The Imperative for Action: An Update of the Report of the Task Force on American Interests and UN Reform

Please join the co-chairs of the Task Force on the United Nations [1] as they ask the questions "what now... and how?" for UN reform.

The Outcome Document from the 2005 UN World Summit represents mixed results for the status of United Nations reform. American leaders have acknowledged the importance of the UN to U.S. national interests, and the imperative for reforming the UN.

Yet, the reform process has continued to be controversial among some UN members. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has spoken of a lasting revolution of reform, and John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, emphasized in his recent House and Senate testimonies that UN reform is not a "one-night stand," but rather an ongoing process. Members of Congress have expressed concern that the reform process could stretch on without results, and thus be out of sync with the thrust of the upcoming biennial UN budget.

Following the release of the final report by the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-For-Food Programme (the Volker Commission), we find ourselves in a particularly significant crossroads for American discourse regarding the United States - United Nations relationship.

This session will evaluate the reform process through the lens of key recommendations made by the Task Force in its report: American Interests and UN Reform. The co-chairs will comment on what progress the UN has made since the September UN World Summit, and will discuss what actionable measures must now be taken to promote needed reforms.

Speakers

• The Honorable Newt Gingrich, Co-Chair, Task Force on the United Nations
  Former Speaker of the House of Representatives
• The Honorable George Mitchell, Co-Chair, Task Force on the United Nations
  Former Senate Majority Leader
• The Honorable Rod Hills
  Task Force on the United Nations Member
• The Honorable Malcolm Wallop
  Task Force on the United Nations Member
• With an Introduction by Ambassador Richard Solomon [2]
  President, U.S. Institute of Peace

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