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Author: Margaret Williams

  • “Young Women are Peacebuilding’s Most Excluded”: Q&A with Saba Ismail

    February 22, 2016by Margaret Williams

    According to Saba Ismail, co-founder and Executive Director of Aware Girls—a youth-led organization working for women’s empowerment and gender equality in Pakistan—young women are in turn the group most excluded from peacebuilding.

    Interviewspeacebuilding, women-peace-and-security
  • For Lasting Peace, Exceptions Must Become Rule: Q&A with Séverine Autesserre

    January 12, 2016by Margaret Williams

    Columbia University’s Séverine Autesserre discusses ways of better integrating international peacebuilders and the communities in which they serve.

    Interviews
  • Long Considered a Threat, Can Youth Take Lead in Peacebuilding?

    January 8, 2016by Margaret Williams

    The UN’s new resolution on youth, peace, and security is not without its flaws in terms of guiding future policy. A potential major issue is that it sets the age range of youth as 18-24 years of age.

    Analysispeacebuilding, united-nations
  • Inclusiveness the Key to Keeping Tunisia’s Peace: Q&A with Ikram Ben Said

    October 7, 2015by Margaret Williams

    Civil society advocate Ikram Ben Said discusses the importance of fostering political inclusiveness among Tunisians to ensure peace.

    Interviewsafrica, arab-spring
  • Marginalization Lies at Heart of Kenya’s Insecurity: Q&A with Moses Onyango

    August 24, 2015by Margaret Williams

    Moses Onyango, Fellow of the African Leadership Centre, Kings College London, discusses the challenges of countering violent extremism in Kenya.

    Interviewsafrica, terrorism
  • Investing in Young People: Q&A with Youth Envoy Alhendawi

    August 12, 2015by Margaret Williams

    UN Youth Envoy Ahmad Alhendawi discusses ways to increase youth involvement in sustaining peace and security, and achieving other goals of the international community.

    Interviewspeace-and-security, united-nations
  • Are Security and Energy Concerns Moving Turkey and Israel Toward Reconciliation?

    June 20, 2014by Margaret Williams

    A mixture of shared energy and security interests may lead Israel and Turkey to re-establish normal bilateral ties, though some challenges still remain.

    Analysismiddle-east, peace-and-security, resources
  • Yemen’s “Friends” Must Include Civil Society

    May 20, 2014by Margaret Williams and Waleed Alhariri

    As Yemen marches toward political and social reform, the country’s leaders will need to ensure the inclusion of civil society.

    Analysisarab-spring, democracy, middle-east
  • Justice in Syria Could Help Break the Cycle of Revenge: Interview with Jeffrey Howell

    April 2, 2014by Margaret Williams

    The Syrian Accountability Project documents war crimes so that perpetrators may be brought to justice when the conflict ends.

    Interviewsjustice, middle-east, syria
  • The New Tunisian Constitution: Triumphs and Potential Pitfalls

    February 27, 2014by Margaret Williams and Youssef Mahmoud

    What are the merits and shortcomings of the newly adopted Tunisian constitution?

    Analysisarab-spring, democracy, statebuilding

This week

  • Why Congo’s M23 Crisis Lingers On

    May 30, 2023by Judith Verweijen and Christoph Vogel

    The conflict has been propped up by blame games, ineffective diplomacy, recurring geopolitical tensions and proxy warfare in the Great Lakes region, and the Congolese state’s weak commitment to addressing grievances that drive armed group proliferation.

    Analysisafrica, conflict
  • China’s Small Steps into UN Peacekeeping Are Adding Up

    May 24, 2023by Courtney J. Fung

    China will likely continue to shape peacekeeping along its preferences for a more technical and less overt political foreign policy tool.

    Analysispeacekeeping, unpkat75, united-nations

Trending

  • As UN Missions Draw Down, Strengthening Community-Led Approaches to Protection of Civilians

    May 23, 2023by Gay Rosenblum-Kumar

    UN mission transitions still result in gaps in the protection of civilians experiencing violent conflict.

    Analysispeacekeeping, protection-of-civilians
  • Human Survival Depends on Biodiversity: Interview with Brad Cardinale

    May 22, 2023by Jill Stoddard

    Brad Cardinale, an ecologist who focuses on the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in natural systems discusses the scale and irreversibility of the biodiversity crisis.

    Interviewsbiodiversity, climate-change, ecology
  • Mediation in Peacekeeping Contexts: Trends and Challenges for Mission Leadership

    May 19, 2023by Sara Hellmüller and Flavia Keller

    The political role of the UN may not have diminished overall, but shifted.

    Analysispeacekeeping, unpkat75, united-nations
  • How Not to Do UN Peacekeeping

    May 17, 2023by Cedric de Coning

    One of the most enduring lessons learned over the past 75 years of peacekeeping is that peace cannot be imposed.

    Analysispeacekeeping, unpkat75, united-nations
  • 75 Years On, the Uncertain Fate of UN Peacekeeping

    May 16, 2023by Jenna Russo

    This spring marks 75 years since the UN first deployed a peacekeeping mission. Here are some of the challenges peacekeeping is facing, and opportunities for the future.

    Analysispeacekeeping, unpkat75, united-nations
  • Ten Years After Genocide Trial in Guatemala, Justice System Suffering Trust Deficit

    May 10, 2023by Vaclav Masek

    The ten-year anniversary of the historic trial coincides with a process of erosion in judicial independence in the country.

    Analysisamericas, rule-of-law, transitional-justice
  • As Crimes against Peacekeepers Increase, How to Find Accountability

    May 4, 2023by Agathe Sarfati and Jill Stoddard

    Major challenges remain in pursuing justice for peacekeepers who have been victims of attacks.

    Analysispeacekeeping
  • A New Agenda for Peace: Making Peace Plural and Healing Historical Traumas

    April 27, 2023by Youssef Mahmoud

    Left unaddressed, painful legacies of past political violence will continue to infiltrate the institutions, processes, and assumptions that inform definitions of peace and approaches to sustaining peace.

    Analysispeace-and-security, sustaining-peace, united-nations
  • Sharing the Pen in the UN Security Council: A Win for Inclusive Multilateralism?

    April 7, 2023by Julie Gregory

    Greater sharing of the pen within the Security Council could help mend perceptions of partiality and facilitate more inclusivity.

    Analysismultilateralism, security-council
  • Wagner Group Poses Fundamental Challenges for the Protection of Civilians by UN Peacekeeping Operations

    March 20, 2023by Dirk Druet

    The Russian government-affiliated Wagner Group has gained widespread attention for its brutal tactics in the Central African Republic and Mali.

    Analysisafrica, peacekeeping, protection-of-civilians
  • Addressing Gender Bias to Achieve Ethical AI

    March 17, 2023by Ardra Manasi, Subadra Panchanadeswaran, and Emily Sours

    For AI to be ethical and be a vehicle for the common good, it needs to eliminate any explicit and implicit biases, including on the gender front.

    Analysistechnology
  • Future Peace Deal Not Just About Putin, Zelensky: Ukrainian People Get a Voice and a Vote

    March 8, 2023by William Partlett

    A stable peace deal requires the support of the Ukrainian people for both legal and political reasons.

    Analysisconflict, eastern-europe, peace-processes
  • Do People Trust the UN? A Look at the Data

    February 22, 2023by Albert Trithart and Olivia Case

    Survey data does not reveal a major, widespread drop in the UN’s legitimacy over the past few years.

    Analysismultilateralism, united-nations
  • After Agreement in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region, What Stands in the Way of Lasting Peace? 

    February 7, 2023by Hilary Matfess and Anne Lauder

    A peace deal between Tigrayan forces and the Ethiopian government signed in November 2022 raised hopes that the war in northern Ethiopia—one of the world’s deadliest conflicts in recent years—was finally drawing to a close.

    Analysisafrica, conflict, peace-processes
  • The Multilateralism Index: Measuring Transformation in a Time of Crisis and Uncertainty

    January 9, 2023by Adam Lupel

    A better understanding is needed of where the multilateral system is working, where it is not, and where it is headed.

    Analysismultilateralism
  • Does the UN Need a More Coherent Approach Toward “De Facto” Authorities?

    January 6, 2023by Damian Lilly

    As a result of shifting dynamics in certain conflicts, as well as recent coups, the UN is having to engage with de facto authorities in a growing number of country contexts.

    Analysisunited-nations
  • The Nitty Gritty of Climate Policy: Taking Stock of COP27, Looking Ahead to COP28

    January 5, 2023by Olivia Fielding, Michael Franczak, Masooma Rahmaty, Aparajita Rao, Jimena Leiva Roesch, Michael Weisberg

    The agreement to establish a fund for loss and damage was a historic win for developing countries, but progress on mitigation stalled at COP27.

    Analysisclimate2022, climate-change
  • Milestone in the Security Council: What the New Humanitarian “Carve-out” Means for UN Sanctions Regimes

    December 16, 2022by Naureen Chowdhury Fink and Agathe Sarfati 

    Last week,  the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 2664, a cross-cutting humanitarian carve-out for all UN sanctions regimes–including the 1267 ISIL/al-Qaida regime–to safeguard the timely and effective conduct of humanitarian activities.

    Analysishumanitarian, security-council, terrorism
  • The East African Community Steps into the Crisis in the DRC. Will It Help?

    December 12, 2022by Jenna Russo

    While the current crisis is unlikely to be resolved without military force, any hope for success requires that operations remain closely tied to a political process, and that neighboring countries remain accountable to support the security and sovereignty of the DRC.

    Analysisafrica, conflict
  • The Case for Integrating Sustaining Peace into an Expanded Climate, Peace and Security Concept

    November 23, 2022by Cedric de Coning and Hafsa M. Maalim

    Actions to address the effects of climate challenges can contribute to sustaining peace, while peacebuilding initiatives can, at times, also strengthen the capacity of communities to adapt to climate change.

    Analysisclimate2022, climate-change, sustaining-peace

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The Global Observatory provides timely analysis on peace and security issues by experts, journalists, and policymakers. It is published by the International Peace Institute. The views expressed here represent those of the contributors and not IPI.

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