Politics - Katoikos

When power refuses to evolve: Rethinking Global Governance

Daryl Swanepoel
World , UN , Peace & Security , China , Politics , Analysis , Foreign Affairs
16 October, 2025

China’s Global Governance Initiative isn’t defiance — it’s a response to paralysis When President Xi Jinping unveiled the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) earlier this year, Western capitals reacted as though the world had just tilted on its axis. The headlines were predictable: China challenges the world order. Beijing builds a parallel system. The liberal rules-based…

The UN Charter must be at the heart and soul of any new peace architecture

On 1 September 85 years ago, Adolf Hitler’s German Reich invaded Poland, igniting theSecond World War and unleashing indescribable misery and suffering across Europe and the world. In its aftermath, the UN Charter emerged, carrying the promise of a world order free from war. Yet, almost simultaneously, humanity developed its most destructive weapon: the nuclear…

Where Memory Marches, Justice Follows

On 11 July 2025 – 30th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica – a memory walk and protest took place in the southwestern Serbian city of Novi Pazar, located in a region bearing two names – Raška to Serbs and Sandžak to its primarily Muslim residents also known as Bosniaks since the Yugoslav wars of…

What is a Sadistic State and how can it be countered?

A new kind of state is born Reflecting on what is happening in the US since the (second) Trump inauguration on 20 January 2025, people say it is becoming an authoritarian state, a corrupt state, an anti-immigrant state, a human rights crushing state, a white nationalist state, an oligarch-controlled state, and a state that is…

Politics at a Crossroads: Lessons from Delphi

“Make Politics Great Again.” That was the parting remark following a conversation I shared with fellow participants at the Delphi Economic Forum (9-12 April 2025), featuring none other than Dimitrios Avramopoulos, former European Commissioner, former Mayor of Athens, and a long-serving Minister across more government portfolios than one can count. The discussion covered a wide…

The (dis)United Kingdom: Nationalism and Independence Across the UK

On July 4th, 2024, about half of all adults in the United Kingdom turned out to vote, the lowest turnout since universal suffrage was introduced in 1918, according to an Institute for Public Policy Research report. Turnout was 59.8% of registered voters, down from 67.3% in 2019. While the narrative that Keir Starmer’s Labour Party…

Wagner Group’s attempted coup shakes Putin’s regime and sparks global concern

Unprecedented challenge reveals a weakness in Russia’s centralized power structure The recent coup attempt in Russia, led by the Wagner Group, has shaken the country’s political landscape and led analysts to question the stability of President Vladimir Putin’s regime. The armed rebels’ incursion into Russian territory and their march on Moscow directly challenged Putin’s authority…

The imperative of de-escalation in Ukraine: negotiations and possible solutions

In the West, there are two different competing narratives about the war in Ukraine. The prevailing narrative is that it is a struggle between the “bad guys” and “good guys”. For many, Russia led by dictator Putin represents imperialism and is alone responsible for this unprovoked war, whereas Ukraine represents freedom and democracy as well…

Brazil – Risks of Reversed Elections

More than support for the candidates, it seems that voters’ rejection of Bolsonaro or Lula will decide the presidential elections. A ‘country-continent’ with 215 million inhabitants, twice the size of the European Union and the leading power in Latin America. This is Brazil, a federal republic with a presidential system made up of 26 states…

Is a new confidence-building architecture possible as a response to the Ukraine crisis?

By Tapio Kanninen and Georgios Kostakos* After the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022, the world was horrified at the prospect of a new major war in Europe. Condemnation for the invasion rightly goes to President Vladimir Putin of Russia. An overblown Western reaction, though, may have dangerous consequences for the…