United Nations
United Nations
UN General Assembly 2023: More progress urgently needed on Sustainable Development Goals
The 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) kicked off in New York as planned on September 18, with global attention focused on the so-called...
Democracy & Human Rights
Former UN judges, prominent jurists & politicians demand Iran’s leaders be held accountable for 1988 massacre
During an international conference on August 21, former UN Judges, renowned legal experts, and prominent politicians from the US, Europe, and Africa called on...
Afghanistan
The global impact two years after the Taliban’s takeover
Two years ago, the world saw the return of a repressive Taliban regime. The rapid fall of the Afghan government sent shockwaves throughout neighbouring...
Turkey
Turkey-Syria earthquake relief efforts spawn new diplomatic initiatives
With rescue efforts continuing after a devastating 7.8 Richter earthquake that took place on the Turkey-Syria border on February 6, survivors are miraculously still...
Energy
In Davos, philanthropists back $3 tln initiative for climate & nature
A new global initiative will fund and grow new and existing public, private and philanthropic partnerships to help unlock $3 trillion in financing to reach net zero, reverse nature loss and restore biodiversity by 2050.
Invasion of Ukraine
Urgent UN action is required for Ukraine
Many struggle to understand world powers’ refusal to enforce a No-Fly-Zone (NFZ), at least on the western rest of Ukraine not (yet) occupied by...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
A sustainable feminist recovery
As the world marked International Women’s Day on March 8th, the clock on women’s rights is moving backwards. All of us are paying the...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The global problem-solving paradox
As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I spend much of my time speaking with world leaders and taking the pulse of global trends. It’s...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Russia called out at the UN Security Council
The calling for a special meeting of the Security Council at the UN this past week was a long-overdue diplomatic initiative or even diplomatic...
Africa
As the UN Security Council meets, Ghana is pushing back against the scourge of urban warfare
Cast an eye around the globe and you will see that we are at a crossroads in the containment of urban warfare. From the rubbled...
Analysis
Why China cannot invade Taiwan
China’s recent aerial incursion in Taiwan air defense zone and President Xi Jinping’s confrontational remarks re-prompted a debate on whether or not Beijing is...
Archive
Tales of mystery and imagination in Skopje – Part 2
North Macedonia’s conservative opposition failed in its November 11 bid to topple Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s government. This happened only because ruling coalition lawmakers...
Archive
Support for frontline staff and volunteers is key to overcoming Europe’s fresh COVID onslaught
In many ways, Europe is far better placed to withstand its second pandemic winter. Though cases are surging across the continent and the new...
Archive
Why Biden shouldn’t use the ‘Summit for Democracy’ to start more Cold Wars
On December 9 and 10, President Biden will host a virtual “Summit for Democracy.” The gathering will bring together leaders from 110 countries who...
Archive
Greek-led panel wants cultural, natural monument protection to be part of global climate strategy
On November 2, the Greek Government - through its Coordination Unit at the UN -organized a high-level event chaired by George Kremlis, a principal...
Analysis
New political patterns in the South Caucasus
Developments in the South Caucasus continue to race ahead of Europe’s understanding of them. By the time an event has been noticed, recognized, digested,...
Afghanistan
In US foreign policy, realists are finally on the rise
During the autumn of 2020, the United States lost one of its most brilliant, incisive, yet unheralded thinkers in Sherle R. Schwenninger.One of Schwenninger’s...
Analysis
The need for trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
A coercive China and a nuclear North Korea are peripherally affecting the U.S.’ security interests in the Indo-Pacific. With increasingly well-developed power derived from...
Analysis
Defense pacts and energy in the Eastern Mediterranean
The Greeks have finally come to the realization that despite a period of relative calmness Turkey is not about to abandon its assertive behavior...
Analysis
The West needs to unite to fight for human rights
Human rights seem nonexistent in today’s world. That’s because the world’s democracies are not fighting for it.
While the world’s dictatorships always seem to have...
Afghanistan
Why the Taliban’s promise to stop the opium trade rings hollow
One of the first announcements the Taliban made after seizing power in Afghanistan in August was that they were going to “ban the production and sale...
Analysis
The road to conflict resolution in Karabakh
Events are moving quite quickly in the South Caucasus, although they have not yet reached a breakthrough. Nevertheless, the first anniversary of the outbreak...
Albania
Kosovo-Serbia tensions fading after deal reached
The slow-motion crisis between Kosovo and Serbia over automobile license plates that began with little notice on September 20 escalated into a tense show...
Afghanistan
Why the fall of Afghanistan sllows Iran to expand its influence
Since 2020, the United States has been working to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The Americans' announcement emboldened the Taliban, who recently took control...
Archive
At UN, EU Commission announces three Energy Compacts
At the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy this week in New York, EU Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans and...
Afghanistan
President Biden’s short UN General Assembly visit raises questions
President Joe Biden’s first address to the 76th UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 21 provided the world with an almost infinite supply of...
Analysis
Germany and its neo-imperial quest in Bosnia
When rumors first began to swirl in January about the possible appointment of Christian Schmidt as Europe's High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, I...
Afghanistan
With the AUKUS pact, the US has opted to snub some of its European partners
In the nearly nine months since he took office, it has become apparent that the US and European Union will not immediately experience a...
Afghanistan
Will Central Asia serve as Europe’s bridge to Afghanistan?
Just over one month on from the fall of Kabul, Europe is still grasping for answers to the question of how to engage in...
Africa
Conflict is spreading across the African continent
Many African countries are run by dictatorships, but their grasp on power is increasingly unstable. Mali has seen at least 2 changes of power...
Afghanistan
On 9/11, it’s time for a reckoning and reflection of decades of failed US national security policy
A reckoning with America’s failed national security policy is long overdue.Our calamitous misadventures in the Middle East and the global financial collapse of 2008...
Afghanistan
What next after 20 years of war in Afghanistan? Anatol Lieven on the U.S.’ legacy and the Taliban’s rise
On August 30, 2021, a C-17 transport plane took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, signaling the end of America’s longest war....
Afghanistan
Enough of the Durban depravity
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the so-called “World Conference Against Racism”, otherwise known as Durban I. The 2001 conference was to be...
Analysis
Zero tolerance for hate teaching is not negotiable
The June 2021 publication of an overdue review of Palestinian textbooks by Germany’s Georg Eckert Institute (GEI) was meant to bring peace of mind...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan 2021: An extremist ‘stammtisch’
Everybody has a favorite bar or coffee house. A place you can go to seek solace or connect with old friends. In some cases,...
Archive
Greek Foreign Minister Dendias chasing shadows in Skopje?
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias traveled to North Macedonia August 31, for a hastily scheduled official visit to the country while his own capital...
Analysis
Are Turkish investors falling for Hamas’ games?
Recent reports have revealed the extent of investments and assets controlled by Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, within Turkey.
Hamas has long maintained a strong...
Afghanistan
Economic progress and political reforms give post-Soviet space reason to celebrate
On August 30th, Kazakhstan celebrated one of the country’s most important holidays—Constitution Day, which commemorates the adoption of the 1995 constitution which confirmed the...
Analysis
An EU diplomatic ‘bâdgir’ in Vienna: The Iran nuclear deal 2.0
When things get hot, you look to cool them down. Persian culture is too familiar with heat with scorching Middle East temperatures. One of...
Afghanistan
Russia and China poised to gain influence in Afghanistan
Amidst the chaotic scenes that ushered in the Taliban’s take over of the Afghan capital Kabul, coupled with the West's harried exodus from the...
Afghanistan
A viable – and perhaps the only – path to lasting peace in Afghanistan
As each day goes by, the Taliban’s forces edge closer to controlling all of Afghanistan. In the first week of August, the Taliban swept...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan and the Great Powers
Can Afghanistan's never-ending internal conflict be resolved by the efforts of great and regional powers that have numerous conflicting strategic and global goals? Is...
Analysis
Erdogan’s visit to the Turkish-occupied northern district of Cyprus
Whatever Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expected to come out of his visit to the occupied part of Cyprus – on the day that...
Analysis
If Europe is serious about fighting antisemitism, it must skip Durban 20
Countries are lining up to declare they will not attend the20th anniversary of the UN’s notorious 2001 World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban,...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: No peace without a clear vision
Peace is the absence of war, while war is the absence of peace! A negotiated peace in Afghanistan presents a number of challenges. The...
Afghanistan
When the “New Middle East” meets the “New Europe”
Middle Eastern experts have commented widely on the “new” foreign policy of the United Arab Emirates. Many of these same commentators have gone so...
Afghanistan
From Vienna to Tripoli, the Muslim Brotherhood’s impact is felt on both sides of the Mediterranean
Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has recently undertaken a number of legislative initiatives that target Islamist groups and movements, which are active within the country,...
Afghanistan
A broken migration system
Turkey and Greece are both transit countries for migrants on their way to Germany and wealthy destinations in northern Europe. Migrants are resilient. Many...
Archive
Fighting impunity in the 21st-century
In 2006, Thomas Lubanga was the first person to be convicted as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court. For the first time...
Democracy & Human Rights
Violence in the name of God
On July 5, Georgian far-right activists dispersed the planned Tbilisi Pride week by physically attacking more than 50 people, of which 53 were members...
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