Changing the UN will be Difficult

Posted: March 14th, 2017

By Zalmay Khalilzad

Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad is Counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and president of Khalilzad Associates, an international business consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. He served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2007 to 2009. Prior to that, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2005-2007) and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-2005). He also served as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan (2001 to 2003). Amb. Khalilzad sits on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy, The Atlantic Council, America Abroad Media, the RAND Corporation's Middle East Studies Center, the American University of Iraq in Suleymania, and the American University of Afghanistan. He is the author of the political autobiography "The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House, My Journey Through a Turbulent World."

From the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union in 2015, to the protectionist rhetoric of U.S. President Donald Trump, the concepts of multilateralism and liberal internationalism appear increasingly under threat. The United Nations is perhaps the most visible symbol of these values, and despite its successes, its failures as an institution have led some countries – including the U.S. under the new Trump administration – to question the value of the UN, and even their financial contributions to it. The Cipher Brief’s Fritz Lodge spoke with former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad to ask what the real value of the UN is to U.S. policy, and where the institution’s future may lie in the years ahead.

The Cipher Brief: In your mind, what is the current state of the United Nations as an institution? In recent years, what are the greatest successes that the organization has had and what areas of improvement remain?

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