The Los Angeles Times today offers a great story on some of the more unorthodox ways that peacekeepers can help instill a culture of peace. In addition to kung fu, it seems that tae kwon do, tai chi, yoga, and even pizza-making lessons are also effective peacebuilding tactics. UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, LAT's Borzou Daragahi reports, are using these activities to bring a level of normality -- and even a little fun -- to people scarred by years of war. These kind of tasks are not all that the 13,000 blue helmets are doing in Lebanon, though.

The U.N. peacekeepers also offer medical and dental clinics and computer classes, and they have plans to supply more artificial limbs for the people wounded by old land mines and ordnance.

The efforts are all meant to endear the troops to a local population that has violently resisted incursions by Israeli, French, American and Syrian forces over the decades.

"When we do such things, it brings us closer to the people," said Maj. Rishi Raj Singh of the 800-plus Indian contingent. "The return is immeasurable. We don't spend a lot of money, and it's immensely popular."

These kind of initiatives seem like wise investments, with little risk and huge upside as a "soft power" strategy. Read the whole article here.

by Travis Moore, reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Denver (cross-posted at On Day One)

Some of the highlights (and lowlights) of Day One at the DNC:

• Breakfast with Global Leadership for Climate Action--a UN Foundation/Club of Madrid Partnership. Participants, including former heads of state, foreign ministers, business leaders and U.S. Ambassadors, express optimism about a post-Kyoto agreement with an Obama Administration.
  
  
• Tim Wirth and John Podesta declare that Democrats' Energy Plan doesn't go far enough.
  
  
• "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise"--Ted Turner's "words to live by" at the Philanthropy Forum.
  
  
• Touche, Joe Lieberman? Jim Leach, former Republican representative from Iowa, begins the Convention with an Obama endorsement that doesn't quite bring the house down.
  
  
• Reports of a planned Obama assassination attempt abound.
  
  
• A tribute to Ted Kennedy, Michelle Obama praises Hillary, and James Carville thinks the first day was a failure.

by Travis Moore, reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Denver (cross-posted at On Day One)

Democratic Party leaders--including Howard Dean, Madeleine Albright and Nancy Pelosi--opened up the DNC last night at a reception hosted by the National Democratic Institute by calling, virtually in unison, for Obama to restore American leadership in the world. They pledged to the audience, which included a delegation of Georgian government officials, that an Obama Administration would return the United States to its position as a "strong partner with the rest of the world."

Although Dean told me he couldn't "talk foreign policy" (or give me an On Day One idea), he did then proceed to run down a litany of actions that an Obama Administration--and the Democratic Party--would take to work more constructively with the world. He touched on all the usual, albeit critical, steps that an Obama Administration could begin with, including bringing the Iraq war to a close, working with and treating our allies with respect, and (perhaps directed towards the Georgian delegation) opposing authoritarianism while defending democracy and human rights. Pelosi followed suit, committing that an Obama Adminstration and a Democratic Congress would "work together for the freedom of mankind."

While the rhetoric certainly wasn't anything new, it underscored both major parties' continued commitment to greater international cooperation should Obama win in November. Indeed, as noted here earlier, the selection of Joe Biden brings a committed internationalist on to the ticket. Given the public's concern about America's standing in the world, this is certainly smart politics.

Russ Carnahan, one of the Party's up-and-comers, finished off the night by offering his ideas for Day One, which reaffirm many of Dean's and Pelosi's statements.

In June, al Qaeda released a video seeking to undermine a UN-brokered peace deal that had recently been reached between the Somali transitional government and some opposition factions. Moderates rejected the call to violence, but more radical and militant groups, such as the notorious Shabab, stepped up their attacks, including toward UN personnel. They had not affirmed the connection with al Qaeda, however -- until now at least. On the heels of another peace deal -- the timing likely is not coincidental -- Shabab is proclaiming its allegiance to bin Laden.

"We are negotiating how we can unite into one," said Muktar Robow, a top military commander of Shabab, which the U.S. State Department designated a terrorist organization this year. "We will take our orders from Sheik Osama bin Laden because we are his students."

A senior U.S. official tempered Shabab's enthusiastic affirmation, which could be as much a tactic of provocative rhetoric as it is an indication of a stronger relationship between the two terrorist organizations.

U.S. Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger acknowledged growing links between Shabab and Al Qaeda, but said ties remained in the early stages.

"There are indications of a fairly close Shabab-Al Qaeda connection, though it's not clear to what extent they've been operationalized," he said. "Is Shabab taking orders from Al Qaeda? I would say no. They are still running their own show."

Even Shabab "running their own show," of course, still poses a threat to Somalia's fragile hopes for stability.

The United Nations Foundation and the Better World Campaign (the sponsors of this blog) are hosting a panel discussion tomorrow afternoon at the "Big Tent" in Denver. The pollster Geoff Garin will present findings on foreign policy and national security "messaging" from his new report: Language for a New American Consensus on International Cooperation. The Washington Note's Steve Clemons will respond. Be there or be square.

by Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Ten years ago, I stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate to introduce a bill, which eventually became known as the "Helms-Biden law", to authorize the payment of nearly $1 billion in back dues to the United Nations. Securing its passage was a hard-fought, but worthwhile, initiative.

Unfortunately, we are again in arrears to the UN. For over a year, we have not been paying our full contribution for its peacekeeping operations -- missions in places like Lebanon, Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kosovo -- that advance our national interests while sharing the human, political and financial costs of peacekeeping with other nations.

The Peacekeeping arrears -- $117 million to date -- are due to an outdated cap which prohibits the U.S. from paying more than 25 per cent of the United Nations' peacekeeping budget. However, the UN is billing us at just under 27 percent (a reduction from 31 percent, negotiated by U.S. Ambassador Holbrooke in 2000, under the terms of my legislation). If we continue to let the arrears stand, these critical missions could suffer, the nations who have been contributing their troops as peacekeepers might begin to balk at future requests, and our standing to press for further UN reform will be diminished. This is why I introduced a bill to correct the cap problem and pay our arrears, S. 392, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved on June 27.

Ironically, while our arrears are rising, the importance of UN peacekeeping is rising too. If the UN didn't conduct these missions, we might have to -- at a much higher financial cost and burden on our over-stretched military. Our yearly dues to UN peacekeeping, which support missions in 18 conflict zones, are just over $1 billion -- less than the cost of a week in Iraq, and less than 0.5 percent of our entire Defense budget.

The UN 'blue helmets' are literally on the front lines in conflicts that are the worst of the worst: protecting civilians, monitoring cease-fires, clearing mine fields, and disarming combatants. We vote time and again in the UN Security Council, and rightfully so, to support these critical missions -- and our financial support should be in harmony with our policy. We can not, in good conscience, continue to shortchange these operations.

The New York Times receives a leaked email from State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher to US-UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in which Boucher excoriates Khalilzad for meeting with Pakistani Political leader Asif Ali Zardiri.

Mr. Khalilzad had spoken by telephone with Mr. Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, several times a week for the past month until he was confronted about the unauthorized contacts, a senior United States official said. Other officials said Mr. Khalilzad had planned to meet with Mr. Zardari privately next Tuesday while on vacation in Dubai, in a session that was canceled only after Richard A. Boucher, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, learned from Mr. Zardari himself that the ambassador was providing "advice and help."

"Can I ask what sort of 'advice and help' you are providing?" Mr. Boucher wrote in an angry e-mail message to Mr. Khalilzad. "What sort of channel is this? Governmental, private, personnel?" Copies of the message were sent to others at the highest levels of the State Department; the message was provided to The New York Times by an administration official who had received a copy.

Officially, the United States has remained neutral in the contest to succeed Mr. Musharraf, and there is concern within the State Department that the discussions between Mr. Khalilzad and Mr. Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister, could leave the impression that the United States is taking sides in Pakistan's already chaotic internal politics.

In an old UN Plaza Clip from February, Matthew Lee and I discuss some of these stories surrounding Khalilzad. As I say below, I really don't like to get into rumor mongering about Khalilzad's ambitions to be a foreign head of state.

By Katherine Miller, executive director of communications, UN Foundation

Yesterday's convention headlines were dominated (and rightly so) by Sen. Ted Kennedy's moving display of personal strength and party loyalty, as well as Michelle Obama's touching portrait of her loving family. But behind the scenes there important discussions about climate change and global philanthropy taking place.

The National Democratic Institute is hosting the International Leaders Forum, a series of events for the more than 1,200 foreign dignitaries who are here to witness Barak Obama officially taking control of the Democratic party and begin the final push towards Election Day. C-Span is featuring some of the video on its DNC hub.

The diplomats are especially excited about Wednesday's day long program featuring Madeline Albright, former Sen. Tom Daschle, Richard Holbrooke, former Sen. Tim Wirth (president of the UN foundation) and rumored guest Joe Biden. But until then they are spending their time listening to members of Congress, policy advisers, and others discuss the role of international cooperation and ideas for the next Administration's foreign policy approaches.

Alongside of the NDI program is the 2008 Rocky Mountain Roundtable hosted by the city of Denver and Mayor Hickenlooper. Yesterday's panel on global philanthropy was held before an audience of more than 900 people and featured Ted Turner, Larry Brilliant, Mary Robinson, Andrew Young, and many others. It was moderated by Walter Isaacson. It was inspiring and feisty, and there was a general consensus that, among the issues facing us, Climate Change is the most important. As Brilliant said, "if we don't do something now, we'll have malaria in Los Angeles and we won't have to worry about the design for the 9/11 memorial because New York will be underwater." Dramatic statements, yes. But not untrue according to the world's scientists.

Listening to these amazing men and women was totally inspiring and (unknowingly) prepared me for a discussion I had later that evening in the Convention Hall. After listening to Kennedy's speech, I ran into former Ohio Representative John Kasich. Now a commentator on Fox, Kasich took the opportunity to tell me how screwed up the UN is, how we all need to fix it and that its letting people die.

It was clear (and disappointing) after much discussion that Kasich, probably doesn't understand the role the UN plays in humanitarian situations. Or at least things of them along parallel lines. He has just returned from a trip to Rwanda and commented on all the amazing things happening there but refused to acknowledge the role of UNICEF, WHO, or others on the ground there and throughout the rest of Africa. Instead he is fixated on trying to make the UN into something it is not, a governing body instead of a diplomatic one.

We closed out our conversation agreeing to disagree but, I did invite him to NDI's session on Wednesday. Maybe hearing about the good work of the UN, the American public's desire for international cooperation, and meeting some of the 2,200 people expected to attend will open his eyes a little more.

Seriously. From the UN News Center:

The United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has received a coveted Emmy Award for its part in coming up with a means to allow high-quality video to reach devices ranging from mobile phones to High Definition Televisions.

The honour recognized the Joint Video Team - comprising the ITU, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) - for its highly efficient video compression method to significantly reduce both the bandwidth needed to deliver high-quality video and the space to store it.

The technology "is a jewel in the crown of international standards collaboration," Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU's standardization bureau, said in his acceptance speech at a ceremony in Hollywood on Saturday.

"Its widespread adoption is testament to the flexibility and efficiency that has been engineered by a group of people that have dedicated themselves to achieving this goal," he added.

Called H.264 | MPEG-4 AVC, the technology is used in products for companies such as Adobe, Apple, BBC, France Telecom, Motorola, Sony and Toshiba to send high-definition video images over broadcast television, cable television, satellite television services, Blu-Ray, mobile phones and Internet Protocol television.

Over at On Day One, our man in Denver Travis Moore is catching politicians, media celebrities, and activists with the On Day One cam. So far, we have On Day One ideas (that is, "what do you think the next president should do, on day one") from Vice President Walter Mondale, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Missouri Congressman Russ Carnahan and, below, from the MSNBC Morning Joe duo Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinsky.