Colum Lynch

Colum Lynch was a staff writer at Foreign Policy between 2010 and 2022.

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WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks along with his daughter Ivanka during a video conference with NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station in the Oval Office at the White House April 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Molly Riley-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks along with his daughter Ivanka during a video conference with NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station in the Oval Office at the White House April 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Molly Riley-Pool/Getty Images)

Ivanka Trump Wants to Highlight the Humanitarian Crises Her Father Ignores

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Colum Lynch
Syrians bury the bodies of victims of a a suspected toxic gas attack in Khan Sheikhun, a nearby rebel-held town in Syrias northwestern Idlib province, on April 5, 2017. International outrage is mounting over a suspected chemical attack that killed scores of civilians in Khan Sheikhun on April 4, 2017. Warplanes had carried out a suspected toxic gas attack that killed dozens people including several children, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed in the town of Khan Sheikhun, in Idlib province, had died from the effects of the gas, adding that dozens more suffered respiratory problems and other symptoms. / AFP PHOTO / FADI AL-HALABI (Photo credit should read FADI AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images)
Syrians bury the bodies of victims of a a suspected toxic gas attack in Khan Sheikhun, a nearby rebel-held town in Syrias northwestern Idlib province, on April 5, 2017. International outrage is mounting over a suspected chemical attack that killed scores of civilians in Khan Sheikhun on April 4, 2017. Warplanes had carried out a suspected toxic gas attack that killed dozens people including several children, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed in the town of Khan Sheikhun, in Idlib province, had died from the effects of the gas, adding that dozens more suffered respiratory problems and other symptoms. / AFP PHOTO / FADI AL-HALABI (Photo credit should read FADI AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images)

Soviet-Era Bomb Used in Syria Chemical Weapon Attack, Claims Rights Group

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Colum Lynch
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (R) speaks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson (L) and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (C) listen during a security council meeting on North Korea at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 28, 2017. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington will push for a tougher global response to North Korea during a meeting Friday of the UN Security Council that will see China come under heavy pressure to rein in its ally. / AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (R) speaks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson (L) and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (C) listen during a security council meeting on North Korea at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 28, 2017. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington will push for a tougher global response to North Korea during a meeting Friday of the UN Security Council that will see China come under heavy pressure to rein in its ally. / AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Rex Tillerson Calls On U.N. Members To Tighten Vise On North Korea

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Colum Lynch
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) delivers remarks while hosting ambassadors from the 15 country members of the United Nations Security Council flanked by his Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley (L) and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster in the State Dining Room at the White House April 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump was frank in his opening remarks, saying that Haley had briefed him about each member of the council and he said he liked them all. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) delivers remarks while hosting ambassadors from the 15 country members of the United Nations Security Council flanked by his Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley (L) and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster in the State Dining Room at the White House April 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump was frank in his opening remarks, saying that Haley had briefed him about each member of the council and he said he liked them all. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump Raised Prospect of a North Korea Strike with U.N. Envoys, But Said He Wants to Avoid a Fight

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Colum Lynch, Dan De Luce

Syrian Scientists Made Sarin Used in Chemical Attacks, France Claims

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Colum Lynch
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley holds up photos of Syrian victims of a chemical attack during an April 5 meeting of the Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York. (Photo credit: DREW ANGERER/Getty Images)
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley holds up photos of Syrian victims of a chemical attack during an April 5 meeting of the Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York. (Photo credit: DREW ANGERER/Getty Images)

After Threatening to Starve U.N. of Funds, Trump Breaks Bread With Turtle Bay Dignitaries

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Colum Lynch
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 7: Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vladimir Safronkov confers with aides during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council concerning the situation in Syria, at UN headquarters, April 7, 2017 in New York City. On Thursday night, the United States launched airstrikes directed at Syrian government air bases in response to the chemical attack earlier in the week. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 7: Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vladimir Safronkov confers with aides during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council concerning the situation in Syria, at UN headquarters, April 7, 2017 in New York City. On Thursday night, the United States launched airstrikes directed at Syrian government air bases in response to the chemical attack earlier in the week. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

World Reacts to Trump’s Syria Strike, And The Kremlin Sends Reinforcements

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Paul McLeary, Colum Lynch
haley crop
haley crop

Russia Rejects Trump Administration’s U.N. Bid To Condemn Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack

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Colum Lynch, Robbie Gramer, David Kenner
Libyan troops loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a retired general and former chief of staff for Moamer Kadhafi, sit on an amoured personnel carrier (APC) during a demonstration calling on the international community to arm the Libyan army on August 14, 2015 in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. The Tobruk-based government (recognised by the international community) said in a statement that world powers were using "double standards" by fighting IS in Syria and Iraq and "turning a blind eye" to the presence of the jihadists in Libya. AFP PHOTO / ABDULLAH DOMA (Photo credit should read ABDULLAH DOMA/AFP/Getty Images)
Libyan troops loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a retired general and former chief of staff for Moamer Kadhafi, sit on an amoured personnel carrier (APC) during a demonstration calling on the international community to arm the Libyan army on August 14, 2015 in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. The Tobruk-based government (recognised by the international community) said in a statement that world powers were using "double standards" by fighting IS in Syria and Iraq and "turning a blind eye" to the presence of the jihadists in Libya. AFP PHOTO / ABDULLAH DOMA (Photo credit should read ABDULLAH DOMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia Nixes Former White House Aide for Top U.N. Job in Libya

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Colum Lynch, Kavitha Surana
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 25: (AFP-OUT) Nikki Haley raises her right hand while being sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations January 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. Haley was formerly the Governor of South Carolina. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 25: (AFP-OUT) Nikki Haley raises her right hand while being sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations January 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. Haley was formerly the Governor of South Carolina. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Nikki Haley Threatened to Withhold Backing for U.N.’s Congo Mission, Then Blinked

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Colum Lynch, Ty McCormick
Dutch peacekeeper during a patrol in Gao
Dutch peacekeeper during a patrol in Gao

To Save Peacekeeping From Trump’s Budget Ax, Will the U.N. Embrace Fighting Terrorism?

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Ty McCormick, Colum Lynch
Displaced Iraqis, who fled their homes following an offensive led by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, collect boxes of food donated by the World Food Program (WFP) in the southern city of Basra on October 2, 2014. United Nations agencies are running out of funding to help the 1.8 million people displaced by violence in Iraq, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said. AFP PHOTO/HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI (Photo credit should read HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI/AFP/Getty Images)
Displaced Iraqis, who fled their homes following an offensive led by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, collect boxes of food donated by the World Food Program (WFP) in the southern city of Basra on October 2, 2014. United Nations agencies are running out of funding to help the 1.8 million people displaced by violence in Iraq, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said. AFP PHOTO/HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI (Photo credit should read HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI/AFP/Getty Images)

U.N. to Put Trump Appointee at Head of World Food Programme to Help Stave Off U.S. Cuts

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Colum Lynch
DUCZE, CYPRUS - MARCH 06: A United Nations metal flag with a bullet hole in it stands on a U.N. peacekeepers' viewing platform near a militarized zone of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) next to the British Soverign Base Area on March 6, 2017 near Duzce, Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided into a Greek south and Turkish north ever since the brief but devastating war of 1974. Since then United Nations peacekeepers have maintained a buffer zone that runs through the capital city of Nicosia and across the entire island to keep the factions apart. In the south the Greek-dominated Republic of Cyprus is internationally-recognized and a member of the European Union, while in the north the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) is recognized only by Turkey, which also has tens of thousands of troops stationed there. Negotiations over possible reunification have made strident progress over the last few years, though they have stalled in recent months. Britain maintains two military bases on the southern part of the island that it controls as soverign territory. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
DUCZE, CYPRUS - MARCH 06: A United Nations metal flag with a bullet hole in it stands on a U.N. peacekeepers' viewing platform near a militarized zone of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) next to the British Soverign Base Area on March 6, 2017 near Duzce, Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided into a Greek south and Turkish north ever since the brief but devastating war of 1974. Since then United Nations peacekeepers have maintained a buffer zone that runs through the capital city of Nicosia and across the entire island to keep the factions apart. In the south the Greek-dominated Republic of Cyprus is internationally-recognized and a member of the European Union, while in the north the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) is recognized only by Turkey, which also has tens of thousands of troops stationed there. Negotiations over possible reunification have made strident progress over the last few years, though they have stalled in recent months. Britain maintains two military bases on the southern part of the island that it controls as soverign territory. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Trump Administration Eyes $1 Billion in Cuts to U.N. Peacekeeping

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Colum Lynch
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 7: (AFP OUT) Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, listens during a county sheriff listening session with U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration will return to court Tuesday to argue it has broad authority over national security and to demand reinstatement of a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries that stranded refugees and triggered protests. (Photo by Andrew Harrer - Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 7: (AFP OUT) Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, listens during a county sheriff listening session with U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration will return to court Tuesday to argue it has broad authority over national security and to demand reinstatement of a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries that stranded refugees and triggered protests. (Photo by Andrew Harrer - Pool/Getty Images)

Jared Kushner Struck Out in His First Foray Into Middle East Diplomacy

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Colum Lynch
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney takes questions from reporters during a briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House March 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mulvaney took questions about President Donald Trump's federal budget blueprint which was released Thursday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney takes questions from reporters during a briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House March 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mulvaney took questions about President Donald Trump's federal budget blueprint which was released Thursday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump’s Budget Blueprint: Pulling Up the Diplomatic Drawbridge

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Colum Lynch, Dan De Luce
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