New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican, is about to testify earlier than the Senate International Relations Committee on Jan. 16, 2025, as a part of her confirmation process to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
International diplomacy is the essence of the U.N. As a former United Nations official and an academic who has printed broadly on the U.N., I do know that diplomacy is an artwork, not a science.
And a very good ambassador could make an actual distinction.
Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images
A direct line from the UN to the president
The alliances international locations type and preserve on the U.N. are obligatory to assist confront international crises that exceed the attain and energy of any single nation.
All the 193 governments that make up the U.N. have ambassadors who negotiate completely different U.N. agreements on points starting from terrorism to nuclear proliferation.
Of all these ambassadors, the U.S. envoy is a very high-profile and distinctive job. First, the U.S. is the host nation to the U.N. headquarters. The U.S. can be the U.N.’s largest financial contributor.
Some U.S. ambassadors have been profession diplomats, like Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the present ambassador who was appointed by President Joe Biden in February 2021.
Different former U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. have backgrounds in different areas, including academia, journalism and U.S. politics.
The U.S. ambassador could be a part of a president’s Cupboard and report on to the president, or could not have the Cupboard rank and as a substitute report back to the secretary of state. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the U.N. through the first Trump administration, had Cupboard standing, as would Stefanik, assuming she is confirmed.
Having the ear of the president strengthens the ambassador’s affect on the U.N.
The ambassador’s high jobs
The U.S. ambassador serves as an efficient worldwide advocate for the federal government’s pursuits, be it on lowering meals insecurity and preventing famine in different international locations or attempting to cease North Korea from launching ballistic missiles.
The ambassador explains the U.S. authorities’s explicit positions to different international locations’ ambassadors and representatives on the U.N.
The U.S. ambassador additionally listens to international representatives about their political positions. The ambassador then acts as a bridge between the U.N. in New York and the U.S. authorities in Washington, navigating troublesome conversations on human rights and terrorism, for instance.
The ambassador’s third, day-to-day function includes overseeing the 150 State Division and different workers on the U.S. mission to the U.N., a constructing proper throughout the road from U.N. headquarters on First Avenue in Manhattan.
The U.S. mission’s staff do every little thing from negotiating Safety Council resolutions to advising the ambassador and different high workplaces on media relations.
The U.S. ambassador can be closely concerned in choosing the U.N. secretary-general, who leads the group in its various political and humanitarian work over a five-year time period.
International locations can nominate explicit candidates to function the secretary-general. However any candidate should be capable of win the help of the U.S. and the opposite Safety Council everlasting members, which have the ability to shoot down and reject a possible U.N. chief.
International locations will subsequent vote to nominate a brand new secretary-general in 2026.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The UN Safety Council
A big a part of the U.S. ambassador’s work occurs on the Security Council, a key a part of the U.N. that’s tasked with sustaining worldwide peace and safety. Because the U.N. was based in 1945, the Safety Council has been virtually completely disaster and emergency pushed.
The council has extra energy than arguably another department of the U.N., since its suggestions and selections, often called resolutions, are thought of binding beneath worldwide regulation. The council has voted on sanctions – which might appear like journey bans or freezing of worldwide belongings – in opposition to a variety of people, international locations like Iran and Somalia, and terrorist teams like al-Qaida. It additionally has the ability to authorize U.N. peacekeeping operations to be deployed to battle zones.
The U.S., China, France, Russia and the UK are the five permanent members of the council. Whereas different international locations rotate and take turns taking part within the council’s work, solely these everlasting council members can veto resolutions – resulting in frequent stalemates.
In 2024, the U.S. used its veto power five times to reject resolutions associated to the warfare between Israel and Hamas.
The U.S. ambassador may help determine what points the council discusses, draft and share resolutions, and affect how different council members vote.
Actual negotiations happen not in formal conferences which can be routinely aired dwell however in informal consultations behind closed doorways. That is the place diplomats train their ingenuity and settle their variations.
Days after the 9/11 terrorist assaults on the World Commerce Heart and the Pentagon, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, an appointee of then-President George W. Bush, negotiated a decision that called for governments to take on different counterterrorist actions.
Six months after the U.S. Senate confirmed Susan Rice as ambassador in 2009, she led the Safety Council in approving a resolution that imposed economic sanctions on North Korea in response to its nuclear and missile assessments.
Right now, the Safety Council is coping with varied conflicts in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Center East. The council additionally focuses on counterterrorism, vitality, local weather, pure sources and different points.
Making the case
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is a public determine who is anticipated to continuously journey exterior of the nation to make the case for why the US’ participation and management on the U.N. issues.
That is necessary as a result of about 40% of Americans in 2023 stated that the U.S. doesn’t profit from being a member of the U.N. And in a democracy, a profitable international coverage strategy should have public help.
This story is a part of a series of profiles of Cupboard and high-level administration positions.
