Early test for diplomatic prowess of Trump’s envoy to UN
NIKKI Haley has made a tough-talking debut as US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the UN but her counterparts on the powerful Security Council are waiting to see if that will translate into policies differing from those of the Obama administration on crises from South Sudan and Somalia to Yemen and North Korea.
Although Haley is one of the few veteran politicians in Trump’s cabinet, her diplomatic prowess is facing an early test as she represents an administration with policies that are unclear and top foreign policy posts that are empty.
“There’s only two subjects where there is some kind of determined policy: the Middle East and also (UN) budget cuts, especially peacekeeping,” said a senior council diplomat.
Haley assumes the monthly presidency of the 15-member council next month, adding to the challenge as the Trump administration moves to slash US financial support for the world body.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has kept a low profile, leaving the former Republican governor of South Carolina as the face of US foreign policy after Trump himself.
“She’s establishing for herself quite a lot of leeway in terms of pursuing things the way she wants to pursue them here in New York,” said a second senior Security Council diplomat. But the diplomat said that on Iran and North Korea, “the tone might be just slightly tougher, but the substance is almost identical (to the previous administration)”.
Haley has said while it would be difficult to reimpose sanctions on Iran that were removed under a 2015 deal with world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme, the US is “going to watch them like a hawk”. The Trump administration is reviewing how to handle a North Korea that continues to press its missile and nuclear weapons programmes despite UN sanctions.
“The problem is the whole administration is still in the making. They don’t have many officials who are responsible for policy,” said the first senior diplomat. “There’s a huge difference between what they want and what they do.”
While Trump pledged to build closer ties with Moscow when he took office on January 20, Haley has followed in the footsteps of her predecessor, Barack Obama’s envoy Samantha Power, in confronting Russia over its seizure of Crimea and for protecting Syria’s government from council action.
Haley said this week that during her first two months she dampened “Israel-bashing” at the UN by preventing a Palestinian from being appointed UN envoy to Libya and demanding that UN chief Antonio Guterres withdraw a report accusing Israel of imposing an “apartheid regime” on Palestinians.
“For anyone who says you can’t get anything done at the UN, they need to know there’s a new sheriff in town,” she told a conference of the largest US pro-Israel lobbying group on Monday.
“There is a gap between her tough public posturing, designed for domestic consumption, and her positions within the UN,” said a third diplomat. Reuters