A study of eight decades of bargaining over senior UN posts raises questions about the independence of António Guterres’s successor. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 3 October 2026 (IDN) — The contest to succeed António Guterres as United Nations Secretary-General is gathering pace. Much of the public discussion centres on the candidates, their qualifications and […]
Asia, Africa and the Struggle for a New Global Order
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | NEW YORK | 3 October 2026 (IDN) — The 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations, brought world leaders and delegations to New York in late September 2026. Their speeches addressed political governance, economic development, conflicts, inequality, […]
A Council of Warnings in a World at War
From Ukraine and Myanmar to Haiti, the final days of September showed why the United Nations remains necessary and why its decisions so often fall short. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK | 1 October 2026 (IDN) — The United Nations Security Council ended on 30 September with a record that was neither empty […]
Russia Challenges South Africa’s Exclusion From G20 Summit
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | NEW YORK | 30 September 2026 (IDN) — At the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Russia’s objection to South Africa’s exclusion from the forthcoming G20 summit in the United States, while emphasising the importance of multilateral institutions and the place of […]
Censorship Regarding Genocide
By Jan Servaes BRUSSELS | 29 September 2026 (IDN) — During his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on 24 September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a visual aid. He displayed a pager resembling the devices used in the deadly pager attacks that Israel carried out in Lebanon in 2024. An […]
Palestine Gains Recognition While Losing the Land for a State
Diplomatic recognition has widened, but settlement expansion and territorial fragmentation threaten the foundations of Palestinian statehood. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK | 26 September 2026 (IDN) – Mahmoud Abbas delivered one of the most important speeches of this year’s United Nations General Assembly without being allowed into the hall. The Palestinian president appeared […]
Guterres Bids Farewell to a United Nations Under Strain
The outgoing Secretary-General leaves behind unresolved questions of war, representation, finance and climate justice. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK | 25 September 2026 (IDN) — The Security Council offers the clearest example. It becomes paralysed whenever a conflict touches the interests of a permanent member or a close ally. Russia can block action […]
Iran and the United States Find a Narrow Opening in New York
Indirect exchanges through Qatar have revived diplomacy, although the two governments remain far apart By Jamshed Baruah NEW YORK | 25 September 2026 (IDN) – The annual United Nations gathering is often dismissed as a succession of speeches. Much of its diplomacy, however, takes place outside the General Assembly Hall, in private rooms, hotel meetings […]
Ukraine and the Security Council’s Unresolved Contradiction
The body charged with maintaining international peace remains constrained when a permanent member is involved in the war. By J. Nastranis NEW YORK | 24 September 2026 (IDN) – The warning that the war in Ukraine has entered a dangerous new phase may sound familiar after more than five years of fighting. Repetition, however, should […]
When Artificial Intelligence Reaches the Security Council
The technology has moved from laboratories and boardrooms into the chamber responsible for international peace and security By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK | 24 September 2026 (IDN) – The United Nations Security Council has spent most of its history discussing wars, peacekeeping missions, sanctions and threats posed by armed groups. Its meeting on […]