<em>FP</em> Launches "Turtle Bay" Blog

Foreign Policy launched "Turtle Bay" this morning. Written by Colum Lynch, the new blog will offer original reporting and behind the scenes analysis and insight from the United Nations. About his new project, Lynch said: "I hope Turtle Bay will become a regular read for U.N. staff, diplomats, scholars, and foreign policy enthusiasts, but I also intend to make it accessible enough for anybody who is interested in understanding this often misunderstood institution and the sometimes colorful cast of characters who bring it to life. I promise to divulge as much diplomatic gossip, the stranger and funnier the better, as I can dig up. The intent of this blog is not to boost the United Nations or to needlessly flog it for its failings. I simply take it for what it is -- an institution that has established a central role in managing many of the world's messiest problems, and deserves greater attention and scrutiny than it generally receives." Check it out Turtle Bay here and read Susan Glasser's glowing staff memo about the launch after the jump. From: Susan Glasser Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 11:41 AM To: Cc: Subject: a new blog is born Hi all... We're proud to introduce today Turtle Bay, Colum Lynch's must-read new blog offering original reporting and behind the scenes analysis and insight from the United Nations. The blog's debut comes in the midst of the Haiti crisis - the worst in the institution's history Â– and we hope from day one it can establish itself as a vital source of news and information about this critical, and often critically undercovered, global institution. Every day, Colum's blog - and his accompanying, very newsy Twitter feed - will go backstage at the UN, with a particular focus not only on the news but also the people and players whose actions shape the place, from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to US Ambassador Susan Rice to the 50,000 civil servants who make the UN what it is today. With a $6 billion operating budget, diplomats from 192 countries and peacekeepers in the world's most troubled places, the UN is a critical player in today's world, and we hope Turtle Bay - named for the New York neighborhood where the UN's headquarters is located - will provide a unique daily chronicle of it. Colum is the gold standard of UN reporters after more than a decade covering the place for The Washington Post (he'll continue to file for the paper as well as for Foreign Policy), and in addition to years of reporting on the ins and outs of international diplomacy, he's also worked to ferret out stories about the underside of that world, uncovering a U.S. spying operation in Iraq, Dick Cheney's financial links to Saddam Hussein, and evidence of various crimes in past U.N. peacekeeping missions. Last year, Lynch disclosed classified documents that showed the Bush administration violated U.S. law by promoting an alleged Rwandan war criminal to serve as the second-highest-ranking UN peacekeeper in Darfur. Here's what he has to say about the blog's mission: "I hope Turtle Bay will become a regular read for U.N. staff, diplomats, scholars, and foreign policy enthusiasts, but I also intend to make it accessible enough for anybody who is interested in understanding this often misunderstood institution and the sometimes colorful cast of characters who bring it to life. I promise to divulge as much diplomatic gossip, the stranger and funnier the better, as I can dig up. The intent of this blog is not to boost the United Nations or to needlessly flog it for its failings. I simply take it for what it is -- an institution that has established a central role in managing many of the world's messiest problems, and deserves greater attention and scrutiny than it generally receives." Please join me in welcoming him and help pass on the word about Turtle Bay!

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FP Launches "Turtle Bay" Blog

Matt Dornic

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