of Blue Smoke, the monthly newsletter shining a spotlight on senior appointments at the United Nations. We talk a lot about timing at Blue Smoke because the calibre of leaders...
View ArticleThe Colour Line
Welcome to the June issue of Blue Smoke, the monthly newsletter shining a spotlight on senior appointments at the United Nations. Spend too long staring into the abyss that is the United Nations’...
View ArticleP5 Frenemies
Welcome to the July issue of Blue Smoke, the monthly newsletter shining a spotlight on senior appointments at the United Nations. Blue Smoke has spent the last couple of months following the biennial...
View ArticleSounding the Alarm
Welcome to the October edition of the Blue Smoke newsletter, part of our project to shine a light on appointments and elections at the UN. We’re back from a brief summer hiatus recharged and raring to...
View ArticleService and Sacrifice
Welcome to the November edition of the Blue Smoke newsletter – part of our continuing project to shine a light on appointments and elections at the UN. Much is asked of UN officials, and none more so...
View ArticleOiling the Machinery of Climate Governance
The head of an oil company who doesn’t believe there is scientific evidence to support the need to phase out fossil fuels chairs the United Nations’ most important climate summit — the Conference of...
View ArticleWhat Was Azerbaijan Thinking?
As we went to press in our final newsletter of 2023, Azerbaijan was appointed host of the 2024 UN Climate Summit as part of a deal that may have been made to help bring some peace to the region....
View ArticleThe Future Is Packed
Diplomats are wading through 250 pages of member states’ suggestions on what should be included in the United Nations’ grandly named “Pact for the Future,” the outcome document of the world body’s...
View ArticleThere Will Be a Woman… Soon
That the next Secretary-General of the United Nations must be a woman should be indisputable — after almost 80 years of men occupying the UN’s top job without interruption, it’s long overdue....
View ArticleFor British Eyes Only
The UN Secretary-General is often described as having “the world’s most impossible job,” but right now that title may well belong to his Emergency Relief Coordinator, the person responsible for...
View ArticleOne Rule for Them, One Rule for Us
When the United Nations last appointed its Emergency Relief Coordinator in 2021, New York was abuzz with rumours with dozens of names circulating. This time around, things are much quieter: either the...
View ArticleTime Is Running Out
For the third month running, we are reporting that politicking around the appointment of the dual job of UN Humanitarian Chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator remains in full swing. This is one of...
View Article‘It’s Scandalous’
This may be our last newsletter for a little while as we try to find new funders for our work — but more on that later. We had hoped to be able to sign off with the long-awaited news of the...
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