The main activity of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is to publish regular reports on the state of knowledge about climate change.

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution regarding Syrian chemical weapons on September 27, 2013.

Stewart M. Patrick, CFR's senior fellow and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance program, discusses the challenges of global governance with professors and students, as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.

"Honestly, the ambassadors showed widespread interest in improved relations with Iran, which I hope will be managed with the best diplomacy. Of course, we must not expect too much."

Jonathan Tepperman profiles Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in light of this week's first United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

The United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic submitted an investigative report to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, September 15, 2013. This "Report on the Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons in the Ghouta Area of Damascus on 21 August 2013" concludes that "chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale, resulting in numerous casualties, particularly among civilians and including many children."

The Obama administration's strongest case for intervening in Syria rests on the global security risks posed by the regime's suspected use of chemical weapons, says CFR's John B. Bellinger.

President Obama spoke to the American public on September 10, 2013, about the U.S. government's response to the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons. He requested Congress to delay its vote on the proposed military strike, in order to address Russia's proposal of Syria handing over chemical weapons to the international community.

On the margins of the G20 meeting in St. Petersburg, September 5-6, 2013, leaders from Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America released a joint statement condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The leaders of the G20 met in St. Petersburg September 5-6, 2013, to discuss the global economic development and regulation, energy policy, climate change initiatives, and corruption.

Humanitarian Relief Organizations Research Links direct volunteers and donors to organizations that provide assistance during humanitarian crises.

A government's legitimacy and sovereignty are not sacrosanct if it abuses its own citizens. Norms and values are even more important than international law to justify intervention to protect human rights.

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Any external military intervention in Syria in response to government use of chemical weapons will require persuasive arguments to prove legitimacy, says CFR's Matthew Waxman.

The government of the United Kingdom published its position on August 29, 2013, about the legality of military action in Syria after the chemical weapons attack in Damascus on August 21.

Many fear that in the not-too-distant future, the world will be torn apart as the gulf that separates China and the United States grows ever wider.

"Criminal justice has been the weakest link of China's legal system, which, despite constitutional and legislative protections of the right to defence, has in practice rarely allowed defendants adequate opportunity to question prosecution witnesses and rebut their claims," writes Jerome A. Cohen, with respect to Bo Xilai's trial.

Matthew Waxman argues that closing the facility would cause the Obama administration to spend a great deal of political capital, but would actually leave some of the most difficult issues unresolved.

The African Union has achieved some peacekeeping successes but needs to improve coordination with the UN to strengthen African security, writes expert Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari.

"Those looking to the international community to deal with the world's problems will be disappointed," writes Richard N. Haass.