Expert Commentaries

Experts from the Platform periodically publish articles analyzing issues and events affecting security, justice, governance and other contemporary global challenges.

Recent

  • Strengthening the Global Dimension of Biden’s COVID-19 Rescue & Recovery Plan —

    U.S. Leadership is Especially Needed to Help Vulnerable Countries by Hardin Lang and Richard Ponzio Last month’s U.N. World Leaders Summit on the coronavirus brought together leaders from over 140 countries. Trump was noticeably absent. But the organizers had no clear plan for the meeting, which failed to mobilize financial support or even issue a … Continued

  • Intergenerational Co-Leadership for Global Governance Innovation —

    by Aya Chebbi This belief was reflected by 87 percent of the more than one million participants (half of whom were under 30) in the United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General’s UN75 global conversation, who responded that global cooperation is needed more than ever. This consensus, coupled with the demographics of the respondents, suggests that intergenerational co-leadership is key … Continued

  • UN-75: The Moment to Build a More Inclusive World Order Is Here —

    by María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés and Tijjani Muhammad-Bande That work begins with focusing on the coronavirus recovery, inequalities, the climate crisis and, perhaps most alarming, the rise of extreme nationalism. When we served our one-year terms as president of the General Assembly — back-to-back from September 2018 until September 2020 — the headlines and trend-lines foreshadowed … Continued

  • Recovery and Renewal at the UN —

    By Madeleine Albright and Ibrahim Gambari NEW YORK – The international community urgently needs new tools, ideas, and initiatives to meet the common threats and challenges faced by the United Nations’ 193 member countries. The world body’s 75th anniversary, to be marked on United Nations Day on October 24, presents an opportunity to chart a … Continued

  • 75 Years On: Remaking the Case for the United Nations —

    by Richard Ponzio and Joris Larik Alongside these qualified achievements are many low points. These include the continuation of large-scale interstate and intrastate conflicts and associated devastation; mixed results in promoting democracy and the rule of law; the ongoing proliferation of nuclear weapons and small arms; and the limited outcomes from nearly three decades of … Continued

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  • Reviving Multilateralism on the Road to 2020 —

    by Richard Ponzio, Joris Larik and William Durch As humanity struggles with mass violence, mass migrations and the widening effect of climate change, the international system inaugurated nearly 75 years ago to manage such global problems seems to be crumbling. Over the last year, the United States has turned its back on the United Nations … Continued

  • UN, World Bank Reports: Policy Breakthroughs on Sustaining Peace? —

    by Richard Ponzio United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ much-anticipated Report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace was released in late January, in the lead-up to the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace to be held this week in New York, in accordance with the General Assembly and Security Council “peacebuilding resolutions.” Breaking … Continued

  • Peaceful Settlement of Disputes and Conflict Prevention —

    by Richard Ponzio The peaceful settlement of disputes and conflict prevention are closely interconnected. Conflict prevention takes the peaceful settlement of disputes one step farther by attempting to address both the immediate and the deeper causes of conflict. Contemporary approaches to conflict prevention also emphasize the linkage between peaceful societies and the promotion of inclusive … Continued

  • Hitting the Reset on the UN? —

    By Richard Ponzio and Michael Schroeder Today the U.S. president will preside over a high-level meeting on United Nations reform on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly meetings in New York.  It holds out promise for urgently needed reforms. With the backdrop of Trump administration threats to take a sledgehammer to the U.N. budget and its recent … Continued

  • Mobilizing Smart Coalitions and Negotiating Global Governance Innovation —

    By Richard Ponzio and Tom Buitelaar Drawing lessons from three international commissions and two international campaigns since the mid-1990s, Tom Buitelaar and Richard Ponzio, Director of the Just Security 2020 Program, consider the conditions and strategies for successful “smart coalitions” of state and non-state actors working to realize ambitious global governance reforms. Reform strategies that … Continued

  • A Fool’s Errand? The Next Secretary-General and United Nations Reform —

    By Richard Ponzio and Michael Schroeder With the recent election of António Guterres as the next United Nations Secretary-General, the focus will soon shift to the next Secretary-General’s reform priorities, with a particular emphasis on how he should spend his first year in office. The view in many policy circles is that the UN urgently … Continued

  • Just Security and the Crisis of Global Governance —

    by William Durch, Joris Larik, and Richard Ponzio Published in the August-September 2016 issue of the IISS policy journal Survival, this article considers how the intersection of justice and security—or just security—is critical to understanding and tackling today’s global governance threats and challenges. The authors’ companion edited volume to the Commission on Global Security, Justice … Continued

  • Beyond UN 70: Sustaining Momentum for Peacekeeping & Peacebuilding Reform —

    By Richard Ponzio Peacekeeping is one of the cornerstones of the United Nations and was, is and will be an essential tool for creating lasting peace in war-torn societies. The international system has changed in many ways since the first deployment of peacekeepers in 1948; new actors and challenges have emerged and mandates have evolved. The … Continued