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United Nations Provides Platform for U.S. Critics

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a highly anticipated speech to the U.N. General Assembly — the latest in a string of controversial speeches given by controversial leaders over the years.

With the exception of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, these adversarial addresses have come from the leaders of smaller nation. Aaron Friedberg, a professor at Princeton University, said these leaders see their address before the U.N as an irresistible opportunity to speak up and be noticed before the world body, the American public and their constituents back home.

Friedberg talks with Madeleine Brand about the long history of controversial addresses to the United Nations.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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