Fireside Chat, Interview
Samantha Power, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations: Talks at GS Session Highlights
- Inclusive governance structures featuring women are projected to serve as long-term investments in national security and progress, though civil society groups will likely continue struggling to persuade male leadership of the necessity for integration.
- UN peace processes are anticipated to maintain current underrepresentation of women at senior levels despite evidence that negotiations including women as leading stakeholders are more durable and better address deep socioeconomic conflict causes.
- The United States plans to increase female appointments as special representatives for the Secretary General and leverage its appointment of the first female force commander in a UN peacekeeping mission to drive further change.
- US policy on mass atrocities is expected to remain consistent over the next 13 years, focusing on prevention, deterrence, and cessation through case-specific approaches rather than a universal solution.
- In Syria, diplomatic and sanction measures are being exhausted and constantly revisited, with a train and equip program viewed as a potentially rapid return on investment for community safety against ISIL and the regime, despite the extreme complexity of potential regime change scenarios.
- A diplomatic resolution for Iran is favored over military action, with the expectation that sustained sanctions and global unity will secure a nuclear deal while retaining US authority to reinstate sanctions independently over the agreement's life.
- The feasibility of thickening sanctions during ongoing negotiations is deemed unrealistic, with sanctions remaining the primary tool until Iran surrenders its nuclear program.
- Ebola weekly caseloads are projected to remain significantly reduced from crisis peaks—down 99% in Liberia, 86% in Sierra Leone, and 84% in Guinea—with the explicit goal of reaching zero cases, though rural contact tracing and overcoming complacency present persistent challenges.
- Global leadership is expected to emerge from the United States leveraging its position to secure contributions from nations such as China and Europe to address international crises.