The UN, the perma-polycrisis, and our shrinking moral imagination The United Nations, the world’s most ambitious peace project, is once again on the brink of running out of money. But this time, it feels different, big time. We’re living through what many now call a perma-polycrisis, a constant layering of political instability and conflicts, economic…
On the morning of 22 April 2025, something inside me broke. In a quiet valley near Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir—a place known for its beauty and serenity—five armed militants opened fire on non-Muslim male tourists. Twenty-six men, on pilgrimage and vacation, were brutally gunned down in front of their families—wives, children, parents—who could do nothing…
Europe is stirring from a long geopolitical slumber. For decades security was outsourced, mainly to Washington. With Donald Trump’s return to the White House and mounting uncertainty over America’s future role in Europe, the time for strategic hesitation has passed. The continent must now take ownership of its security, or risk being caught unprepared in…
All roads lead to Strasbourg On 3 April 2025, fifty university students from Novi Sad in Serbia will set off for Strasbourg on bicycles. Having woken up even the smallest places in Serbia, they are set to wake up European human rights organisations; not because they’ve lost faith in Europe, but precisely because they still…
“A week is a long time in politics,” as former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously remarked. The first two weeks of March 2025 have felt endless, marked by political shifts, surprises, and moments that could shape the future for decades to come. The U.S. initially paused military aid to Ukraine, raising concerns over the…
With all that’s been going on in the world lately, I felt the need to express myself in a manner that is safe, controlled, and organized. While that may sound obvious, it really isn’t, not in the era of ‘fast food’ information that is sweeping the younger generations in which I belong. When it comes…
The European Union has just witnessed a strong surge in support for far-right and nationalist parties in the June 2024 EU Parliament elections. Parties such as France’s National Rally, Germany’s Alternative for Germany, and Italy’s Brothers of Italy, have all gained sweeping victories in the EU elections. This comes after months of speculation about the…
In a few days’ time, high up in the Swiss mountains, where the glaciers are melting faster than ever before, there will be a “peace conference” of the most ambitious kind. It won’t be about climate change in the literal sense of the term but drastic climate change it is supposed to achieve. A conflict…
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has long created an image of herself as being a “champion” of the Italian far-right when it comes to issues of migration. Having campaigned and won, in part, because of her harsh rhetoric on immigration in the 2022 Italian general election, Meloni has since found it difficult to deliver on her…
H.E. The President of the GA* Ambassador Dennis Francis UN New York Your Excellency, As a former UN staff member I participate in an informal Peacemaking Reflection Group (PRG), which follows from our respective locations and situations the work of the UN. Members of the Group welcome and would like to thank you for…
