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Author: Michael R. Snyder

by Michael R. Snyder

Michael R. Snyder is is an independent analyst and researcher.
More articles by this author → Follow @msnydz1

  • DRC’s Success in Containing Ebola Serves as Lesson to Countries Battling COVID-19

    Ebola DRC
    July 9, 2020by Michael R. Snyder

    Despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine, the Ebola outbreak evokes many similarities to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Analysisafrica, coronavirus, pandemics
  • Public Health and Politics Clash in International Response to New Coronavirus

    Covid-19 Outbreak
    February 18, 2020by Michael R. Snyder

    As panic spreads along with the outbreak, will evidence-based public health prove to be its biggest victim?

    Analysishealth-and-security
  • Ebola Response in DRC Undergoes “Important Shifts” as Violence Intensifies

    May 22, 2019by Michael R. Snyder

    Before the window of opportunity closes, the UN, WHO, and international, national, and local partners will need to work together to redouble their efforts to gain the trust of the local population and mobilize community action.

    Analysisafrica, health-and-security
  • Ebola Outbreak in DRC Poses Conundrum for Peacekeepers, Public Health

    December 7, 2018by Michael R. Snyder

    The situation represents a “perfect storm” characterized by weak health systems; proximity to borders with Uganda and Rwanda; a dense and mobile population of 6 million people; and violence and insecurity.

    Analysisafrica, health-and-security
  • Vaccine Adds New Dimension to Ebola Response in DRC

    June 5, 2018by Michael R. Snyder

    The combination of faster outbreak detection by national authorities, a swift response by international and NGO partners, and the use of new countermeasures have so far averted the “explosive increase” in cases initially feared.

    Analysisafrica, health-and-security
  • Book Review: The Power Behind Global Health

    August 29, 2017by Summer Marion and Michael R. Snyder

    Governing Global Health’s greatest strength lies in its rich empirical basis. The repository of data upon which the authors draw goes unrivaled by similar scholarship, and they build an engaging narrative from the often dry necessities of budgeting technicalities and organizational structure.

    Further Readinghealth-and-security, multilateralism
  • India’s Zika Silence Could Set Back Global Health Norms

    June 8, 2017by Michael R. Snyder

    Regardless of its calculations, India’s actions run counter to global norms on the need for transparency during disease outbreaks.

    Analysishealth-and-security, south-asia
  • Ebola’s Reappearance an Early Test of Global Health Improvements

    May 16, 2017by Michael R. Snyder

    Signs point to a higher level of speed, coordination, and engagement than occurred during the initial stages of the West Africa response in 2014

    Analysisdemocratic-republic-of-the-congo, health-and-security
  • Modernizing Pandemic Response the Central Challenge for Next WHO Chief

    March 15, 2017by Michael R. Snyder

    All three remaining contenders possess wide-ranging experience, and all articulated support for global health security while campaigning at a public debate in Geneva this month.

    Analysishealth-and-security, united-nations
  • Reimagining Crisis Response: Lessons from the UN’s Ebola Mission

    February 28, 2017by Michael R. Snyder and Adam Lupel

    Most importantly, UNMEER’s integrated approach is a case study in the UN’s potential to work together toward greater integration and to deliver across its institutional divisions, or silos.

    Analysishealth-and-security, united-nations
  • Next →

This week

  • Protecting Peace? How the Protection of Civilians Contributes to Peace Processes

    May 23, 2022by Jenna Russo

    Without a corresponding political process, UN protection activities are an ineffective bandaid in situations of widespread violence.

    Analysispeacekeeping, protection-of-civilians
  • Russia, NATO, and International Organizations

    May 23, 2022by Kseniya Oksamytna

    As Finland and Sweden begin the process of applying for NATO membership, misleading narratives about the role of NATO’s so-called eastward expansion in “provoking” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to hold sway.

    Analysisconflict, eastern-europe

Trending

  • Sanctions and the Costs of Russia’s War in Ukraine

    May 12, 2022by Erica Moret

    The sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine mark a new page in global sanctions practice yet lessons from earlier cases could help increase efficacy and minimize costs.

    Analysisconflict, europe, ukraine
  • A4P+ and Uniformed Women’s Participation in Peacekeeping

    April 26, 2022by Gretchen Baldwin and Jake Sherman

    The UN, in its implementation of A4P+, must address the heavily masculine, exclusionary, and militarized structures which often preclude women (and anyone outside of a very particular gendered profile) from deploying.

    Analysisa4p, peacekeeping, women-peace-and-security
  • Despite Constraints, MINUSMA Remains the Legitimate International Partner to Mali

    April 21, 2022by Rida Lyammouri

    Facing its most difficult period since its inception in April 2013, MINUSMA, and the Security Council, now need to acknowledge that their biggest problems in Mali are political.

    Analysisafrica, mali, peacekeeping
  • While Afghans Wait, States and Banks Decrypt the Humanitarian Exception in the Taliban Sanctions Regime

    April 14, 2022by Agathe Sarfati

    Amid mounting pressure to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council took the rare step of creating a humanitarian exception for the 1988 Taliban sanctions regime.

    Analysisafghanistan, humanitarian
  • What Are the International Military Options for the Sahel?

    April 12, 2022by Nina Wilén and Paul D. Williams

    The complex, and not always coordinated, ecosystem of military operations across the Sahel has been aptly labeled a security traffic jam. Why are external forces in the Sahel? Can they help resolve any of the region’s crises? And, if so, what configuration of external forces makes the most sense?

    Analysismali, peacekeeping, sahel
  • NATO, the EU, and the War in Ukraine: Interview with Paul Poast 

    April 8, 2022by Eimer Curtin

    It has been six weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine and the conflict is devolving into a stalemate. Paul Poast discusses the responses of NATO, the shifts in EU defense policies, and how this war might end.

    Interviewsconflict, europe
  • Climate Governance, Reform or Perish—The Future of the UNFCCC

    April 6, 2022Jimena Leiva Roesch and Eimer Curtin

    As the need for stronger commitments toward the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees grows, the voices and interests of the most vulnerable people and countries are not being given precedence in global climate talks.

    Analysisclimate-change, united-nations
  • By Invitation Only: Including Women Briefers at the UN Security Council

    April 1, 2022by Louise Olsson and Anna Marie Obermeier

    While briefing the Security Council has always been a male-dominated affair, more women have been included over the years, a development which came at the same time as an overall increase in the number of briefers.

    Analysissecurity-council, women-peace-and-security
  • The Benefits, Challenges, and Limitations of Criminalizing Ecocide

    March 30, 2022by Rachel Killean

    The campaign to introduce a new international crime of “ecocide” at the International Criminal Court is long-standing but has received increased support over the last couple of years.

    Analysisenvironment
  • How Weapons and Ammunition Management Can Enhance Women, Peace and Security

    March 17, 2022by Hana Salama and Emma Bjertén-Günther

    The proliferation of weapons and ammunition presents a major obstacle in the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

    Analysiswomen-peace-and-security
  • Africa, Ukraine, and the New Geopolitics

    March 10, 2022by Rita Abrahamsen

    When the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the African vote split right down the middle. The vote must have sent shivers down the African Union’s spine.

    Analysisconflict, europe, united-nations
  • Putin’s “Peacekeepers”

    February 23, 2022by Paul D. Williams

    Putin has ordered Russian soldiers to conduct what he called “peacekeeping operations” in Donetsk and Luhansk, a clear violation of international law and a perversion of the important international concept of peacekeeping.

    Analysisconflict, europe
  • ECOWAS Sanctions Against Mali Necessary, but May Be Counter-Productive

    February 2, 2022by Festus Kofi Aubyn

    The new sanctions were triggered by months of growing tensions between ECOWAS and the military-dominated transitional government over the timetable for Mali’s return to civilian rule after two successful coups d’état.

    Analysisafrica, sanctions
  • New Name, but Little Sign of Change: The Revised Agreement on the African Union Mission in Somalia

    January 27, 2022by Colin Robinson

    The AU mission’s success relies on the handover of military responsibilities to an effective Somali replacement. But the Somali National Army remains as politicized and clan-divided as it has ever been.

    Analysisafrica, african-union, peacekeeping
  • New Climate Data Visualizations, 2021

    December 15, 2021by Noemi Florea

    Noemi Florea has compiled some key data visualizations from 2021 for the Global Observatory that highlight progress on climate change, from expanded research on the global environment to emerging developments for climate adaptation.

    Further Readingclimate-change, climate2021
  • Is the Global Climate Governance System Working?

    November 23, 2021by Jimena Leiva Roesch, Julia Almeida Nobre, and Eimer Curtin

    In the wake of COP26, there is a need to examine the current structures and dynamics of global climate governance.

    Analysisclimate-change, climate2021
  • How Permafrost Thaw Puts the Russian Arctic at Risk

    November 22, 2021by Katarina Kertysova and Akash Ramnath

    Permafrost thaw presents a major challenge to Arctic communities and ecosystems and has enormous potential to accelerate climate change and its global impacts.

    Analysisclimate-change, climate2021
  • The Pitfalls of UN Peacekeeping in Afghanistan

    September 1, 2021by Paul D. Williams

    Neither local nor international politics are currently right for a UN peacekeeping deployment in Afghanistan.

    Analysisafghanistan, peacekeeping
  • Reflecting on the UN’s Role in Counterterrorism Twenty Years After 9/11

    June 1, 2021by Jake Sherman and Agathe Sarfati

    As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, there is value in assessing the emergence of counterterrorism as the “fourth pillar” of the UN, its effectiveness to date, and the way ahead.

    Analysisctat20, terrorism
  • Rising Politicization Risks Splitting Somali National Army

    March 17, 2021by Colin Robinson

    The developing electoral crisis over the past few months has led to greater misuse of forces.

    Analysis

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