This week, world leaders are gathering in Dubai for the fourth World Government Summit. It’s a bit surreal to talk about world government these days, given the recent setback to the United Nations’ efforts to get Syria peace talks off the ground, and the undeniable failures of governments across the Arab world to provide stability and a modicum of freedom to their citizens. Clearly, too, the summit is part of the United Arab Emirates’ relentless pursuit of its global brand. But it is also about the UAE’s desire to set a more positive agenda for the Arab world. The gathering [...]
Is it time for Ban Ki-moon to quit? This is not an obvious moment for United Nations secretary-general to do so. His second term is set to finish at the end of this year anyway. The race to replace him is heating up, with a posse of politicians from Eastern Europe jostling for the lead. Ban is not very secretly planning to run for the presidency of South Korea next year, and there has been speculation that he could leave New York early to campaign. But for now, U.N. officials and diplomats seem to think he’ll last the course. Having [...]
A public health emergency is, above all, a human crisis. But its consequences don’t end there. A major emergency, whether its severity is real or perceived, can have a significant economic and political impact. Now that the World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus an “international public health emergency,” warning that the mosquito-borne pathogen is spreading “explosively,” the Zika outbreak has become loaded with even more political power. Zika’s force comes not only from the tragic effects it can apparently have on babies. Scientists have not proven the link, but they believe the virus is behind the thousands of [...]
