Showing 1 - 10 of 12
Tiny Vanuatu steps up to protect the climate
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 28/08/2025
» Although the International Court of Justice (ICJ) turned 80 this year, there is a sense in which it has never felt younger. In a David-versus-Goliath moment, the tiny Pacific Island state of Vanuatu recently changed international law forever by bringing the world's most important issue before its highest court. The result is an ICJ advisory opinion on "the legal obligations of states in respect of climate change", as requested -- at Vanuatu's urging -- by the UN General Assembly (with 132 states co-sponsoring the resolution).
Ishiba's summit absence shows lack of Nato faith
Oped, Sayuri Romei and Alice Dell'Era, Published on 21/07/2025
» Since a Japanese prime minister first attended a Nato summit in 2022, Japan has sent its highest-level representative to the event for three consecutive years. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a key catalyst for Tokyo's decision to attend that year, and the 2025 summit in The Hague would have marked the fourth consecutive appearance by a Japanese leader.
How Italy managed to beat fascism after WWII
Oped, Mark Gilbert, Published on 22/01/2025
» Americans are alarmed by their country's stark political divisions. But they shouldn't despair. After WWII, Italy was even more politically polarised than today. Yet by the mid-1950s, it had succeeded, against the odds, in turning the page on its fascist past and constructing a contentious but functioning democracy.
Making public investment work
Oped, Mariana Mazzucato and Jonathan Glennie, Published on 21/11/2024
» Following the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Colombia (COP 16) and in the midst of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29) in Azerbaijan, we find ourselves at a crossroads. Climate change and biodiversity loss are not just looming threats; they are already here, exacerbating social inequalities, economic instability, and environmental degradation before our eyes.
Thai Human Rights Council aspirations
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 17/05/2024
» Thailand's quest for membership of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), Geneva, for the period 2025-2027, is rightly gaining interest among the general public. With a new foreign minister today, it is intriguing to prospect whether there will be more (or less) momentum in the competition towards the winning post -- with elections for the HRC due in New York in October.
Thailand's development model splutters
Oped, Peerasit Kamnuansilpa, Published on 16/03/2023
» Location-based economic development (LED) strategies, defined as government efforts to improve a particular area's economic and social conditions, were implemented in economically advanced countries long before they were in Thailand.
China and the sovereign-debt time bomb
Oped, Anne O Krueger, Published on 24/01/2023
» International capital flows have long been a major source of economic growth. Savings in higher-income countries have financed high-yielding investments in low-income countries, generating benefits for all. After World War II, capital flows under the Marshall Plan drove the rapid reconstruction of Europe, and after those countries recovered, they extended their own foreign aid and other official financial flows to the developing world. Private financing also increased substantially; by the 1990s, it accounted for over half of total capital flows to developing countries.
A bigger role for the disabled
Oped, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Published on 20/10/2022
» Ten years ago, the Asia-Pacific region came together and designed the world's first set of disability-specific development goals: the Incheon Strategy to "Make the Right Real" for Persons with Disabilities.
Do we share a childish sense of morality?
Oped, Peter Singer, Published on 10/09/2022
» Consider the following statements describing our moral judgements:
A faster route to greener shipping
Oped, Aideé Saucedo Dávila, Published on 07/09/2022
» Delegates from over 190 countries recently gathered in Lisbon for the UN Ocean Conference, the most important event on this issue this year. Opening the meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments "to raise their level of ambition for the recovery of ocean health".