Samantha Power: ‘A big pie of security threats’

Samantha Power is one of the most important people at the United Nations, and among those deciding the United States’ foreign policy. As US ambassador to the UN, she sits in the country’s permanent seat on the Security Council, with an all-important veto.

There is a big pie of international security threats and everybody needs to take their share .... Too few countries are doing too little when the number of threats is actually growing.

by Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN

Her term there has coincided with turmoil around the world: from unrest in Ukraine, to wars in the Middle East, and ongoing conflicts in Africa.

Her job comes with another important role, a seat on US President Barack Obama’s cabinet. But her links to the president go way beyond her current role. She has worked in the office of the senator from Illinois even before he decided to run for president in 2007, when he chose her as his foreign policy advisor.

She earlier made her name as a journalist and academic, writing two best-selling books about wars and genocide. She made the case that after conflicts like Rwanda and Bosnia the world should intervene to stop atrocities.

But how do those past arguments apply when it comes to the situation in Syria where more than 200,000 people have died? What can the international community do to end conflicts across the globe and bring stability and peace? And what are the main challenges facing the UN?

Samantha Power sat down with Talk to Al Jazeera to discuss US foreign policy, the UN’s role in conflicts and security threats across the world – including Ukraine, ISIL, Ebola, the war in Syria, and turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa.

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