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Author: Walter Kemp

  • Risk and Robustness: A Conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    September 22, 2014by Walter Kemp

    A conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb about the concepts of risk, resilience, volatility, and their meaning for international relations.

    Interviewsfragile-states, peace-and-security
  • The (Dis)integration of Moldova? Five Scenarios for Ukraine’s Fragile Neighbor

    May 5, 2014by Walter Kemp

    Walter Kemp finds five possible outcomes when examining the question of Moldova’s process of integrating with Europe and reintegrating with Transdniestria.

    Analysiseurope, peace-and-security, rebel-groups
  • Are We Sleepwalking Towards War? Interview with Chris Clark

    March 27, 2014by Maximilian M. Meduna and Walter Kemp

    The author of The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 urges today’s leaders to think hard about 1914 and the decisions that led up to the outbreak of the First World War.

    Interviewseurope, peace-and-security
  • Interview with Ambassador Miroslav Jenča on Regional Cooperation in Central Asia

    March 11, 2013by Walter Kemp

    Challenges in Central Asia heighten as the region grows in strategic importance.

    Interviewscentral-asia
  • Local Rules for the New Great Game in Central Asia

    February 19, 2013by Walter Kemp

    Because of a change in their fortunes, Central Asian countries are now signalling that great powers need to play by local rules to get what they want.

    Further Readingcentral-asia
  • Europe Moves East: Mongolia Joins the OSCE

    November 26, 2012by Walter Kemp

    Mongolia’s full participation in the OSCE has benefits for both the country and the organization.

    Analysisasia, europe
  • Book Review: What to Do About Warlords?

    November 20, 2012by Walter Kemp

    A new book by Kimberly Marten includes case studies that show possible ways to deal with these nasty characters.

    Further Readingfragile-states
  • Interview with Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cyprus

    November 16, 2012by Walter Kemp

    The minister discusses the challenges Cyprus faces as president of the Council of the EU, and the state of affairs of the conflict in the north.

    Interviewseurope
  • Respect the Olympic Truce

    July 25, 2012by Walter Kemp

    The Olympic truce–the ceasing of hostilities during the Games–has already been broken. Is there hope it can be preserved?

    Analysismediation
  • The Man in the Middle of Yemen’s Transition: An Interview with Abdul Karim Al-Eryani

    June 4, 2012by Walter Kemp

    Mr. Al-Eryani discusses the transition process in Yemen; regional dynamics since the uprisings; al-Qaeda in Yemen; and what to do about Syria.

    Interviewsarab-spring, mass-protest, middle-east
  • Next →

This week

  • 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

Trending

  • 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
  • Thinking Globally about the War in Ukraine: Three Takeaways from Munich

    March 3, 2023by Adam Lupel and Jenna Russo

    The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the solidarity of the international community, yet there is real work to be done to strengthen solidarity across regions.

    Analysiseurope, multilateralism, peace-and-security
  • 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
  • Economy and Security on the Ballot in Nigeria’s Presidential Election: 5 Things to Watch

    February 17, 2023by Carl LeVan

    Voters in Africa’s largest democracy will go to the polls to pick a new president on Feb. 25, 2023.

    Analysisafrica, peace-and-security
  • 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
  • Climate Change in the Security Council: What New Council Members Can Achieve in 2023

    January 30, 2023by Adam Day, Janani Vivekananda, and Grazia Pacillo

    2023 could be a good year for advancing climate-related issues in the United Nations Security Council.

    Analysisclimate-change, peace-and-security, security-council
  • How Negotiations on Contingent-Owned Equipment Can Help “Green” UN Peacekeeping

    January 20, 2023by Emmanuelle Cousin and Daniel Forti 

    The UN General Assembly’s COE Working Group has a fork-in-the-road opportunity to advance UN Peacekeeping’s environmental goals.

    Analysisclimate-change, peacekeeping
  • How Useful Are the UN’s Broad Protection of Civilian Mandates?

    January 18, 2023by Alexander Gilder

    The UN should consider both the successes of the whole-of-mission approach and the pitfalls of its ever-burgeoning understanding of PoC.

    Analysispeacekeeping, protection-of-civilians
  • Investing in People and Enhancing Resilience for Sustaining Peace with Adaptive Peacebuilding

    January 17, 2023by Cedric de Coning, Rui Saraiva and Ako Muto

    Context-specific approaches to peacebuilding that empower local agency are key to the self-sustainability of peace processes.

    Analysispeacebuilding, sustaining-peace
  • 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
  • Russia, NATO, and International Organizations

    May 23, 2022by Kseniya Oksamytna

    As Finland and Sweden begin the process of applying for NATO membership, misleading narratives about the role of NATO’s so-called eastward expansion in “provoking” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to hold sway.

    Analysisconflict, eastern-europe
  • The Benefits, Challenges, and Limitations of Criminalizing Ecocide

    March 30, 2022by Rachel Killean

    The campaign to introduce a new international crime of “ecocide” at the International Criminal Court is long-standing but has received increased support over the last couple of years.

    Analysisenvironment
  • Putin’s “Peacekeepers”

    February 23, 2022by Paul D. Williams

    Putin has ordered Russian soldiers to conduct what he called “peacekeeping operations” in Donetsk and Luhansk, a clear violation of international law and a perversion of the important international concept of peacekeeping.

    Analysisconflict, europe
  • ECOWAS Sanctions Against Mali Necessary, but May Be Counter-Productive

    February 2, 2022by Festus Kofi Aubyn

    The new sanctions were triggered by months of growing tensions between ECOWAS and the military-dominated transitional government over the timetable for Mali’s return to civilian rule after two successful coups d’état.

    Analysisafrica, sanctions
  • New Climate Data Visualizations, 2021

    December 15, 2021by Noemi Florea

    Noemi Florea has compiled some key data visualizations from 2021 for the Global Observatory that highlight progress on climate change, from expanded research on the global environment to emerging developments for climate adaptation.

    Further Readingclimate-change, climate2021
  • Is the Global Climate Governance System Working?

    November 23, 2021by Jimena Leiva Roesch, Julia Almeida Nobre, and Eimer Curtin

    In the wake of COP26, there is a need to examine the current structures and dynamics of global climate governance.

    Analysisclimate-change, climate2021
  • 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.

    Analysisclimate-change, climate2021

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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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