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Friday, August 14, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Global Geopolitics
Africa Needs a DOVE Fund: Or Should We Starve So We Can Pay our Debts?
Sub-Saharan Africa has a debt problem. According to the most recent World Bank debt statistics, in 2018 the region had about $493 billion in long term external debt.
Beyond Trump— US, UN & Global Health Governance
US President Donald Trump’s battle with the World Health Organization (WHO) hides two important issues. One, the long running love-hate relationship between the US and the UN, and two, a better understanding of how global public health is governed and in the overall context of global governance.
The UN Is Hunting for a New Medical Director, Based in New York City
“Are you a senior medical executive with expertise in healthcare management with oversight of clinical services and occupational health at a facility, state, national or international level? The United Nations Secretariat is seeking a Medical Director at the D-2 level in the Department of Operational Support,” an ad posting on the UN’s job portal reads.
US Pulls the Plug on a UN Global Cease-Fire Resolution
After six weeks of negotiations, the United States shot down hopes for a resolution to be approved in the United Nations Security Council on May 8, refusing to back worldwide cease-fires as the US continues to castigate China and the World Health Organization for the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, momentum behind tenuous cease-fires is vanishing, experts say.
COVID-19 Pandemic Vulnerable to Exploitation by Proliferators, Terrorists & Criminals
Even during this pandemic, perhaps especially during this pandemic, the global institutions to help prevent the spread of biological and chemical weapons to proliferators or terrorists must continue their work.
UN Faces Financial & Liquidity Crisis as Global Pandemic Rages
The current financial crisis, triggered as a result of withholding or delaying payment of assessed contributions by Member States, is nothing new to the United Nations.
As US Unemployment Hits a Staggering 22 Million, Will UN Layoffs Be Far Behind?
The deadly coronavirus COVID-19, which has shut down the UN secretariat in New York, along with 32 of its agencies globally, has forced over 37,500 UN staffers worldwide to work from their homes.
In His Fight Against WHO, Trump Plays Politics with Human Lives
President Donald Trump’s threat to abruptly cut all US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) has been described as ‘reckless and deadly”—particularly at a time when the Geneva-based UN agency was engaged in an uphill battle against the spreading coronavirus.
The COVID-19 Cash Crisis: Will the UN Cease to Exist?
The coronavirus pandemic has set off an unprecedented institutional crisis at the United Nations – funds are drying up, key meetings are cancelled and the world body is fighting for its future.
Hegemony Shift in Times of COVID-19
We have long speculated on the moment when the shift of global leadership from the United States to China would take place. From Washington to Beijing for the political power, from New York to Shanghai for the economic one. It seems that we are witnessing it now.
White Supremacists, Yellow Peril & “Chinese Virus” Add to a Volatile Political Mix
When US President Donald Trump repeatedly characterized the fast-spreading COVID-19 as a “Chinese virus” last week, it prompted some white supremacists to resurrect an age old ethnic slur against Chinese and East Asians: the “Yellow Peril” which, in a bygone era, was touted as a xenophobic threat to the Western world.
Could the Coronavirus Be a Biological Weapon in the Not-Too-Distant Future?
The devastating spread of the deadly coronavirus across every continent-- with the exception of Antarctica-- has triggered a conspiracy theory on social media: what if the virus was really a biological weapon?
The 2020 NPT Review Conference: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and coincidentally the tenth quinquennial (five yearly) review conference is scheduled to be held at the United Nations in New York from 27 April to 22 May.
The Arc of Justice: The World’s Religions Launch Strategic Priorities for Peace
As a growing public health crisis becomes increasingly urgent, prominent global actors and institutions, including the United Nations, are confronted by the realisation that all hands on deck are required to address the cross-cutting challenges faced by our world today.
Q&A: ‘Place Gender Equality at the Heart of our Work’
Ambassador Mona Juul started her role as the Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations in January 2019, and is also the president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Coronavirus Threatens to Wreck Nuclear Review Conference
First, it was the ill-fated annual sessions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), scheduled for March 9-20, which was undermined by the spreading coronavirus COVID-19.
A Multi-Billion Dollar US Mideast Arms Market May be in Jeopardy
When President Saddam Hussein ran one of the world’s most authoritarian regimes in the militarily-volatile Middle East during 1979-2003, US newspapers routinely described him as “the strongman of Iraq” — as most journalists rightly view dictators worldwide.
War No More
75 years ago following the end of the Second World War and the first time any state has dropped an atomic bomb, not once, but twice, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 51 countries from all continents met to create the United Nations.
Coronavirus: A Flashback to Biological Warfare of a Bygone Era
In the wake of the latest coronavirus outbreak, movie buffs are drawing an eerie parallel with the film Contagion, a 2011 thriller based on a lethal airborne virus called Nipah and how the world’s medical community battled to find a cure for the pandemic.
US Mideast Peace Plan: from a Paper Pharaoh & a Fake Moses
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu was slapped corruption charges last week while he was hobnobbing with US President Donald Trump in Washington. Bibi has, apparently, done his homework in psychology. He knew the quickest way to get around Trump was to flatter him.
US Mideast Peace Plan: Israelis Offered the Cheese & Palestinians the Holes
The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has described the much-ballyhooed US Middle East peace plan as “more like Swiss cheese-- with the cheese being offered to the Israelis and the holes to the Palestinians”.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Is the world dominated by three great empires -- the U.S.A, China and the European Union? How much power do the great behemoths of the south -- India, Brazil, and South Africa -- wield? And where does Russia fit in that equation? Are we in the middle of a new Cold War? What are the implications of the armed conflict with Georgia? What about the new axis: Venezuela-Russia? And what role does Turkey play? What about issues like Climate Change and other global forces like the food crisis and the high energy prices? How is all this reshaping the world's forces? IPS looks for some answers.
The Week with IPS
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
