Category Archives: Reforming the UN
The UN Charter must remain the heart and soul of any new peace architecture
This article is a contribution to the German peace movement’s pamphlet on the occasion of this year’s Anti-War Day on September 1st. On this day, 84 years ago, the German Reich marched into Poland and ignited the Second World War, bringing indescribable destruction, misery and suffering to Europe and the world. The UN Charter was…
The UN Charter is the West’s best option
Although almost unnoticed today, 75 years ago, on 24 October 1945, the probably most important international treaty, the United Nations Charter, came into effect. Its aim was not only to end WWII, but to save, once and for all, succeeding generations from the scourge of war. In San Francisco, the victors against Nazi Germany pledged…
Why Global Peace Needs Nation-states
The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, recently declared that ‘nationalism is the mother of all political problems’. Such a statement must be understood in the context of Germany’s troubled history. However, in the UN Security Council, Germany may face a totally different problem: how to rescue nation-states. Indeed, the future of nation-states has become a…
Rethinking Peacebuilding: Transforming the UN Approach
Since the end of the Cold War, the UN has found itself intervening directly within its member states to help them end intrastate conflicts and rebuild their war-torn countries. Peacekeeping missions that were originally designed to keep opposing national armies apart and that had the consent of the host state are now expected to secure…
In Search of Pathways to Peace
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres plans to instil new life into the United Nations by making prevention of wars and armed conflicts the hallmark of his administration. This is laudable! After all, in 1945, the United Nations was created for this very purpose: to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Though geopolitical circumstances…
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…