Dion van den Berg | Authors | IPI Global Observatory

How Permafrost Thaw Puts the Russian Arctic at Risk

November 22, 2021by Katarina Kertysova and Akash Ramnath

Permafrost thaw presents a major challenge to Arctic communities and ecosystems and has enormous potential to accelerate climate change and its global impacts.

Immobility: The Neglected Flipside of the Climate Displacement Crisis

November 16, 2021by Kira Walker

The tendency to focus on climate displacement has obscured an equally important question: why people don’t move.

Why Peace Should Matter for the COP, and Why COP26 is Important for Peace

November 12, 2021by Cedric de Coning and Florian Krampe

How we choose to adapt to and mitigate climate change can either cause harm, including potentially triggering conflict, or it can contribute to sustaining peace.

Can the UN Help Wean Us Off Our Fossil Fuel Addiction?

November 10, 2021by Adam Day

The political leadership of the world’s most powerful, polluting states should seize the opportunity to act on their promises today, not only accelerating their action on climate, but seeing the value of the proposals in the secretary-general’s Our Common Agenda initiative.

Key Global Events to Watch in November

November 2, 2021by the Global Observatory

A list of key upcoming meetings and events in November 2021 that have implications for global affairs compiled by the Global Observatory.

How to Know if a Country is Serious About Net Zero: Look at Its Plans for Extracting Fossil Fuels

October 29, 2021by Fergus Green

Scientists have a clear picture of how badly off-track the world is with tackling the climate crisis. But the complexities concerning sources and carbon sinks make it easy for governments and corporations to obfuscate their real contributions to climate change.

The Gendered Political Economy of Militarized Peacekeeping

October 28, 2021by Dean Peacock

Reforming peacekeeping to foster sustainable peace must include an interrogation of militarized masculinities and their harmful gendered consequences.

When Militarism Meets Gender Reform: Fixing the Contradictory Legacy of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in Afghanistan

October 27, 2021by Zinab Attai and Sabrina Karim

The prevention pillar of the WPS agenda focuses on preventing the root causes of war and violence. Efforts being made under the protection and participation pillars can fundamentally contradict the prevention pillar. Nowhere is this more visible than in Afghanistan.

Transitional Justice—An Overlooked Tool for Addressing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in International Interventions

October 22, 2021by Jessica Anania

Despite occurring in the same contexts, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) have largely remained theoretically and practically separated. This obscures the overlap between SEA and CRSV and denies survivors of SEA pathways to justice, including through…

Cyprus: Do “Old” Peacekeeping Missions Need to Break the Status Quo?

October 18, 2021by Alexandra Novosseloff

Stability has been the main achievement of the UN presence in Cyprus. However, the various stakeholders of the “Cyprus problem” should now look at it more seriously than it has been over the past few decades.

How Can Climate Considerations Be Better Integrated into the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda?

October 15, 2021by Adriana Abdenur, Mayesha Alam, Adam Day, Cristal Downing, and Beatrice Mosello

The time is ripe for innovative thinking and pragmatic solutions at the nexus of the international climate change and WPS agendas.

The Role of Sanctions in Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis

October 14, 2021by Erica Moret

As the international community grapples with how to approach the crisis in Afghanistan, many are questioning the role that international sanctions should play in seeking to encourage or pressure the Taliban not to revert to its ways of the past.

Advancing Women, Peace and Security in the UN Security Council: Critical Choices for Elected Member States

October 7, 2021Patty Chang, Louise Olsson, and Angela Muvumba Sellström

How the ten elected members of the Security Council act, and the issues they raise, can have a lasting effect.

UN Security Council to Discuss Climate-Related Conflict, But What Role Should It Play?

September 21, 2021by Cedric de Coning, Elisabeth Lio Rosvold, Kheira Tarif and Kyungmee Kim

Climate- and conflict-affected countries are trapped in a negative spiral where climate change undermines the ability to cope with conflict, and conflict undermines the resilience to cope with climate change.

The Pitfalls of UN Peacekeeping in Afghanistan

September 1, 2021by Paul D. Williams

Neither local nor international politics are currently right for a UN peacekeeping deployment in Afghanistan.

The United Nations and Counterterrorism in the Post-Pandemic World

July 22, 2021by Raffi Gregorian

Member states still agree on the need to counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations with the sort of reinvigorated, networked multilateralism the Secretary-General called for during the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly.

Human Rights and Counterterrorism: A Sisyphean Tale

June 16, 2021by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Profound recalibration, restraint, and meaningful oversight of counterterrorism practices and institutions are needed within the UN system in order to advance both human rights and security.

Preventing Violence or Harming Peace and Rights? What the UN Can Learn from Counterterrorism in the Philippines

June 10, 2021by Aries Arugay, Marc Batac, and Jordan Street

The roll-out of counterterrorism and P/CVE policies, plans, and projects in the Philippines is having a significant negative impact on peace, security, and the fulfillment of human rights in the country.

Regional Special Forces Pose Threat to Peace and Security in Ethiopia

February 22, 2021by Bereket Tsegay

The peace and security arrangement between federal and regional states has allowed special forces to instigate conflicts in unique ways.

The Tigray Conflict in Ethiopia: Post-War Ramifications and International Response

January 25, 2021by Jon Abbink

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his government are wary of the interference, complaints, and demands made by the international community.

Author: Dion van den Berg

Acting Local: How Decentralized Government Can Help Build States

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