The role of the UN in global conflict resolution - a Finnish perspective

For our next debate, we have the honour of welcoming Kai Sauer, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland since June 2019. He also worked as a senior advisor to the former President of Finland and Nobel peace prize winner, Martti Ahtisaari. Mr. Sauer has also served as the Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations in New York and has several UN senior roles in relation to the UN mission in Kosovo and the UN intervention in Libya. 

Is the UN still a force for good in a world that is again increasingly divided? How can peace-building work and what have been its biggest successes? How does this look from the perspective of someone who participated in it? And what about ambitious ideas of a few years ago, such as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)? Is this idea still alive after the Syrian and other wars?  

And: how can small internationalist nations like Finland have influence in the world? What are the biggest security threats Finland faces, and how to confront them? And what are the particular challenges for Finnish diplomats? 

If you are interested in these questions, join us on 7th of April at 15:30-17:00, to discuss Finish foreign politics, state-building, conflict resolution and the importance of international collaboration.