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…
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. To commemorate this, China will soon host the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing, where the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted—still the global benchmark for gender equality. Thirty years on, the key question is not only how far…
The 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit was held in Tianjin, China from August 31 to September 1, 2025. Coming at a major historical juncture, this summit arguably grabbed the global limelight more than ever before, bringing together the main non-Western powers and emphasizing their commitment to establishing a “more just, equitable and representative multipolar…
The WTO’s decline and Its limits The global trading system, as we know it, has lost its central referee. On April 2, 2025, the United States announced sweeping new reciprocal tariffs on imports ranging from steel to semiconductors, with duties reaching as high as 50% on some goods. The move was met with predictable disappointment…
As the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) prepares to hold its summit in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, one phrase is back in focus: the “Shanghai Spirit.” This regional bloc was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and several Central Asian nations to promote regional security and mutual trust. Today, with 10 member countries that…
Two Days, One Question Every August 14th and 15th, two nations—Pakistan and India—mark their Independence Days. In theory, these are moments of celebration. Flags rise, anthems echo, and speeches recall the courage of those who fought for liberation. Yet beneath the pageantry lies a harder question: What do we mean by freedom, and have we…
Divergent U.S. and Russian Strategies: Assessing the Scope of High-Level Diplomacy The 15 August 2025 Alaska summit between Presidents Trump and Putin highlighted significant differences between the Trump Administration’s approach and the broader U.S. diplomatic establishment, including the State Department and allied European partners. President Trump’s emphasis on negotiating a “realistic settlement” with Moscow divergesfrom…
Growing Climate Pressures The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as wildfires, floods, and hurricanes, have dramatically surged in recent decades. The World Meteorological Organization notes a nearly five-fold increase in climate disastersbetween 1970 and 2021, resulting in over two million deaths and US$4.3 trillion in economic losses. Such figures represent an accelerating…
Iran has often made headlines over the years due to its theocratic governance, its nuclear program, and its longstanding geopolitical tensions with the United States, Israel, and Western powers. While these issues dominate global narratives, they can obscure the lived reality of nearly 90 million people who inhabit a country with a civilization dating back millennia. Iran is home to…
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…
