Richard Gowan UN Director New York Please submit all media inquiries to media@crisisgroup.org or call +32 (0) 2 536 00 71 Crisis Group Role Richard oversees Crisis Group’s advocacy work at the United Nations, liaising with diplomats and UN officials in New York. Professional Background Richard was previously a Consulting Analyst with ICG in 2016 and 2017. He has worked with the European Council on Foreign Relations, New York University Center on International Cooperation and the Foreign Policy Centre (London). He has taught at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and Stanford in New York. He has also worked as a consultant for the organisations including UN Department of Political Affairs, the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on International Migration, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Rasmussen Global, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Global Affairs Canada. From 2013 to 2019, he wrote a weekly column (“Diplomatic Fallout”) for World Politics Review. Areas of Expertise The United Nations system Security Council Peacekeeping European security Early warning and conflict prevention In The News 3 May 2022 If the only message the Kremlin hears is that the United States is ready for a long war [in Ukraine], Moscow is likely to double down, making a long conflict entirely unavoidable. El País Richard Gowan UN Director 9 Apr 2022 I don't think Russia helped its case by asking countries like Syria to defend it at the UN I think that it actually emphasized how isolated it is with the broader UN membership over Ukraine. NPR Richard Gowan UN Director 13 Mar 2022 China doesn’t want to break off with Russia. It needs Russia as a partner. But, equally, it doesn’t want to take the reputational damage of being seen to be an accomplice to this war. Hindustan Times Richard Gowan UN Director 2 Mar 2022 [The UN resolution] isn’t going to stop Russian forces in their stride, but it’s a pretty enormous diplomatic win for the Ukrainians and the US, and everyone who has got behind them. The Guardian Richard Gowan UN Director 7 Feb 2022 By adopting radical transparency, the US is complicating Russia’s task of disseminating disinformation about its actions. El País Richard Gowan UN Director 31 Jan 2022 The U.S. and its allies will use the U.N. as a political theater where they can publicly shame Russia in the event of war [in Ukraine]. Reuters Richard Gowan UN Director Latest Updates Speech / Global 6 May 2022 The Ukraine War and UN Reform The text below is an extended version of a lecture given to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy on 3 May 2022. Commentary / Europe & Central Asia 24 March 2022 A Tentative First Look at Options for Peace Operations in Ukraine With the war in Ukraine raging, and no sign of an exit in view, a Polish peacekeeping proposal is unlikely to gather steam. But it is not too early for policymakers to start thinking about what tasks a future peace operation might undertake. Op-Ed / Europe & Central Asia 10 March 2022 The UN Is Another Casualty of Russia’s War Why the Organization Might Never Bounce Back. Originally published in Foreign Affairs Podcast / Europe & Central Asia 5 March 2022 Any Hope Left For Diplomacy Over Ukraine? This week on Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood hosts a two-part episode on the Ukraine war, talking to Crisis Group’s Europe/Central Asia director Olga Oliker about the fighting and Western policy and then to UN director, Richard Gowan, about dynamics at the UN and how the world has reacted. Commentary / Europe & Central Asia 4 March 2022 The Ukraine War: A Global Crisis? The overwhelming support for a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion shows that countries around the world see it as attacking global norms. Yet policymakers also view the crisis in terms of their own national interest. Crisis Group experts assess the war from thirteen vantage points. Also available in Español Load more