What Nikki Haley’s Resignation Means For The U.S. And The World

Published October 10, 2018 at 9:00 AM CDT

Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Ambassador Nikki Haley will step down at the end of the year. We’ll look at her record at the United Nations, what’s next for her and who’s next to represent America at the U.N.

Guests

Colum Lynch, United Nations-based senior diplomatic correspondent, Foreign Policy. ( @columlynch)

Eliana Johnson,White House reporter for Politico . ( @elianayjohnson)

Adm. James Stavridis, former allied commander at NATO, where he oversaw operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, the Balkans and piracy off the coast of Africa. Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University. ( @stavridisj)

From The Reading List

Foreign Policy: Nikki Haley Stuns Washington by Announcing Resignation From U.N. Post – “From her first days on the job, Haley sought to fashion a distinct political brand, denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin as an unreliable partner even as Trump pursued a closer working relationship with the Russian leader, and pushing back against the president on some of his most controversial statements. When women accused Trump of inappropriately touching or groping them, Haley said they “should be heard.” During the 2016 presidential campaign, she described Trump as “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president.” But Haley increasingly moved closer to Trump’s positions, backing his hard-line stances on Israel and Iran that often left the United States diplomatically isolated at the United Nations.”

Politico: Nikki Haley flips the script on Trump – “While several White House aides said they were shocked both by Haley’s resignation, as well as the timing of the announcement — a month before November’s midterm elections — two people familiar with her thinking said she did not want her departure to appear to be a response to Republican losses in the midterms, should they happen. Nor did she want her exit to seem to be propelled by the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller, whose probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election is expected to conclude in the new year, or by any other negative event.”

The Atlantic: Why Nikki Haley’s Departure Shocked Washington – “The move is shocking because Haley has demonstrated remarkable staying power in the Trump administration, joining at the outset and outlasting other top foreign-policy advisers such as H. R. McMaster and Rex Tillerson. She hasn’t recently been on the shortlist of Cabinet members whose days were rumored to be numbered—in contrast to, say, the always-embattled Jeff Sessions or the seemingly out-of-favor James Mattis. And she has positioned herself squarely with the president on a number of high-priority issues.”