Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
| ||||||||||||
Global Policy Forum - Email 'Listserv' News
GPF List-Serv
September 4-8, 2000Greetings from Global Policy Forum!
It has been many weeks since we last sent out our list-serv and many subscribers have contacted us asking for news. We appreciate all the encouragement we have received. We now plan to renew our weekly message to you, along with a list of current postings to the GPF web site.
The commentary that we sent out every week proved more than we could sustain with our small staff and many responsibilities. So we now plan to send only brief commentary on a regular weekly basis and a longer commentary (similar to our previous list-serv) every two to three weeks, as time allows. Additional writing will be devoted to GPF web site articles that need to be updated (we will advise you as these projects are completed).
In the past few days, the UN has been the site of an unprecedented conclave of presidents, prime ministers, and other heads of state and governments. Streets around the GPF office were closed off and the sidewalks swarmed with police, Secret Service, bodyguards, chauffeurs and retenue of all kinds. Armor-plated limousines sped along the avenues, preceded by motorcycle police and surrounded by black security vans. Sirens howled, sniffing dogs paced nervously, men in dark suits with earplugs scanned intently, snipers prowled along the rooftop of the General Assembly building, glaring menacingly.
The week before, parliamentarians and religious leaders had gathered at the UN from the world's four corners for conclaves of their own. As they assembled, we stopped across the street to watch dancing Buddhist youth, throwing flower petals to welcome elder priests in saffron robes. An Orthodox archbishop passed and then two Afghan religious figures in turbans and full beards. The next day in the UN cafeteria, we spied indigenous faith figures with headfeathers, sitting at a table near suited diplomats and more turbaned figures from South Asia.
Now the visitors are mostly headed home, except for a few foreign ministers. The streets have again assumed a more ordinary appearance and New York returns to its usual rhythms. As we walked along Park Avenue yesterday, amid soaring bank headquarters, we were thinking about one of the official speeches calling for greater "transparency" when we happened upon a parked tuck announcing itself as the "Shred-It" mobile paper shredding service. Motor-humming, it was at work, destroying documents. What secrets was it protecting, we wondered, what facts rendered forever obscure? The skyscrapers watched mutely and we hurried on our way.
We will be back shortly with more reporting on the UN and global policy issues. Thanks for your patience and support. Watch for a longer report in a week or two.
