Ahead of the UN General Assembly’s high-level debate, a 20-country survey finds strong support for international cooperation despite widespread anxiety about wars and the future. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 20 September 2026 (IDN) — The United Nations may be struggling with wars it cannot stop, divisions among the major powers and growing doubts about the […]
The Significance of The Enemy States Clause for Germany
By Michael von der Schulenburg BRUSSELS | 16 September 2026 (IDN) — When the Allies of the Second World War drafted the United Nations Charter, they sought to establish a global system of collective security. Its aim was to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. With the adoption of the UN Charter, all […]
Earthquakes and Japan: Does Preparedness Truly Equal Prevention?
By Kadhija Mohamed TOKYO | 8 September 2026 (IDN) — This past couple of months, our planet has seen a seemingly significant rise in the number of higher magnitude earthquakes in regions near tectonic fault lines all over the world. Last month alone there were devastating earthquakes with a magnitude of five or higher in […]
Rushed UN Resident Coordinator Restructuring Risks Guterres’s Legacy
By Mohammed Chiraz Baly The writer is a staff representative and former General Secretary of the CCISUA staff union federation. He is also a data analyst at UNCTAD focusing on investment financing in developing countries. GENEVA, Switzerland | 3 September 2026 (IDN) — At the end of a Secretary-General’s term, questions are asked about legacy. […]
A Nuclear Bomb Took My Arms Before I Was Born. We Must Not Let It Take Our Future
By Karipbek Kuyukov* ASTANA | 28 August 2026 (IDN) — I paint with a brush held between my teeth or my toes. I was born without arms in 1968 about 100 kilometres from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in eastern Kazakhstan. My parents’ generation watched mushroom clouds rise over the steppe without being told what […]
The Palestinian Imperative: Statehood Demands Strategy, Not Slogans
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 28 August 2026 (IDN) — A two-state solution remains the only viable path to peace, yet it will not emerge from Israeli policy shifts alone. Palestinians must undertake a profound strategic transformation—rooted in unity, institutional reform, and nonviolence—to make statehood both credible and attainable For decades, I have written […]
Realizing Genuine “Country Ownership”: Beyond Extractive Economics and Elite Collusion
By Soheila Comninos* WASHINGTON DC | 25 August 2026 (IDN) — Since joining the Funders Roundtable on the Future of Development, I have had the opportunity to attend several high-level forums on international development and observe a powerful critique threading through these spaces: old, extractive development models have created a cycle of dependency, holding back […]
The Big American Mistakes with Russia
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 19 August 2026 (IDN) — Two mistakes, committed on President Barack Obama’s watch, were the triggers for the end of the long post-Cold War period of good relations with Russia. They were the attack on Libya by the US, France and the UK and the subsequent killing of its long-time […]
When Machines Decide Who Dies
The Race to Keep War Under Human Control By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ BERLIN | 18 August 2026 (IDN) — As artificial intelligence moves from supporting military operations to becoming a weapon that can choose and launch attacks, governments must now decide, without further delay, whether machines should ever be […]
The Digital Quarantine: Youth Social Media Bans Undermine Fundamental Rights
By Gina Romero The writer is a UN Special Rapporteur for the rights to freedom of assembly and of association. BOGOTA, Colombia | 17 August 2026 (IDN) — The global trend of imposing blanket social media bans on youth under 16 creates a civic-political vacuum where they can neither assemble nor digitally associate, effectively stripping […]