Global Issues
End the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war
Gender advocates cheered around the world last week, despite events in Washington and elsewhere putting a dampener on hope for gender equality.
Nadia Murad and Dr Denis Mukwege…
What to do about a warming planet
If global temperatures increase by 2 degrees and sail on past it, the ability to learn how to survive under such conditions becomes exponentially harder.
The United Nations…
A slap in the face for diverse diplomacy
The US appointed its first openly gay ambassador in 1999. President Bill Clinton gave James Hormel a recess appointment as US Ambassador to Luxembourg after two years of a blocked…
Climate change, at the frontlines
When Pacific island leaders gathered in Nauru this month, they issued a security declaration affirming climate change as the “single greatest threat” to the region.
That climate…
The other Rohingya crisis
As the world’s eyes are focused on the unfolding Rohingya refugee crisis Bangladesh, to the east in India another danger may be brewing for the Rohingya Muslim community.
Over…
Trump to take on Iran at UN Security Council table
As it happens, the United States holds the presidency of the United Nations Security Council during the annual diplomatic gabfest at the UN General Assembly.
Traditionally, that…
Explaining green and blue growth
A new report co-authored by Lord Nicholas Stern made headlines earlier this month with the projection that efforts to transition to a low carbon economy within the next…
China’s tech bubble
In the four decades that have followed China’s initial stage of post-Mao “Reform and Opening Up”, the world has learned to expect great things from the Middle Kingdom’s centrally…
Kofi Annan: great expectations
It says much about the UN Secretary-General that the two men widely regarded as the greatest to hold the office went in with the lowest expectations.
Dag Hammarskjöld was an…
Rights for people forced out by climate change
Imagine living on a low–lying atoll island in the Pacific and having just survived a severe cyclone. Your island is in ruins and you have lost everything. Humanitarian help is…