Transcript

Listen: On August 1, the United States will take over the presidency of the United Nations security council.

The GZERO World Podcast heads to the Security Council chamber at the UN headquarters in New York City for a special conversation with US UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

The US has a few major agenda items they hope to tackle during the month of August, including global food security, human rights issues, and calling out Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Thomas-Greenfield also hopes to use the session to address issues getting less attention in the media, like the Sudan war and security situation in Haiti.

But how effective can the Security Council be at dealing with the world’s most urgent crises when two US geopolitical adversaries, Russia and China, are permanent, veto-wielding members? Should Russia be removed from the council? And how difficult is it for the US to champion human rights around the world when the political environment at home is so divisive?

Ian Bremmer sits down with Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield in a wide ranging conversation about diplomacy, security, and the future of the United Nations.