The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

18 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 theWorld Food Program; and spe- cialized agencies like the Interna- tional Atomic Energy Agency, the global architecture of the U.N. sys- tem is impressively large and spread out. The diversity and scope of the system pose a daunting challenge to newcomers. How do the vari- ous bodies, agencies, commissions and funds relate to one another, work together? To which does the United States belong? What are our obligations — legal, financial, political — to each? Most impor- tantly, how can the U.S. work with these various bodies to successfully address new challenges requiring an interna- tional response? Working in the U.N. system requires Foreign Service professionals to internalize the answers to all of these ques- tions. They must also understand that the various United Nations bodies have relationships not only with the State Department, but also with other federal agencies and American private parties, state agencies and nongovern- mental organizations. An FSO working in the U.N. envi- ronment has the challenge of bringing those disparate agendas and perspectives into productive, constructive focus. Making “Atoms for Peace” More than a Slogan UNVIE’s work with the International Atomic Energy Agency is our highest-profile account. Our efforts have been supercharged by President Barack Obama’s com- mitment, laid out in his landmark April 2009 Prague speech, to work toward a world without nuclear weapons. That clarion call, and the presi- dent’s vigorous follow-up gave new urgency to the work of those in the nuclear policy and nonpro- liferation fields. His Nuclear Se- curity Summit in April 2010 was the largest gathering of heads of state in the United States since the 1945 San Francisco Confer- ence establishing the United Na- tions. The president’s commitment has intensified efforts by Wash- ington, UNVIE and others to support U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; to support the creation of an international fuel bank so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of prolifera- tion; and to ensure that the IAEA has the resources and support it needs to accomplish its growing mission. The president’s commitment also quickened U.S. ef- forts to reduce the nuclear threat posed by Iran. Tehran has failed to demonstrate that its nuclear program is meant exclusively for peaceful purposes. The IAEA Board of Governors has affirmed this noncompliance, and the U.N. Security Council has sought, by imposing sanctions, to per- suade Tehran to work with the international community to end the attendant threat to global security. Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities pose a real threat to the security and stability of the Middle East. Its failure to comply with its treaty obligations and its eight- year game of cat-and-mouse with the IAEA threaten to undercut the nuclear nonproliferation regime and the agency’s authority—at precisely the moment we are work- ing to strengthen both. Last year, the foreign ministers and other senior repre- sentatives of the United States, along with the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China (called both the “P5+1” and the “E3+3”) sought to engage Iran to convince it to meet its international obligations and demonstrate that its program is peaceful. As part of our two-track approach, we have coordinated with the inter- national community to apply pressure on Tehran. When Iran failed to respond to our engagement efforts, Pres. Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in De- cember 2009, explained our logic: “I believe that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to F O C U S “I’ve come to see the importance of raising our game in the multilateral system during my time in Vienna, serving as envoy to the IAEA and United Nations agencies here.” — Amb. Glyn T. Davies, UNVIE Glyn T. Davies, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, has been the U.S. permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Vienna Of- fice of the United Nations, with the rank of ambassador, since June 2009. Ambassador Davies previously served as principal deputy assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, deputy assistant secretary of State for European affairs and deputy chief of mission in London, among many other assignments since joining the Foreign Service in 1980.