An Open Letter to Friends of the United Nations The only head of state so far committed to physically addressing the opening of the new UN General Assembly session is US President Trump. As the rules for COVID-19 allow only one of the six seats of each country’s delegation in the General Assembly Hall to…
This is the year of the UN’s 75th anniversary (“UN75”), basically 75 years since the end of World War II. It has been a turbulent 75 years. No new world war but a serious Cold War and many regional confrontations costing the lives of millions. When the UN was created in 1945 it had only…
If countries have karma then the US has one more negative action on its scoresheet, its purchase in late June 2020 of the full production for the following three months of the anti-viral drug remdesivir…
Humanity is still reeling from the terrifying effects of the invisible enemy known by the code name COVID-19. The dead of this silent war are significant in numbers, and the fragility of the global economy is exposed. As some light is starting to appear at the end of the tunnel, the world after COVID-19 seems…
US President Trump has just surpassed himself in the disrespect that he shows to international institutions, and the truth. His disdain for any kind of broadly-accepted rules that would constrain his freedom of action is clearer than ever, as is his unhinged behaviour and his use of all possible means to keep his popularity and…
COVID-19, the coronavirus that made its presence felt first in China a few months ago is currently laying siege on the whole world. Country after country impose restrictions on the movement of people to reduce the probability of infection, with the number of enforced lockdowns increasing fast. The resulting reduction in demand for goods and…
The annual Edelman Trust Barometer recently launched its 2020 edition in Brussels. More than 34,000 people from “28 markets” answered the online survey of Edelman Intelligence, a self-described “global insight and analytics consultancy”. The questions asked were meant to gauge the citizens’ trust in “the major societal institutions”, namely government, business, NGOs and media. Despite…
24 October is celebrated every year as UN Day because it was on this day in 1945 that the United Nations Charter entered into force. The charter, the closest we have to a constitutional document for the whole world, is an international treaty that the victors of the Second World War agreed to abide by…
.…And it is not just because of climate change. Increasing unrest around the world shows a deep dissatisfaction of large numbers of citizens with unpopular decisions and corruption that the ruling classes are engaged in. It is not just a new Arab Spring, although it is expressed in the Arab world too, notably Lebanon, Iraq…
Among a set of proposals that Katoikos’ parent institution, the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS) has put forward for a “modern, effective, ethical and people-centred United Nations”, is the introduction of a global holiday. Over the past several decades, 21 September has been celebrated by the United Nations as International Day of Peace….
