All posts by Michael von der Schulenburg
Global Peace Needs an Updated UN Charter
The worldwide increase in armed intra-state conflicts will make it necessary to expand the mandate of the UN Charter. Although this would be the first substantive revision of the UN Charter since its adoption almost 75 years ago, this may be less utopian than it seems. In fact, Germany is well placed to take the…
An opportunity the United Nations and its Secretary-General must not miss
Behind the doom and gloom over mounting great-power tensions, fading hopes for a liberal world order, a decline of multilateralism there might be a unique opportunity to reposition the United Nations. Today’s fast-changing geopolitical landscape is creating an environment in which a return to the collective security system of the UN should be attractive to…
Conflicts inside states demand a new global security regime
Dark clouds of war are gathering once again. Military posturing among major powers has increased and spending on ever more sophisticated and deadly weapons systems is soaring. The tone of debate and threats of action on display at the UN General Assembly in New York this week has done little to calm matters. Yet away…
Keeping or Building Peace?
The world faces old and new security challenges that are more complex than our multilateral and national institutions are currently capable of managing. International cooperation is ever more necessary in meeting these challenges. The NYU Center on International Cooperation (CIC) works to enhance international responses to conflict, insecurity, and scarcity through applied research and direct…
Afghanistan: Peace In A Glasshouse
The Emergency Loya Jirga is over. Given circumstances it was no doubt a success. It took place at the time foreseen in the Bonn Agreement; it brought together in apparent harmony the various ethnic communities of Afghanistan and voted a new President for the Afghan Transitional Administration. The majority of the members of the Loya…
Foreign Troops And Peace In Afghanistan
The President of the Interim Administration for Afghanistan has recently made great efforts to convince the international community to increase the deployment of foreign troops in his country. In doing so, he responded to the mounting instability in Kabul and other regions. Foreign troops, he and most of his cabinet colleagues argue, should help maintain…
Fighting Terrorism In Afghanistan And Milton Friedman’s Airplane
All wars are fought with money. If one wants to know who wins and who looses, simply watch the money markets: the money of the winner wins while the money of the looser loses — its that simple. Business is always with the winner, so the wisdom goes and to know this, we really do…