The United States and China at the United Nations

Wednesday, September 23, 2020
9:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time
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About the Event

Early this year, one of the State Department’s top Asia experts was assigned to a new role: countering Chinese influence at the United Nations. For several years, critics of China in the West have noted its rising influence in multilateral organizations ranging from obscure specialized agencies that set technical standards to organizations tasked with implementing the major international human rights treaties. Mark Lambert, the new special envoy for U.N. integrity, will talk about his mandate, how the United States hopes to reverse its declining international influence, and challenges faced by the global governance structures put in place after World War II when the United States had a different vision of its role in the world. 

About the Speaker

Mark Lambert is a career U.S. diplomat currently serving in the newly created position of Special Envoy for UN Integrity.  His previous post was as Special Envoy for North Korean Affairs, where he participated in negotiations with the DPRK aimed at the denuclearization of that country.  He devised and implemented a global pressure campaign to cut off hard currency to Pyongyang.  From 2015 until 2017, he was director of the Office of Korean Affairs where he managed a 17-person team addressing U.S. relations with the Republic of Korea and with the DPRK.  For over a year, his team shaped the response to a series of ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests conducted by North Korea.  Before that, he held senior positions in the U.S. Embassies in Hanoi, Vietnam; Beijing, China; and Bangkok, Thailand, among other posts. During his second tour of duty in Beijing, he supported the Six Party Talks aimed at North Korea denuclearization, and monitored China’s relations with Japan, the DPRK, and South Korea.  While previously serving in China, he was named the State Department’s human rights officer of the year for devising a strategy to release political prisoners and promote religious freedom. 

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