Dr Georgios Kostakos is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS). He has been a UN staff member, including with the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and field missions for political affairs and human rights. He has also worked with think tanks, academic institutions and as a consultant on global governance and sustainability, peace and resilience.
Iran is in flames, with thousands of people protesting on the streets of cities around the country. Ostensibly, it is the drastic devaluation of Iran’s currency (the rial has fallen to a historic low of more than 1 million rials to 1 USD) and high inflation that set off the protests on 28 December 2025,…
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…
In recent days, a long-simmering dispute between US President Donald Trump and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has exploded, with Mr. Trump threatening to sue the BBC for 1 to 5 billion dollars for libel. The proximate cause of this is a BBC Panorama documentary about the events of 6 January 2021 in the US…
When 414 of Europe’s most experienced former diplomats, ministers and senior officials speak with one voice, the world ought to listen, and more than the world the EU institutions themselves. The joint statement of the 414, dated 16 October 2025 and titled “From Ceasefire to Peace and Beyond – the EU’s Vital Role”, is more…
Even without having been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, US President Donald Trump was impressively upbeat in his whirlwind trip to Israel and Egypt on 13 October 2025. He spoke extensively at the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, mostly extolling Israel for its achievements and declaring it the victor of the war in Gaza. He…
Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel has made his point crystal clear: He wants to proceed with the full occupation of Gaza City with troops on the ground, thus dealing the final blow to the much-weakened but still somewhat holding Hamas. He may believe it, or not. In the latter case he may be trying to…
Could there be good news out of Kananaskis? The 51st summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries is taking place in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada on 15-17 June 2025. Despite the constantly diminishing part of the world’s population and GDP that these countries represent (reportedly 10% and 44% respectively), one cannot underestimate the importance…
It is Easter again, among the holiest of holidays on the Christian calendar. And this year the two Easters coincide, that of the Western Churches, Catholic and Protestant that is, with that of the Eastern Churches, Orthodox and more. It is also the Jewish Passover, which this year culminates, like the two Easters, on Sunday,…
On 2 April 2025, newly declared “Liberation Day for America”, President Trump ceremoniously announced the imposition of trade tariffs on virtually all US trade partners, starting with an across-the-board tariff of 25% on imported automobiles and a minimum of 10% on all other imported goods and services. No favours were done to geopolitical allies and…
20 January 2025 is not just any inauguration day for just any new US President. All initial signs are that Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th US President will go down in history as a moment of major change, a point of departure and discontinuity, a quantum leap, perhaps a reason to reset the calendar…
