New Student Photo Series #6 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

New Student Photo Series #6 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Max Arvid Anderson will be joining SIPA in two weeks.   He will be among 200+ new students pursuing the Master of International Affairs degree this fall.   Before beginning his studies, Max spent his summer in the Economic and Social Council Chamber at the UN Headquarters in New York. The silly grin on my face is due to some over-the-top self satisfaction, the fatigue is due to spending the summer working. The picture was taken last month, when the draft resolution on General Assembly Revitalization was adopted by consensus in the Ad Hoc Working Group on GA Revitalization. The GA Revitalization process is a yearly affair (like so many things at the UN), and was formalised after the 2005 World Summit. This year I had the privilege to function as negotiator on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The other main stake holders are the NAM, certain members of the Security Council and UN Member States who value the GA and the UN reform process. This year proved particularly difficult due to well known political sensitivities when it comes to the selection and appointment of the next UNSG, due to take place in 2016. On a more consensual note, we managed to agree that the Security Council elections for non-permanent members should take place earlier than Oc tober; to allow smaller UN Member States to adequately prepare for the two years they spend there.