Source: Politics<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Linda Thomas-Greenfield as United States ambassador to the United Nations, by a 78-20 vote.<\/p>\n
Thomas-Greenfield will arrive at the global body\u2019s New York headquarters surrounded by global problems, including a U.N. funding shortfall to which the U.S. has itself contributed. <\/p>\n
From Day 1, Thomas-Greenfield will confront twin crises \u2014 climate change and Covid-19 \u2014 and a string of conflicts ranging from a 20-year war in Afghanistan to a 10-year civil war in Syria, from a humanitarian crisis in Yemen to the politically fraught Iran nuclear deal. <\/p>\n
If that wasn\u2019t enough, Thomas-Greenfield will assume leadership of the U.N. Security Council on March 1 \u2014 the global organization\u2019s top decision-making body<\/u><\/a> \u2014 before the boxes of her 40th floor apartment overlooking the Hudson River are even unpacked. <\/p>\n Thomas-Greenfield will be sworn-in Wednesday morning by Vice President Kamala Harris, and will arrive in New York Feb. 25 to present her credentials to U.N. Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres.<\/p>\n U.N. officials told POLITICO they hope to see both a return of American leadership and a back payment of unpaid American U.N. dues under Thomas-Greenfield\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n President Joe Biden made an initial commitment of $4 billion<\/u><\/a> on Feb. 18 toward global vaccine efforts such as COVAX, and broader health security investments.<\/p>\n After four years of Trump-induced whiplash and withdrawal from key U.N. entities — including the World Health Organization \u2014 the sense of relief around Turtle Bay is palpable, even with thinned out attendance and a largely virtual meeting schedule.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can only get better,\u201d said an adviser to Guterres who was not authorized to speak to the media. \u201cWe\u2019re cautiously optimistic,\u201d they added. <\/p>\n U.N. Spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric said Thomas-Greenfield and Guterres first worked together in 2005, when Thomas-Greenfield led the state Department\u2019s refugee and migration division and Guterres served as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. \u201cHe has witnessed her effectiveness and dedication in action,\u201d Dujarric said. <\/p>\n Guterres\u2019s top political priority for 2021 is climate change, and global progress now hinges on the ability of the Biden administration to move beyond its initial gesture of rejoining the Paris climate accord.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n The current Security Council leader, U.K. Ambassador Barbara Woodward, told POLITICO the Britain is excited to work with Thomas-Greenfield, \u201cin particular on shared priorities such as climate and Covid-19.\u201d Woodward today succeeded in pushing climate change onto the agenda of the Security Council, in a debate led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which also featured the Biden administration\u2019s new climate envoy, John Kerry.<\/p>\n Challenges on China loom<\/span> Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran at the State Department, faced tough questions in her Senate confirmation hearings over the extent to which she will confront Chinese authoritarianism and regional meddling. She <\/b>promised in her confirmation hearing to promote American values of democracy, human rights, and peace.<\/p>\n Her deep experience across Africa will be necessary, experts and advocates say, to advance U.S. relationships and contain China\u2019s growing influence across the U.N. system. <\/p>\n Those tensions will likely come to a head in debates over equity in Covid vaccine distribution<\/u><\/a>. \u201cWe believe Linda Thomas-Greenfield\u2019s background as former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs makes her extremely qualified to understand the scale of this crisis and the importance of U.S.-Africa policy,\u201d said Sean Simons, spokesperson for the anti-poverty ONE campaign.<\/p>\n Thomas-Greenfield is the fifth consecutive woman to be confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Five of the 15 Security Council ambassadors are women. <\/p>\n \u201cA little less testosterone and a little more dialogue, patient listening and a capacity to facilitate \u2013 they\u2019re undervalued qualities, particularly when there\u2019s a lot of tension between some of the big players at the table,\u201d Ireland\u2019s ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason told the Irish Times<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n
Europe is offering to act as a bridge between the U.S. and China, said one European ambassador. \u201cGuterres has urged us to play the role of bridge builder. Unless we can make the two of them work together on climate and Covid, the U.N. agenda remains paralyzed,\u201d the ambassador said.<\/p>\n