Researchers ready a DJI S1000 octocopter drone for a mapping project, Sacred Valley, Peru, March 2015 (Photo by Faine Greenwood).

They’ve gone from little-known hobby toys and military machines to an international phenomenon, with eager civilians snapping them up from China to Colombia: Whatever you may personally think of them, unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are here to stay. Civilian-focused drones are already proving profitable in the private sector, with sales exceeding an estimated 1 million units in the U.S. and companies from movie studios to construction firms working to integrate the devices into their work. The development sector is also starting to utilize drone technology, for uses ranging from quick post-disaster mapping and documenting environmental abuses to property surveillance. […]

President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea addresses the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, New York, NY, Sept. 23, 2011 (AP photo by Jason DeCrow).

On July 22, thousands of diaspora Eritreans from across Europe protested in front of the Palais des Nations, the United Nations’ office in Geneva, against a recently released report by the U.N. Human Rights Commission (HRC). The report details grave human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, torture and forced labor, which could represent crimes against humanity. If confirmed, this would result in Eritrea being referred to the International Criminal Court. In the view of the demonstrators who protested against this characterization of their country, Eritrea is being demonized by an international system that never wanted Eritrea to be an independent […]

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, San Francisco, California, June 26, 2015 (AP photo by Jeff Chiu).

In the first half of August this year, something snapped inside Ban Ki-moon. The secretary-general of the United Nations demanded that the leader of the U.N. operation in the Central African Republic (CAR), Senegalese Gen. Babacar Gaye, should resign. The mission, known by its French acronym MINUSCA, was buckling under the weight of stories about sexual abuse by U.N. troops. “Enough is enough,” Ban told the press. Gaye did not go quietly. He had, he pointed out in his resignation letter, insisted on a “zero tolerance” policy toward the abuse. He previously served the U.N. in the Democratic Republic of […]

A long line of women refugees from Syria wait to register with UNHCR, Arsal, Lebanon, Nov. 2013 (UNHCR photo).

As the plight of Syrian refugees and their harrowing attempts to enter Europe dominate international media, calls have mounted for the United States to play a greater role in managing the crisis. Last week, a photo of the lifeless 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach, went viral, only intensifying demands to address the humanitarian needs of many Syrians fleeing the civil war that has raged since 2011. European countries—the target for many migrants—have responded unevenly; Germany and Sweden are liberally accepting European Union-bound refugees and have called on other member states to absorb more migrants, though prospects […]

A woman in Nepal, which has seen a decline in maternal mortality, holds her newborn granddaughter at a government maternity hospital, Katmandu, Nepal, Sept. 10, 2010 (AP photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe).

Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. There was a time when “affairs of state” were seen as having nothing to do with women. That time is now over. Today we have a strong evidentiary base that links the situation and security of women to state-level outcomes across a wide variety of issue areas—from health, wealth and governance to national security and stability. These linkages are no longer obscure. And because they have been made visible, policymakers have begun […]

Investigators stand near a truck where 71 migrants were found dead on the shoulder of a highway near Parndorf, south of Vienna, Austria, Aug 27, 2015 (AP photo by Ronald Zak).

The late-August headlines have been heartrending, from the continued violence of the Islamic State against both people and cultural patrimony, to stirrings of public discontent and rage over government incompetence in several Arab states. The latest of the summer’s tragedies came last week, when the lifeless bodies of 71 migrants, including four children, were found inside a truck in Austria. The horrific discovery moved the ever-expanding tragedy of illegal migration from war zones into Southern and Eastern Europe back into the spotlight. Although many commentators have pointed the finger at Europe’s institutional failings to manage the migration crisis, much of […]