Reforming the UN

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…

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…

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.…

International law about war and peace fails to respond to the shift from “traditional” wars among states to violent conflicts with and among armed non-state actors. At its core are…

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…

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!…

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…

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…

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…