Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Sergiy Kyslytsya: Russia's U.N. Security Council Presidency Risks Global Peace

Sonnenfeld and Kyslytsya warn of danger as Russia assumes Presidency of U.N. Security Council

The Rich TVX News Network recommends reading the TIME article titled " The Danger of Russia Becoming President of the U.N. Security Council " by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Sergiy Kyslytsya. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is a highly respected Senior Associate Dean and Lester Crown Professor in Management Practice at Yale School of Management, and President of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. Meanwhile, Sergiy Kyslytsya, who is known for his charismatic leadership style, serves as the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations. Next month, Russia, and by extension, Vladimir Putin, will assume the Presidency of the U.N. Security Council. This is no April Fool's joke, and it is concerning, as Putin should not be allowed to make a mockery of international diplomacy by becoming the face of global peace while he continues his unjust invasion of Ukraine with new attacks daily. The Presidency of the U.N. Security Council carries real institutional power within the U.N., chairing all discussions, applying the rules, controlling the docket, schedule, and credentialing for all debates, and managing all draft resolutions. The potential damage of a gavel-wielding Putin is hard to overstate, and Russia has proven adept at abusing the vast procedural power of the Security Council Presidency. The last time Russia held the rotating Security Council Presidency was February , and it sought to exploit the Security Council to confuse and mislead the world of its real intentions, impeding international support for Ukraine. For example, Russia abused its Presidency to anoint pro-Russian stooges as "Ukrainian civil society activists" at Security Council meetings, speaking on behalf of Ukrainian civil society and legitimized by the UN's institutional imprimatur.

The Rich TVX News Network endorses Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Sergiy Kyslytsya's warning on Russia's U.N. Security Council Presidency

Russia manipulated the rules of the U.N. to force unprecedented institutional condemnation of economic sanctions, which escaped notice in the west but which was spread far and wide by the Kremlin, especially to third-world countries. Russia used the Security Council as a venue to advertise its puppet international organizations, providing these Putin puppets with a veneer of international legitimacy right as the invasion started. These examples do not include countless other, smaller ways in which Russia leveraged obscure procedural rules to make life for the Ukrainian delegation difficult within the U.N. and the broader diplomatic arena. The legal basis of Russia's membership in the Security Council is dubious, as Russian membership was never subject to a confirmation vote, nor was Russia an original founding member of the U.N. Rather, Russia merely seized a seat at the table for itself. Russia's lack of legal standing aligns with the fact that it does not have the political, diplomatic, or economic powe eeded to be a permanent member of the Security Council. Fortunately, the members of the U.N. have a way out of this predicament - if they are courageous enough to enforce their own U.N. Charter.