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41. What do the 2015 SDG negotiations teach us for a beyond-2030 framework?

Author:
Paula von Haaren and Axel Berger
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – ​​the global framework establishing 17 universal and interconnected goals to guide sustainable development efforts – was adopted in 2015 following a uniquely participative and ambitious process. A decade on, it is increasingly evident that most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are unlikely to be achieved by 2030 as originally envisioned. Discussions about a follow-up framework beyond 2030 are gaining momentum ahead of the SDG Summit in September 2027. This paper evaluates the process design, inclusiveness, negotiating strategies, fora and fault lines in 2015 and discusses to what extent the lessons learned can be applied to negotiations for a potential follow-up framework. We find that several process design elements and negotiation strategies, as well as actor composition, fostered trust and ownership, reduced polarization and enabled agreements on ambitious targets. In particular, the process benefited from the inclusion of diverse, non-hierarchical actor communities, a long, science-based stocktaking phase, the breaking up of traditional negotiating blocks, transparency, and emphasis on common interests. We also identify several recurring fault lines that are overwhelmingly still relevant today. Apart from the above best practices of the process leading to the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, we identify several shortcomings that should be addressed in the beyond-2030 negotiations: inefficiencies due to competing tracks for the development of the goals; top-down agenda-setting processes leading to less ambitious outcomes; barriers to participation of and accountability towards some marginalized and informal actors; and the watering down of goals and indicators – including non-tangible targets and unresolved inconsistencies and trade-offs within the agenda. Finally, the paper argues that the beyond-2030 negotiations will take place in a context that is similar to the process that led to the SDGs but is nevertheless in many ways more challenging than in 2015, amidst intensifying crises, political shifts and loss of trust.
Topic:
Development and Sustainable Development Goals
Political Geography:
Global Focus

42. Global Trends in High Debt Levels and Their Macroeconomic Implications

Author:
Hongseok Choi
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:
In response to the unprecedented crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, governments and central banks around the world injected massive fiscal stimulus and liquidity support. These bold policy measures succeeded in averting the worst recession, but, as a consequence, the world is now facing historically high levels of debt. According to the Institute of International Finance, global debt surpassed USD 324 trillion in the first quarter of 2025—roughly three times the size of global GDP and “[a level unseen] since the Napoleonic Wars.” Moreover, global debt increased by USD 7.5 trillion during the same quarter, more than four times the quarterly average increase of USD 1.7 trillion since late 2022, indicating that the global debt problem has worsened rather than eased after the pandemic. Against this backdrop, Choi et al. (2025) reassessed the structure of the post-pandemic high-debt environment, analyzed vulnerabilities across advanced economies, emerging markets, and Korea, and derived policy implications for proactive responses. The purpose of this report is to present their key findings.
Topic:
Debt, Macroeconomics, COVID-19, Banking, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

43. A Beast of a Different Kind: Malign Foreign Information Operations

Author:
Jordan Miller
Publication Date:
05-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Information attacks are their own distinct kind of villain. They have characteristics unlike those of cyberattacks and financial crimes, and need to be addressed with a strategy tailor-made for the kind of threat they pose. As Canada faces growing challenges of many kinds, it does the security operations of Canada a disservice to lump them together with other non-kinetic threats. So what is Canada’s best bet for a comprehensive approach that treats information attacks as their own beast? Jordan Miller illuminates how information attacks are redefining conflict. They move both independently and in tandem with other measures, including military power, and they know no borders. Measures to address the threat must equip the psyche as well as the digital space, as Canada’s allies have identified, and Canada’s approach must seek to understand more aspects of an attacker’s strategy and equip national security against this distinctive beast.
Topic:
National Security, Democracy, Foreign Interference, Information Warfare, and Freedom of Thought
Political Geography:
Global Focus

44. Artificial Intelligence, the Future of War and International Politics

Author:
Michael C. Horowitz
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Companies, not governments, are at the cutting edge of developing new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for military use, and regulation needs to keep pace with these advances. Yet geopolitical tension is undermining international cooperation on AI in the military domain. This paper examines opportunities for global cooperation to mitigate the risk of accidents and misuse of these technologies that could lead to escalation. Possible options include establishing an agreement to regulate autonomous systems, mandating human control over nuclear weapons and creating a UN-based institution to oversee responsible military applications of AI.
Topic:
National Security, Geopolitics, Artificial Intelligence, and International Politics
Political Geography:
Global Focus

45. Advancing Responsible AI Across NATO: Innovation and Interoperability

Author:
Ryan Jay Atkinson
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
NATO’s first AI strategy from 2021 outlines six guiding principles: lawfulness, responsibility and accountability, explainability and traceability, reliability, governability, and bias mitigation. Together, these principles form the ethical and operational baseline guiding how NATO and its members design, deploy and govern AI in defence contexts. But the world of AI has evolved drastically since 2021. The 2024 strategy was more about practical applications, emphasizing cooperation of non-traditional defence suppliers for AI research and development with industry, academia and national defence agencies. NATO’s evolving AI strategy is part of larger initiatives toward rapid technological adaptation, innovating AI among other priority areas, including autonomous systems, with programs that support responsible AI operationalization scaling rapidly to meet the growing need for fast action on responsible AI use. Allies foster responsible AI developments that benefit from alignment with these NATO strategies and programs, building innovation clusters that are interoperable and interdisciplinary across domains.
Topic:
NATO, National Security, Geopolitics, Innovation, and Artificial Intelligence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

46. AI National Security Scenarios

Author:
Duncan Cass-Beggs and Matthew da Mota
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
On March 26, 2025, the Global AI Risks Initiative at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Privy Council Office of Canada co-hosted a full-day, in-person scenarios workshop in Ottawa, Ontario, to explore existing and emerging implications for national security posed by next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) systems. This summary report contains policy recommendations that are intended to stimulate and enrich discussion among policy makers and the broader public. It is composed of three parts: an executive summary highlighting key messages drawn from the workshop discussions and background literature; a detailed description of key uncertainties and five possible future AI scenarios and implications considered at the workshop, adapted from the background paper shared with participants in advance of the workshop; and an appendix summarizing key points from the workshop discussion.
Topic:
National Security, Governance, and Artificial Intelligence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

47. The Fourth Path: Middle-Income Countries and Prosocial AI

Author:
Cornelia C. Walther
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Middle-income countries, home to 75 percent of the global population, have an opportunity to pioneer a prosocial approach to regulating artificial intelligence (AI). Cornelia C. Walther argues that prosocial AI — systems tailored, trained, tested and targeted to advance human well-being and planetary health — offers a framework for these countries to take a fourth path to AI policy that avoids the pitfalls of the three current models and aligns technological development with sustainable and equitable outcomes, embedding these values from the design phase onward. This fourth path demands regional cooperation among middle-income countries to share information on AI policy experiments and their outcomes; build collective capacity; and demonstrate that prosocial innovation can drive both economic competitiveness and human development.
Topic:
Human Rights, Science and Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Middle-Income Countries
Political Geography:
Global Focus

48. Lessons from the 2025 G7 Cycle: Quantum, AI and Science Diplomacy

Author:
Michael P. A. Murphy
Publication Date:
05-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
The 2025 G7 convened at a time of international instability. Nevertheless, its meetings achieved meaningful progress on emerging technologies. The 2025 G7 cycle’s outputs focused on scope, rather than concluding with a wide-ranging statement about geopolitical order, a fundamentally different perspective for middle powers. Michael P. A. Murphy argues that middle powers can use strategies of science diplomacy to navigate the current instability of international relations. Technical aspects of science policy have the potential to facilitate continued cooperation amid growing international tensions, as has been demonstrated by the key emerging technology outputs of the 2025 G7 cycle, and by emphasizing technical cooperation rather than debates on international order, middle powers can support the resilience of international institutions.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Science and Technology, Artificial Intelligence, G7, and Quantum Computing
Political Geography:
Global Focus

49. What Luck Has to Do With It: Understanding the Role of Nuclear Luck in Decision-Making

Author:
Tyrus Tibor Kalanyos
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Since the end of the Second World War and the start of the Nuclear Age, there have been numerous cases of nuclear near-use or near-incidents. This article makes a case for how luck, particularly nuclear luck, has not only been an essential variable in preventing nuclear wars and uses, but also how experiences with nuclear luck have shaped the decision-making process in America and the Soviet Union. Through case study analyses of the War Scare events in the early 1980s, primarily the Able Archer-83 incident and the 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident, the paper identifies attitude and policy shifts in decision-makers’ posture towards nuclear security with an understanding of political psychology scholarship. The findings suggest that experiences of nuclear luck can lead to more careful and risk-averse behaviour, the paper also highlights how the relationship between nuclear luck and the decision-making process can advance theories on behavioural arms control.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, Decision-Making, and Luck
Political Geography:
Soviet Union, Global Focus, and United States of America

50. Military Peace Leadership to Protect the Force and Civilians in an Ever-Changing Environment

Author:
Omar Martin Tejada Perez
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This article explains how peace operations have evolved in response to constant and dynamic changes in conflict environments. This situation challenges traditional military leadership styles and approaches, which are mostly anchored in a conventional warfare mindset, one of the main reasons for the major failures in protecting United Nations forces and local civilians on the ground. Three examples of leadership stories that have positively impacted people on the ground, despite the adversity they faced, together with theoretical leadership approaches, form the analytical frame that leads to some conclusions and recommendations. In this sense, military education, social skills and capabilities, as well as civil and military interaction and coordination, are some topics revisited throughout the document.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Leadership, and Protection
Political Geography:
Global Focus

51. From Seeds to Suffering: Herbicides, Environmental Degradation and Slow Violence

Author:
Alexandra Pacheco Hardwicke
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Warfare almost always results in the destruction of the environment, yet the devastation extends far beyond the immediate physical consequences of battle. Historically, natural environments have played an integral role in human conflict, from land disputes to armed conflict and terrorism. Starving the enemy through attacking livestock, contaminating water resources, and scorched earth tactics are a few of the many ways in which the environment has been weaponized during war. Environmental security, particularly in the context of armed conflict, is an evolving field. The incorporation of slow violence may provide a critical framework to analyze post-war impacts and long-term ecological harm in ways traditional security studies tends to overlook.
Topic:
Environment, Violence, Environmental Security, Warfare, and Herbicides
Political Geography:
Global Focus

52. Analysis of Emerging Powers Joining to International and Regional Organisations: Intentions and Implications

Author:
Mojtaba Eskandari, Farhad Farahani, Somayeh Hamidi, and Sara Torabian
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
The significant growth of regional and global cooperation in economic, military, and ideological areas is a common feature of modern diplomacy, as states have been continuously expanding these efforts. In today's geopolitics, these collaborations are not limited to specific regions but extend to superregional and global levels; this is evident in emerging powers that seek to increase their global influence through mutual agreements and the creation of regional or international organisations. The goal of this research is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the strategic considerations behind emerging powers' involvement in multilateral frameworks. Being part of international and regional organisations allows them to coordinate efforts and play a vital role in shaping the international order. To achieve this goal, a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis will be used, including analysis of documents, policies, expert reviews, and historical case studies.
Topic:
Diplomacy, International Organization, Regional Cooperation, International Order, and Emerging Powers
Political Geography:
Global Focus

53. Dignity, Responsibility and Reciprocity: A Framework for Non-International Armed Conflicts

Author:
Samuel Jesus
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
This research aims to integrate Mario Bettati's Critical Globalist Theory within the framework of non-international armed conflicts, alongside Jean-Pierre Dupuy's ethical relationalism, particularly in the application of International Humanitarian Law. Human dignity stands as the fundamental focus of ethics amid the complexities of non-international armed conflicts. The Law of Armed Conflict faces challenges due to human objectification that arises from ruthless utilitarian armed interventions. In this context, conflicting parties must establish minimum moral limits for warfare and regulate global institutions to ensure human rights and accountability. Reciprocity, rooted in recognising globalising concepts, demonstrates that one actor's actions affect others and the global community. In this light, the isolationism, utilitarianism, and mercantilism of warfare used as state hermeneutic criteria for population protection are supplanted by dignity, responsibility, and reciprocity, thereby contributing to the renewal of global humanism and the minimum guarantee of protection within the realm of armed conflict.
Topic:
International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Armed Conflict, Dignity, and Reciprocity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

54. Advancing the Science of Outcome Measurement in Child Sexual Violence Prevention: Results of a Rapid Review

Author:
Hannabeth Franchino-Olsen, Lakshmi Neelakantan, and Mpho Silima
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
Abstract:
This rapid review synthesises the outcomes and measures used to evaluate interventions addressing child sexual violence (CSV) across the prevention–response continuum, drawing on 362 primary studies and using the WHO INSPIRE strategies as an organising framework. It maps the current landscape of CSV outcome measurement, highlighting dominant trends – particularly the reliance on education, life skills, and attitudinal measures – and the relative scarcity of measures capturing experiences of victimisation and perpetration. The review also underscores significant geographical and population imbalances, with most evidence originating from high-income countries and focused on adolescents. By identifying key gaps in definitions, measurement approaches, and alignment between the problem of CSV and how it is evaluated, this review provides a critical foundation for developing a more coherent, globally relevant framework for CSV outcome measurement. Ultimately, it aims to strengthen comparability across studies, improve the assessment of intervention impact, and ensure that outcome measurement better reflects the lived realities of children and communities, particularly in low- and middle-income settings.
Topic:
Children, Sexual Violence, and Public Health
Political Geography:
Global Focus

55. Non-Violent Parenting and Faith: Reclaiming sacred teachings for child dignity, protection, and flourishing

Author:
Selina Palm and Noor ur Rehman
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
Abstract:
This Dialogue Brief, the second in a series co-produced by SVRI’s Working Group on Faith & Violence against Children of the Faith & GBV Community of Practice, draws on practice-based insights from participants in the Working Group’s 12-week educational course, Faith and Helping Children Thrive without Violence, on non-violent parenting. Authored by Dr Selina Palm and Mr Noor ur Rehman, the brief reflects on the importance of engaging in conversations with four groups: survivors, families, theological experts, and gender experts. It recommends four key shifts for faith to become a positive resource, not a roadblock, in the shared task of addressing violent discipline and supporting non-violent parenting.
Topic:
Religion, Children, and Parenting
Political Geography:
Global Focus

56. Slavery and Abolition in Islamic Law (Episode 57)

Author:
Sahar Aziz and Bernard Freamon
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
The complex history of slavery within Islamic legal traditions spans from pre-Islamic times through the nineteenth century, revealing how religious law intersected with economic and social systems that perpetuated human bondage across centuries and cultures. This comprehensive examination of Islamic jurisprudence demonstrates how Western abolitionist efforts, while well-intentioned, ultimately failed to address the theological and legal foundations that allowed slavery to persist within Muslim societies, rendering the notion of abolition nothing more than a cruel illusion. Join host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) and Professor Bernard Freamon (https://law.rwu.edu/faculty/bernard-f...) as they explore the groundbreaking legal history detailed in his book "Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures (https://brill.com/display/title/36502) ." The contemporary revival of slavery by extremist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram represents a disturbing exploitation of these historical legal precedents, highlighting how ancient justifications for human trafficking and enslavement continue to find expression in modern conflicts. This legal and historical analysis reveals the urgent necessity for Islamic scholars and communities to confront their own juridical traditions and achieve true abolition through internal reform rather than external pressure. Biography: Professor Freamon is Professor of Law Emeritus at Seton Hall Law School and Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law. Professor Freamon has taught Islamic Jurisprudence at New York University School of Law and brings his unique perspective as an African-American Muslim scholar to examine slavery's persistence within Islamic legal frameworks. Professor Bernard Freamon founded Seton Hall's Center for Social Justice, litigating civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, and representing underrepresented persons in constitutional law matters involving religious minorities, prisoners, and criminal defendants. Through his innovative teaching approach, including courses on slavery and human trafficking based in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and his recent election as co-chairperson of the Bristol Middle Passage Port Marker Project, Professor Freamon demonstrates how historical scholarship intersects with contemporary justice advocacy to address both past wrongs and present-day human trafficking challenges.
Topic:
Religion, Islamic State, Slavery, Boko Haram, Islamic Law, and Abolition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

57. Opportunity Hoarding in the Age of Inequality with Sheryll Cashin (Episode 56)

Author:
Sahar Aziz and Sheryll Cashin
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
Opportunity hoarding occurs when advantaged groups secure and monopolize valuable resources—such as high-quality education, exclusive networks, or prime housing—to benefit their own members while restricting access for others. This behavior creates and sustains categorical inequality, often manifesting through exclusionary zoning, preferential hiring, or hoarding educational opportunities. Advantage groups create exclusive networks, secure resources, and develop practices (like exclusionary zoning or elite school networks) that protect their advantages. Such opportunity hoarding contributes significantly to the widening gap between high- and low-opportunity neighborhoods and schools. Join host Professor Sahar Aziz in conversation with Professor Sheryll Cashin about her groundbreaking book White Spaces, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding in the Age of Inequality (https://www.beacon.org/White-Space-Bl...) . Drawing on nearly 2 decades of research in cities including Baltimore, St. Louis, Chicago, New York, and Cleveland, Professor Cashin traces the processes of residential caste as it relates to housing, policing, schools, and transportation. She contends that geography is now central to American caste. Poverty-free havens and poverty-dense hoods would not exist if the state had not designed, constructed, and maintained this physical racial order. Cashin calls for abolition of these state-sanctioned processes. The ultimate goal is to change the lens through which society sees residents of poor Black neighborhoods from presumed thug to presumed citizen, and to transform the relationship of the state with these neighborhoods from punitive to caring. She calls for investment in a new infrastructure of opportunity in poor Black neighborhoods, including richly resourced schools and neighborhood centers, public transit, Peacemaker Fellowships, universal basic incomes, housing choice vouchers for residents, and mandatory inclusive housing elsewhere.
Topic:
Inequality, Opportunity, and Resources
Political Geography:
Global Focus

58. Victimhood Nationalism: History and Memory in a Global Age

Author:
Jie-Hyun Lim, Carol Gluck, Ruth Barraclough, Andreas Huyssen, and Malgorzata Mazurek
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
March 26, 2026 — In Victimhood Nationalism, global historian Jie-Hyun Lim examines how nations turn collective suffering into powerful nationalist narratives that continue to shape the world today. Speaker: Jie-Hyun Lim, Distinguished Professor, Sogang University, and Class of ’55 Visiting Professor, Williams College Discussants: Carol Gluck, George Sansom Professor Emerita of History, Department of History, Columbia University; Ruth Barraclough, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, Department of History, Columbia University; Andreas Huyssen, Villard Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, Columbia University Moderator: Małgorzata Mazurek, Associate Professor of Polish Studies, Department of History, Columbia University
Topic:
Nationalism, History, and Victimization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

59. When do voters stop caring? Estimating the shape of voters' utility functions

Author:
Aleksandra Conevska and Can Mutlu
Publication Date:
06-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:
In this paper, we address a longstanding puzzle over the functional form that better approximates voter utility from political choices. Though it has become the norm in the literature to represent voter utility with concave loss functions, for decades scholars have underscored this assumption’s potential shortcomings. Yet there exists little to no evidence to support one functional form assumption over another. We fill this gap by first identifying electoral settings where the different functional forms generate divergent predictions about voter behavior. We then assess which functional form better matches observed voter and abstention behavior using Cast Vote Record (CVR) data that captures the anonymized ballots of millions of voters in the 2020 U.S. general election. Our findings indicate that concave loss functions fail to predict voting and abstention behavior, and it is the reverse S-shaped loss functions, such as the Gaussian function, that better match voter behavior.
Topic:
Politics, Voting, and Voting Behavior
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

60. Disrupting Violence, Protecting Lives: Strangulation Laws and Intimate Partner Homicides

Author:
D'ercio de Assis, Arpita Ghosh, Sonia Oreffice, and Climent Quintana-Domeque
Publication Date:
06-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:
Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) is a form of intimate partner violence (IPV) and a strong predictor of intimate partner homicide (IPH). We compile NFS statute data, link them to homicide reports, 1990–2019, and estimate effects on IPH using a two-stage difference-in-differences estimator for staggered adoption and heterogeneous effects. NFS laws reduce IPH for ages 18–49, by 0.169 female-victim homicides per 100,000 women and 0.090 male-victim homicides per 100,000 men. We find no effects on IPH for ages 50–70 or on stranger-perpetrated homicides. Evidence from reported IPV incidents is suggestive of changes in reported incident classification and arrest patterns.
Topic:
Law Enforcement, Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Strangulation
Political Geography:
Global Focus