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Author: Omar El Okdah

by Omar El Okdah

Omar El Okdah is a Senior Policy Analyst at the International Peace Institute.
More articles by this author →

  • Pope’s UN Address Provides Food for Thought for All Religions

    October 8, 2015by Hardeep S. Puri and Omar El Okdah

    On the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, the Pope has given the international community some serious food for thought.

    Analysisterrorism, united-nations
  • Israel after the Election: Much at Stake in Region and Beyond

    March 24, 2015by Hardeep S. Puri and Omar El Okdah

    Netanyahu’s victory may not be entirely unwelcome for the Palestinians and the Middle East peace process.

    Analysiselections, middle-east
  • Rethinking the Global Fight Against Extremism

    February 24, 2015by Hardeep S. Puri and Omar El Okdah

    The global fight against extremism requires a serious conversation on how best to implement and frame the question within the lens of social inclusion and effective governance.

    Opinionterrorism
  • Palestine in the ICC: Game Changer for Peace Process?

    January 20, 2015by Hardeep S. Puri and Omar El Okdah

    ICC accession could be a strategy for Palestine to achieve more leverage in the international arena as well as a potential step toward attaining accountability and justice.

    Analysisjustice, middle-east
  • ISIS Advance Creates Chaos and Opportunity for Regional Powers

    July 10, 2014by Omar El Okdah and Ramy Srour

    ISIS’ sweeping advance in Iraq and its announcement of an Islamic caliphate have led key regional powers to adjust to the shifting balance in the region.

    Analysisconflict, middle-east, terrorism
  • Sisi or Sisyphus? The Fate of Egypt’s Next President

    May 15, 2014by Omar El Okdah

    As elections approach, Egypt’s next president will need to address a stagnant economy, a precarious security environment, and increasingly high expectations.

    Analysisegypt, elections
  • (Arab) Spring Reading

    April 3, 2014by Omar El Okdah

    A policymaker-turned-scholar explains how the Arab world can win the battle for pluralism.

    Further Readingarab-spring, democracy, middle-east
  • Iran Nuclear Talks: The Spoilers Beyond the Spotlight

    October 16, 2013by Omar El Okdah

    Despite the optimism surrounding the US-Iranian rapprochement, negotiators face a variety of opponents at home and abroad.

    Analysisiran, middle-east, nonproliferation
  • Can a Divided Egypt Build an Egypt for All?

    July 9, 2013by Omar El Okdah

    The removal of Morsi has resulted in a sharp wedge in Egyptian society that could push some groups to opt out of the political process and towards violence.

    Analysismass-protest, middle-east

This week

  • A New Agenda for Peace and the Climate Emergency

    September 25, 2023by Cedric de Coning, Gracsious Maviza and Kheira Tarif

    The New Agenda for Peace serves as a stark warning that the damage being done now will have significant implications for humanity’s future wellbeing, safety, and stability.

    Analysisclimate-change, new-agenda-for-peace
  • “A New Agenda for Peace” Interview with UN Director Asif R. Khan

    September 15, 2023by Jenna Russo

    Asif R. Khan, Director of UNDPPA’s Policy and Mediation Division and a lead penholder of the New Agenda for Peace, reflects on the policy brief and next steps ahead of the Summit of the Future.

    Interviewsnew-agenda-for-peace

Trending

  • The Role of African Multilateralism in the New Agenda for Peace

    September 13, 2023by Bitania Tadesse

    The New Agenda for Peace provides an opening for continental actors to advance priorities at the global level. However, this requires the AU to deliver on revamping its own multilateral system as a springboard to reforming global multilateralism.

    Analysisafrica, multilateralism, new-agenda-for-peace
  • WPS in the New Agenda for Peace: Seeing Patriarchy but Missing Innovation

    September 11, 2023by Phoebe Donnelly

    Bold language on transforming patriarchy is not matched with concrete proposals to advance the WPS agenda and gender equality more broadly.

    Analysisnew-agenda-for-peace, women-peace-and-security
  • The New Agenda and Peace Operations: Don’t Bet Against the Future

    September 7, 2023by Arthur Boutellis

    There seems to be a disconnect between the overall diagnosis of the New Agenda for Peace and its prescriptions for peace operations.

    Analysisnew-agenda-for-peace, peacekeeping, united-nations
  • “New Agenda for Peace” Outlines Reform for UN’s Fracturing Multilateral Governance

    September 6, 2023by Maya Ungar

    The New Agenda for Peace sets a clear vision for reforms, but does not go into the details on how to achieve them. This cautious approach is a reflection of the secretary-general’s belief that it is the role of the UN to support—not make—the decisions of member states. 

    Analysismultilateralism, new-agenda-for-peace, un-reform
  • What Can We Say about the Emerging Feminist Foreign Policies in Latin America?

    September 5, 2023by Daniela Sepúlveda Soto and Evyn Papworth

    The adoption of FFPs in Latin America is an opportunity to see how the region reimagines international feminist agendas and translates local feminist advocacy to the international arena.

    Analysisamericas, women-peace-and-security
  • BRICS and the West: Don’t Believe the Cold War Hype

    August 30, 2023by Cedric de Coning

    Many Western countries and BRICS members may have more shared interests than the doomsday headlines suggest.

    Analysisbrics, multilateralism
  • What Could a Successful Summit of the Future Look Like in 2024?

    August 24, 2023by Adam Day

    The next generation deserves a renewed effort to make the Summit of the Future a success.

    Analysismultilateralism, united-nations
  • Civil Society Engagement with the United Nations on Counterterrorism–A Perilous, Uphill Challenge

    August 3, 2023by Annabelle Bonnefont and Franziska Praxl-Tabuchi

    Even though civil society has been impacted by the UN counterterrorism architecture, opportunities for a broad range of civil society actors to meaningfully engage with counterterrorism programming and policy-making remain limited at best.

    Analysiscivil-society, terrorism, united-nations
  • The MINUSMA Liquidation Process Unpacked 

    July 24, 2023by Eugene Chen

    The difficulties inherent in the liquidation and reconfiguration of the UN presence in Mali will be exacerbated by the lack of preparation and tension with the host government.

    Analysisminusma, peacekeeping
  • MINUSMA’s Termination and the Future of Protection in Mali

    July 21, 2023by Josh Jorgensen

    A peacekeeping transition that mitigates the risks to civilians to the greatest extent possible is the UN’s best chance to continue implementing the principles of the Charter.

    Analysisminusma, peacekeeping, protection-of-civilians
  • MINUSMA and Protection of Civilians: Implications for Future Peacekeeping Missions

    July 14, 2023by Lisa Sharland

    Significant strides have been made in developing an understanding that the protection of civilians is integral to peacekeeping. There is a risk of backsliding.

    Analysisminusma, peacekeeping, protection-of-civilians
  • The Primacy of Geopolitics: Five Lessons from the UN’s Involvement in Mali

    July 12, 2023by Víctor Casanova Abós

    The primacy of geopolitics can no longer be ignored.

    Analysisminusma, peacekeeping
  • Should the Security Council Engage with Implications of Climate Change? Let’s Look at the Scientific Evidence

    June 8, 2023by Halvard Buhaug, Cedric de Coning, and Nina von Uexkull

    Contrary to perceptions, there is compelling scientific evidence in the IPCC’s AR6 report that climate change constitutes a risk to peace and security.

    Analysisclimate-change, security-council
  • Pakistan’s Flood Problem Is Supercharged by Climate Change. Recovery Means Going Beyond Damage Control

    June 6, 2023by Emil Marc Havstrup and Pieter Pauw

    Pakistan could become a vanguard of climate resilience, but it faces tremendous hurdles.

    Analysisclimate-change
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Be a Feminist Everywhere: Interview with Tània Verge Mestre

    April 14, 2023By Jill Stoddard and Eimer Curtin

    The Minister of Equality and Feminisms of the Generalitat de Catalunya shares lessons on implementing equality policies and creating a feminist future from her experiences as a policymaker, political scientist, and activist.

    Interviewswomen-peace-and-security
  • 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

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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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