IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Archives

Innovative Gender Bond Series Uplifts Rural Women to Drive Climate Action in Asia

By Christina Margaret Morrison and Natasha Garcha

Rural women across Asia play a key role producing, processing, and trading agricultural products, and are often the primary users and managers of natural resources.

What Will Tomorrow’s World Order Look Like?

By Marc Saxer

Ukraine, the Caucasus and the Middle East. The latest eruptions of violence mark the end of Pax Americana. The rise of new powers is shifting the global balance of power. Whether tomorrow’s world will be bipolar or multipolar still remains to be seen.

The World’s Right-Wing & Left-Wing Torturers

By Thalif Deen

Jeanne Kirkpatrick, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, once made the distinction between "friendly" right-wing authoritarian regimes (which were mostly U.S. and Western allies) and "unfriendly" left-wing totalitarian dictatorships (which the U.S. abhorred). Among the “dictators” the U.S. shunned in the 1970s and 80s were Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Myanmar's General Than Shwe, Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Libya’s Mummar al-Qaddafi, Syria’s Hafez al-Assad and North Korea’s Kim IL-Sung.

Will the UN Ever be Able to Eradicate Systemic Racism Within?

By Shihana Mohamed

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas conflagration, a significant anniversary at the United Nations --October 24th was the 78th year since its founding--went unremarked by the larger world. But the work of--and significant problems with--the UN continues. Among the problems is embedded institutional racism. It's time that it be deeply addressed--not just by lip service.

The Carnage in Gaza Cries Out for Repudiation & Opposition. Maybe Poetry Can Help.

By Norman Solomon

Two centuries ago, Percy Shelley wrote that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Yet elite power has routinely vetoed their best measures. Still, the ability of poetry to inspire and nurture is precious, including when governments are on protracted killing sprees.

US has Provided Over 130 Billion Dollars in Aid & Weapons to Israel– the Largest Ever

By Thalif Deen

As one of America’s closest allies, Israel has remained heavily dependent on the US —politically, economically, and militarily—since its creation in 1948. US arms supplies, mostly provided gratis, are channeled via US Foreign Military Financing (FMF), Military Assistance Program (MAP) and Excess Defense Articles (EDA).

The Carnage in Gaza: Here Are Steps to Rein In

By Martin Griffiths

The reason I wanted to speak to you was to outline something very specific about Gaza, of course, which is about the approach being taken and planned by the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies to provide aid to Gaza.

A Bigger and More Relevant Role for Youth Within the UN System – Part II

By Simone Galimberti

The UN Secretary General’s Policy Brief on Meaningful Youth Engagement in Policy and Decision-making Processes offers several ideas on how to ensure youths have a bigger and more relevant role within the UN System.

A New Youth Envoy: Symbolic Change or Real Hope?– Part I

By Simone Galimberti

The recent appointment of Dr. Felipe Paullier of Uruguay as the first Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs is a good news for the United Nations. Yet we need to ask ourselves the following question: Can such development also become a real hope, rather than just a symbolic change, for millions of youths from around the world?

What Is Israel’s End-Game in Gaza?

By Alon Ben-Meir

Unless Israel establishes an exit strategy and an end-game that will lead to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in full coordination with the US and Saudi Arabia, the war against Hamas will only be another brutal violent episode that will prepare the ground for the next conflagration that will engulf the West Bank and potentially set the entire region on fire.

‘Taking Palestine Back to 2005’ — UN Warns of Socioeconomic Impacts of Gaza War

By Naureen Hossain

One month into the war in Gaza, Palestine has already seen major setbacks in development that will have severe ramifications for the people of Palestine that will impact any future efforts toward its economic recovery.

Recognizing Food & Land-Use Systems as Contributors to Climate Change

By Vibha Dhawan

For a long time, the agriculture sector has been heralded as a success story for India. Spurred by the Green Revolution, it provided a path-breaking solution to feed the country's burgeoning population starting in the 1960s.

Israel’s Military Is Part of the U.S. War Machine

By Norman Solomon

The governments of Israel and the United States are now in disagreement over how many Palestinian civilians it’s okay to kill. Last week -- as the death toll from massive Israeli bombardment of Gaza neared 10,000 people, including several thousand children -- top U.S. officials began to worry about the rising horrified outcry at home and abroad. So, they went public with muted misgivings and calls for a “humanitarian pause.” But Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that he would have none of it.

Arms Suppliers to Israel & Hamas Should Face War Crime Charges—But Will They?

By Thalif Deen

The killings of thousands of civilians in the ongoing Middle East conflict are largely the result of an uneven battle—a nuclear-armed Israel, equipped with some of the most sophisticated American weapons systems, fighting a rag-tag militant group, Hamas.

Why Demography is Key to Unlocking a Sustainable Future for Asia & the Pacific

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Natalia Kanem

Asia and the Pacific is an economic powerhouse, fuelled by its vibrant and diverse population. Comprising 60 per cent of the world’s population, this region is bursting with both a wealth of experience and untapped potential.

Where Do We Go Once the Israel-Hamas War Ends? – PART II

By Alon Ben-Meir

There are five measures the Israeli government, along with the US and Saudi Arabia, should put in place to move the peace process forward. First, Israel must limit its ground invasion to northern Gaza, as a large-scale war will inevitably inflict massive destruction and thousands of casualties on both sides, especially Palestinian civilians, and put the lives of the hostages at a much greater risk.

Where Do We Go Once the Israel-Hamas War Ends? – Part I

By Alon Ben-Meir

Since the 1967 Six Day War, many efforts have been made to reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians through mediation conducted by an impartial mediator, face-to face negotiations, international conferences, offering incentives, back-channel talks, interim agreements (in particular the Oslo Accords), and occasionally by an influential party exerting pressure on both sides, especially the US.

Gaza Spells Jungle

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

During her 2013 visit to Sri Lanka, then UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay wanted to lay a wreath to commemorate the war-dead. "When I go to a country, I like to honour the victims, all victims, victims of LTTE, soldiers, families,” she explained.

António Guterres in Nepal: Transitional Justice to the Fore

By Kanak Mani Dixit

Many observers found it intriguing that UN Secretary-General António Guterres would want to spend three full days in Nepal even as Israel was carpet-bombing Gaza.

The Killings in Gaza Should Stain Our Moral Conscience

By Lana Nusseibeh

Thank you for your presence here with us in New York, and for the special dedication that Brazil has given to peace in our region. I also pay special tribute to our briefers, and to their teams’ dedicated work in the most unimaginable circumstances on the ground in the Gaza Strip.

Biden Is a Genocide Denier and “Enabler in Chief” for Israel’s Ongoing War Crimes

By Norman Solomon

For three weeks, President Biden has played a key role in backing Israel’s war crimes while touting himself as a compassionate advocate of restraint. That pretense is lethal nonsense as Israel persists with mass killing of civilians in Gaza.