In his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2020, President Donald J. Trump stressed how the UN should focus on the “real problems of the world” in order to be an effective organization. The US has often balanced between its own national interests and leadership, on the one hand, and acting through the United Nations and the international community, on the other. An often-heard argument is that the US should not give up its sovereignty and that the UN should act more effectively. But what does this actually mean and how is this position defended? These questions will be the starting points for an in-depth discussion on the United States and the United Nations, specifically in terms of human rights.
Speakers
Researcher, University of Jyväskylä
Puheenjohtaja
Leading Researcher
Ville Sinkkonen is Leading Researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Center on US Politics and Power. He also holds the Title of Docent in International Politics at the University of Turku. His research focuses on US foreign policy, great-power politics, the changing international order, normative power and the politics of trust in international relations.
Sinkkonen has published in various peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, the Journal of Transatlantic Studies and the European Foreign Affairs Review. Sinkkonen has co-edited the volume Competing Visions for International Order: Challenges for a Shared Direction in an Age of Global Contestation (Palgrave, 2026) and is the author of A Comparative Appraisal of Normative Power: The European Union, the United States and the January 25th, 2011 Revolution in Egypt (Brill, 2015).
Sinkkonen holds an LL.D. (International Law) from the University of Turku, where he defended his doctoral dissertation Failing hegemony? Four essays on the global engagement of the United States of America in the 21st Century in December 2020.
Sinkkonen was the chairperson of the Finnish International Studies Association (FISA) from 2023 to 2025. He is a co-editor of the Nordic Review of International Studies (NRIS).
Podcasts
US Elections Untangled – EP 15: The End of US Global Leadership?
US Elections Untangled – EP 17: The Aftermath
US Elections Untangled – EP 18: The Biden Foreign Policy