The 28 February 2026 US-Israel attack on Iran and the subsequent spat between US President Trump and Pope Leo, including the salvo by Vice President Vance on Christian “just war” doctrine, brought back to the fore an ages-old debate about the respective roles of “Church and State” or religious and civic/political authorities. In Western liberal…
Earlier this month, the U.S. lifted sanctions that were imposed on interim President Delcy Rodriguez since 2018. This means she will be able to engage directly with U.S. financial entities and multilateral organizations such as the IMF. This paves the way for increased foreign investment in the country and the renegotiation of its external debt….
The United States and Israel’s war on Iran will undoubtedly have serious consequences for Russia –Tehran’s strategic partner – especially if the Islamic Republic falls. Still, the country expected to suffer the most if Washington achieves its geostrategic goals in the Middle East is not the Russian Federation, but China. Russia – unable to achieve…
Some positive signs… After years of poor performance bordering on irrelevance vis-à-vis many of the challenges facing the world, especially in the peace and security field, the United Nations has recently been getting a boost to its standing, from expected and unexpected places. No surprise that small and middle powers of the South and the…
A conflict erupted in Sudan in April 2023 between the Sudanese National Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia. The consequences have been catastrophic, with published figures showing thousands of deaths and millions of people forced from their homes since then. In fact, the United Nations considers the ongoing war in Sudan to be…
Introduction: The Crisis of Conscience in Our Time Within the international system, violence is no longer treated as an unwelcome departure from what is normal. Rather, it is increasingly being used as one of its organising principles. War is standardised as policy, civilian suffering is reframed as collateral damage and instead of being an ethical…
The military operation staged by the United States under the government of Donald Trump against Venezuela on 3 January 2026 is not only a warning for international law and multilateral institutions. It is a litmus test for journalism, revealing whether the press acts as an objective witness in moments of escalation or becomes part of…
Qatar is a tiny state with a population of around three million, in which foreign nationals make up approximately 76 percent of the population, while migrant workers account for nearly 90 percent of the labour force. And yet it plays an outsized role in global and regional politics, ranging from major investments in Africa and…
Symbolic as the upcoming change of calendar year may be, as a human construct, it does encourage a fresh look at past events and the making of resolutions, or at least wishes, for the new year ahead. 2025 has been packed with turbulence, thanks to the new/old US President’s “transactional politics” at home and abroad…
As special correspondents for two different Brazilian TV networks, Cultura and Gazeta, we covered four Conferences of the Parties (COPs) between 2015 and 2018 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In Paris, Marrakesh, Bonn, and Katowice, we observed how each opening speech served as a compass for environmental diplomacy during those…
