‘Feminist foreign policy’ is an evolving concept aimed at improving women’s rights around the world through diplomatic relations. Its scope can range from funding development projects aimed at fostering gender equality to increasing women’s representation in the diplomatic sphere and giving them a [...]Read the full article
Daniel Bertossa:“All governments and actors have an obligation under the Geneva Conventions to protect civilians, especially those providing lifesaving services in conflict zones. Making human rights law optional or context-dependent sends a dangerous message, endangers public service workers and undermines the [...]Read the full article
Okba Mohammad:The Syrian armed conflict is 13 years old, with the various sides backed by regional and international powers such as Iran, Russia, the United States and Israel. Since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, the dynamic has changed and its intensity has [...]Read the full article
Twenty years ago, cotton growing employed almost 20 per cent of the Syrian population. Ravaged by the war, the sector is now being relaunched, particularly in the Idlib region, under the control of an autonomous government led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. But the latest harvest [...]Read the full article
Bernard Duterme:“While the rebels of Chiapas may not have succeeded in reforming Mexico’s constitution, decolonising its institutions or even gaining a foothold in the country’s political scene, they have nonetheless given unprecedented local, national and international visibility to peasant and Indigenous [...]Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:“There is no indication that, in the fight for the spoils, either of the two warring generals is willing to budge, at least until they see what their loyal troops can do with their weapons. Adding to the gloomy outlook, the mediators in the peace negotiations have decided to suspend the talks [...]Read the full article
Alex Nkosi:“The journey of trade unions in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone represents a beacon of hope for unions worldwide. By prioritising peace alongside economic interests, these unions have become catalysts for positive change in fragile [...]Read the full article
Eastern DR Congo is once again faced with a major influx of people displaced by the war. With authorities failing to respond adequately, the local population has taken matters into their own hands, providing concrete solutions and reinventing political [...]Read the full article
Arthur Neslen:“We demand that the slaughter of Palestinian media workers – the suppression of living memory, in fact – be halted, and that those responsible for it be held accountable.”Read the full article
The enforced abductions and disappearances of Iraqi men that have occurred for decades – whether under the regime of Saddam Hussein, during the dark days of the so-called Islamic State’s reign of terror or following anti-government protests in 2019 – continue to haunt the relatives of the [...]Read the full article
Chloé Maurel:“Under the 17 ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) proclaimed by the UN in 2015, goal 6 aims to ensure access to and the sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. But will these declarations remain a dead letter in a world where they have no binding force and the UN has no power to [...]Read the full article
In the first year of Taliban rule, the Afghan economy lost US$5 billion, wiping out the previous ten years of growth. One in three businesses shut down, and women bore the brunt of the crisis, with the number of women in employment dropping by 25 per [...]Read the full article
According to data published in 2023 by the National Statistics Office of Georgia, the number of foreign students in Georgia’s both public and private universities has almost doubled from around 14,000 from before the war to just over 25,000 [...]Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:Global military spending has continued to rise for the eighth year in a row. Seen from a traditional state security perspective – which generally assumes that more weapons means more security – this could be interpreted as good news. But is [...]Read the full article
Despite having one of the most diverse media landscapes in Africa, Cameroon is also one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist on the continent, as the recent murders of Martinez Zogo and Jean-Jacques Ola Bébé demonstrate.Read the full article
The armed conflict has created new employment opportunities for all Syrians, both men and women. Many believe that the war has led to the ‘democratisation’ of the civilian sector since 2011 and, significantly, to the qualitative participation of women in areas with social [...]Read the full article
After 2011, Myanmar engaged in a semi-controlled path to democracy and many Burmese migrant workers returned home to set up businesses, thanks to the skills and capital they acquired while working abroad. But the recent coup has disrupted this [...]Read the full article
By re-irrigating agricultural land facing drought – due to climate change and Turkey preventing the flow of water – a women’s project in northern Syria is helping to revitalise local communities from the roots upwards.Read the full article
The earthquake was the final blow for an already overstretched health system in Idlib province, exhausted by ten years of war, bombing, and the recent outbreaks of coronavirus and cholera.Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:“The issues of security and wellbeing are not antithetical but are the two basic pillars of peace, both within and beyond the borders of all states.”Read the full article
Owen Tudor:“Under incredibly difficult circumstances, and frequently at great personal risk, trade unionists have been delivering humanitarian assistance and working to keep the economy, especially vital services, going.”Read the full article
Juan Antonio Sanz:China has displaced Russia as the dominant power in Central Asia. It has done so thanks to its diplomatic and economic might. Russia’s decline highlights the fragility of relations with Central Asia based on Moscow’s military superiority.Read the full article
“Nobody has been preparing to provide services to people who are running from war. Everybody is working with trauma now, but it’s hard to have those skills.”Read the full article
According to Human Rights Watch, “Syria is not safe for refugee return”. In June, Muhammad Fawzi Akkad became the first Syrian refugee to win a case against Turkey when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkish authorities had unlawfully deported [...]Read the full article
Dimitra Koutouzi:EUROMIL is advocating for the promotion of sustainable practices in the military sector, the proper training of troops and the total understanding that the defence sector can significantly contribute in the fight against climate [...]Read the full article
“Even before the outbreak of the war we had issues with illegal employment and even cases of forced labour. Now given the scale of the crisis, we have a lot of concerns.”Read the full article
Emmanuel Jacob:If we want to implement and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and if we want to respect social rights for military personnel, associations and trade unions have an essential role to play. So why do so many political and military leaders refuse the right of [...]Read the full article
An entire generation of children in Syria has been forced out of school at an early age and into a war-torn labour market. Many are having to do work that involves very hard labour or puts their life at risk.Read the full article
It is estimated that there are 12 million refugees with disabilities around the world. At higher risk of violence, exploitation and abuse, they are among the most vulnerable groups of refugees.Read the full article
New technologies, especially digital, are having a profound effect on all human activity and, by extension, on international relations.Read the full article
Fighting has been raging in north-eastern Mozambique since 2017. Jihadists are doing battle with government troops and terrorising the civilian population. Mozambicans are fleeing the violence in their thousands, most often to neighbouring [...]Read the full article
From the cyberattacks on Israeli hospitals that affected thousands of people, to those that paralysed most of Iran’s petrol pumps for several days, cyber warfare in the Middle East is on the rise and its targets are increasingly [...]Read the full article
Since the start of the armed conflict in Mali in 2012, mines and improvised explosive devices have claimed numerous lives every year. A rehabilitation centre in Bamako provides amputee survivors with custom-made prostheses and psychological [...]Read the full article
Chloé Maurel:Despite the will of the majority of its members to see the global governance body embrace new tools to deal with the challenges of the century, the UN is still stalled on the issue of how to deal with conflicts related to climate [...]Read the full article
Within days, countries bordering Ukraine had to organise large-scale humanitarian support systems to help people fleeing the Russian army’s attacks. But in Poland, Moldova and Romania, it is becoming clear that the reception of refugees will have to be a long-term [...]Read the full article
Mary Kaldor:The courageous Ukrainian resistance and the anti-war movement in Russia are a civic, not ethnic, reaction to the invasion. And their civic stance has global support.Read the full article
From going months without payment to enduring harassment and extreme violence from rebel soldiers, the condition of low-income, state plantation workers in the conflict-hit areas of English-speaking Cameroon has been described as “extremely [...]Read the full article
The last decade has been particularly turbulent for the Middle East. In addition to the war in Yemen and the military coup in Egypt, the wars in Syria and Libya rage on. At the same time, arms imports to the parties involved in these conflicts are on the [...]Read the full article
Although the concept of ’decent work’ is gaining ground, the recent coup d’état and military takeover, in addition to ongoing insecurity in the country, magnified by chronic food crises linked to climate change, will not facilitate the task at [...]Read the full article
“Employers have taken advantage of the coup to overthrow the unions. They are violating labour rights, cutting wages, forcing workers to work and violating all previous labour agreements.”Read the full article
Young people on the African continent are becoming active through the art of slam poetry. They express themselves freely on social issues, raise awareness on matters such as responsible citizenship, gender, human rights, and make their voices [...]Read the full article
On 10 November 2020, the Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan came to an end. The conflict left thousands dead and wounded and tens of thousands of people displaced. Armenia is still stinging from its defeat and has yet to turn the [...]Read the full article
Yasmine Osman:While the Sahel remains plagued by recurrent conflicts, there are nonetheless positive signs of economic and social development in the countries of the region.Read the full article