On November 19, the School of Diplomacy held a discussion on the Middle East Peace Plan with Dr. Riyad Mansour, Ambassador and Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN. Ambassador Mansour delivered remarks about the Palestinian perspective on the conflict in the Middle East and answered questions from attendees.
Read MoreIn early October, China completed the construction of Pangda, a village of 100 people near the Torsa River in the Himalayas. Pangda is situated in Bhutan, a small Buddhist kingdom of 800,000 that borders southwest China. The construction of Pangda, as well as other Chinese territorial claims to Bhutan, adds further strain on already sensitive Sino-Bhutanese and Sino-Indian relations.
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On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a ceasefire agreement to end the recent fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
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Recently the Diplomatic Envoy had the opportunity to interview Reverend Robert Chase, a Fellow at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations Center for UN and Global Governance Studies. The interview focused on his work in fostering interfaith dialogues and his views on the role of religion in the United States 2020 presidential election.
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On October 8, Saeb Erekat, a high-profile Palestinian diplomatic negotiator and Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. When his health worsened, Erekat was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, an Israeli hospital located in Jerusalem, reports Reuters.
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In recent months, China has threatened Taiwan, increasing tensions and the risk of war. American involvement in the conflict raises serious concerns about the role the United States will play if tensions continue to escalate.
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On September 30, the United Nations Association at Seton Hall University (UNA-SHU) held a panel discussion to celebrate and discuss the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Charter. The panel consisted of His Royal Highness Prince Adnan El-Hashemite, Dr. Catherine Tinker, Rev. Robert Chase, and Dr. Mary Norton. The panelists presented different perspectives, engaged in a discussion, and answered questions about how the United Nations has impacted the international political stage over the past 75 years and how the world can move forward on its mission.
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In early September, Bill Birtles, an Australian foreign correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and China correspondent for ABC, was advised by Australian officials to leave China after the arrest and detention of another foreign journalist, reports The Guardian. Two days later, Beijing state security broke down his door at midnight to tell him that he was part of a national security investigation, was banned from leaving the country, and that he would be contacted the next afternoon to answer questions, reports BBC.
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On July 25, MV Wakashio, a Japanese ship, hit a coral reef off the coast of Mauritius, a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, on its way to Brazil, according to The Washington Post. Six days later, oil began spilling into the Mahebourg Lagoon, resulting in the spillage of approximately 1,000 tons of oil into the Indian Ocean.
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