Global Geopolitics

Biden to Democrats: Nominate Me– Whether You Like It or Not

By Norman Solomon
With 2023 underway, Democrats in office are still dodging the key fact that most of their party’s voters don’t want President Biden to run for re-election. Among prominent Democratic politicians, deference is routine while genuine enthusiasm is sparse.

After 43 Years of Negotiations, Security Council Reforms Move at the Pace of a Paralytic Snail

By Thalif Deen
The reform of the Security Council, the most powerful body at the United Nations, has remained a never-ending political saga. According to the President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary, 43 years have passed since the question of Security Council reform first appeared on the UN agenda.

Security Council Reform: Big Five are the Heart of the Problem

By James Paul
The UN Charter mandates the Security Council to maintain international peace, but wars rage on and nations arm themselves with ever more lethal weapons. No wonder that the Council’s critics are so many and calls for its reform so urgent.

Forget About All this Humanitarian Blah Blah (And Buy More Weapons)

By Baher Kamal
Day after day, international humanitarian organisations launch desperate appeals for funding to continue saving some of the many lives at high risk. When they get a handful of dollars –even just one million– from a rich country, they welcome it as manna from heaven.

Four Ways to Overcome Corruption in the Race Against Climate Crisis

By Francine Pickup
Climate change is the defining issue of our time. In the words of the UN Secretary General at COP27, “we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” Cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050 is crucial when it comes to meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

Making the UN Charter a Reality: Why is UN Day Important for Asians at the UN?

By Shihana Mohamed
To commemorate the seventy-seventh UN Day, the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity & Inclusion (UN-ANDI) held a panel discussion on the topic “Making the UN Charter a reality”. The discussion took place virtually on 27 October, and the event was attended by diverse participants from around the world.

The Poor, Squeezed by 10 Trillion Dollars in External Debts

By Baher Kamal
The external debt of the world’s low and middle-income countries at the end of 2021 totalled 9 trillion US dollars, more than double the amount a decade ago. Such debt is expected to increase by an additional 1.1 trillion US dollars in 2023.

The Paradox of Powerless Superpowers Versus the Plight & Power of the Ukrainian People

By John R. Bryson
The one thing that has become clear is that there is no point in negotiating with Putin. Ukraine is considered as the gates of Europe, or a borderland with a brutal past.

Corruption: The Most Perpetrated –and Least Prosecuted– Crime – Part I

By Baher Kamal
In these times when all sorts of human rights violations have been ‘normalised,’ a crime which continues to be perpetrated everywhere but punished nowhere: corruption is also seen as a business as usual. A business, by the way, that relies on the wide complicity of official authorities.

The Paradox of Invisibility: Submarine Cables and the Geopolitics of Deep Seas

By Manuel Manonelles
The recent incidents of sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the depths of the Baltic Sea, the authorship of which still raises doubts today, have reminded us that some of the key infrastructures that condition geopolitics, and our daily lives, are largely located deep under the sea.

Solidarity and Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

By Joseph Gerson
On November 1, a statement of solidarity with Russians opposed to the Ukraine War was published. It was signed by more than 1,000 U.S. men and women who had opposed the U.S. invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Migration for Many Venezuelans Turns from Hope to Nightmare

By Humberto Márquez
Thousands of Venezuelans who have crossed the treacherous Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama, or who have made the perilous journey through Central America and Mexico to reach the United States, have found themselves stranded in countries that do not want them, unable to continue their journey or to afford to return to their country.

Cambodia More Than Ever Squeezed Between Russia and the West

By Kris Janssens
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen walks into a diplomatic minefield these days. He supports UN resolutions against Putin but does not want to jeopardize the long-standing friendship with Russia. At the same time, he tries to be less dependent on the West, both economically and politically.

Uyghur Violations a Litmus Test for Global Governance & Rules-based International Order

By Mandeep S.Tiwana
This week is a momentous one for the world’s premier human rights body. At stake is a resolution to decide whether the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva can hold a debate on a recently released UN report.

UN’s High-Level Meeting of World Leaders Falls Short of Gender Empowerment

By Thalif Deen
When the UN’s high-level meeting of world leaders concluded last week, the head count seemed lopsided: 190 speakers, including 76 Heads of State, 50 Heads of Government, 4 Vice-Presidents, 5 Deputy Prime Ministers, 48 Ministers and 7 Heads of Delegations—overwhelmingly male.

A University for the Kurds of Syria

By Karlos Zurutuza
There is a main hall as well as workshops, laboratories and, of course, a cafeteria, where the half-hour break flies by amid card games and laughs. It could well be any university if it wasn't for those men armed with assault rifles at the entrance.

Towards a More Secure Future Through Effective Multilateralism

By Stefan Löfven
As world leaders gather in New York for the opening of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly this week, the security horizon is undoubtedly dark.

Why Are Politicians Able to Read – and Understand – Some Texts and Not Others?

By Baher Kamal
Day after day, the world's scientific community, based on solid investigations, elaborates dozens of studies identifying the causes of the existing emergencies facing humanity. They also prepare understandable summaries and conclusions and propose feasible solutions to the current crises and ways to prevent major future risks.

Afghanistan: A Treasure Worth More than a Trillion Dollars

By Baher Kamal
Both mainstream media, international bodies and human rights defenders continue to rightly denounce the Taliban's inhuman abuses against the Afghan people’s basic rights, in particular those of women and girls.

Special Economic Zones: A Nod Towards Capitalism in Venezuela

By Humberto Márquez
Venezuela is preparing to replicate the experience of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), a mechanism with which more than 60 countries have tried to draw investment and accelerate economic growth, while under its avowedly socialist government a "silent neoliberalism" is gaining ground.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the Last Statesman

By Roberto Savio
With the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last great statesman, and an entire epoch, disappears.
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