Summary

On 15–16 November, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was in Estonia for an official visit. During the world organisation’s Secretary General’s first visit to Estonia, Ban Ki-moon gave an interview to Diplomaatia and spoke about the role of the UN and its Secretary General in the globalising environment, also touching upon the Syrian civil war and nuclear proliferation.
Estonian diplomat Kaili Terras peruses the millennium goals of the United Nations. ‘There seems to be a growing consensus that the relatively narrow millennium goals agreed upon in 2000 must remain in place even after 2015,’ writes Terras. ‘The reduction of poverty will remain the main objective; however, there is a will and a necessity to approach it in a rather more broad-based manner.’
Using the reconstruction of Haiti as an example, doctoral student Märt Trasberg analyses aid effectiveness, Margus Kolga, the Estonian ambassador to the United Nations, writes about UN crisis management and peacekeeping.
ICDS scholar Emmet Tuohy’s article calls for an abandonment of the so-called value-based approach to the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative, focusing on practical co-operation instead. ‘As admirable as the EU’s ideas are, they will never have the effect that their proponents hope for within the global battle for influence,’ asserts Tuohy.
Nico Popescu, senior analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies, writes in his article: ‘In the end, what could emerge is a “two-tier” Eastern Partnership, encompassing countries in favour of strong relations with the EU (Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia) and countries that are not.’
Marge Mardisalu-Kahar, Director of Estonian Centre of Eastern Partnership, notes that the Eastern Partnership initiative should not be taken as an end in itself. ‘Instead, it is rather a means to bring those nations closer to the European Union.’

This article was published in ICDS Diplomaatia magazine.