Multilateralism UNpacked

In this episode, UNU-CPR’s Head of Geneva Office Dr. Adam Day joins Dr. Jack Durrell to discuss the future of UN peace operations at a moment of financial strain, geopolitical fragmentation and declining confidence in peacekeeping effectiveness. The conversation explores how a worsening liquidity crisis is already driving cuts to missions on the ground, and what this means for civilian protection...

In this episode, UNU-CPR Director Dr. David Pasarelli speaks with Dr. Simon Chesterman, Vice Provost and David Marshall Professor at the National University of Singapore, about misinformation and disinformation in a world of information abundance. The conversation explores why greater access to information has not translated into greater trust or understanding, and why false content often spreads...

In this episode, UNU-CPR Director Dr. David Pasarelli is joined by Professor Inken von Borzyskowski about her award-winning book, Exit from International Organizations (co-authored with Professor Felicity Vabulas, Cambridge University Press, 2025). Winner of the Chadwick Alger Prize and shortlisted by the British International Studies Association, the book explores why states leave or are suspende...

In this episode of Multilateralism UNpacked, UNU-CPR’s Daouia Chalali welcomes Professor Edith Brown Weiss of Georgetown University, one of the leading architects of the concept of intergenerational equity in international environmental law. Their conversation revisits the ideas behind her landmark book In Fairness to Future Generations and explores how the principle of intergenerational equity ha...

Episode 8 of Multilateralism UNpacked examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping global governance at a moment when the technology is advancing faster than multilateral systems can adapt. AI is reshaping information environments, influencing conflict dynamics, transforming labour markets, and accelerating both opportunities and risks for sustainable development. For the United Nations – an...

In this episode of Multilateralism Unpacked, UNU-CPR’s Head of Communications, Jack Durrell, speaks with Senior Researcher Michael Franczak, sharing insights from his experience at COP30 in Belém.  Their conversation explores why COP 30 felt substantially different from previous summits – marked by the acknowledgement of a 1.5°C overshoot, shrinking aid budgets and Europe’s energy and securit...

In this episode of  Multilateralism Unpacked , Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, Head of Anticipatory Action and Innovation at UNU-CPR, speaks with Laurent Gisel, Head of the Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), about one of the most urgent challenges in global governance: the rise of AI-enabled autonomous weapons. Military investment in AI...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become one of the most transformative technologies of our time. From reshaping industries and labour markets to influencing education, healthcare and security, AI is increasingly embedded in every part of our societies. Although there is increasing convergence on the risks and opportunities associated with AI, policy solutions are diverse and fragmented, wi...

As the United Nations approaches its 80th anniversary, questions about its agility and relevance have taken centre stage. In Episode 4 of Multilateralism UNpacked, UNU-CPR Director Dr. David Passarelli speaks with journalist, academic and UNU-CPR Fellow Dr. Adam McCauley about the need for international organizations to adapt and evolve in the face of deep geopolitical flux and rising scepticism t...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched ten years ago. But their implementation over the past decade has been uneven and evidence suggests we are unlikely to achieve the goals by the 2030 deadline. In episode 3 of Multilateralism UNpacked Dr. Nicole Goldin and Dr. Jack Durrell explore the factors behind this lack of progress and how we can now accelerate implementation of...

President Lula of Brazil has called COP30 the “Turnaround COP” – warning that it may represent our last chance to avoid an irreversible rupture in the climate system. In episode 2 of Multilateralism UNpacked, UNU-CPR Director, David Passarelli, speaks to the COP30 President, Ambassador André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, a veteran Brazilian climate diplomat who will guide negotiations in Belém. Reco...

Dr. Jack Durrell , Head of Communications at UNU-CPR, speaks to  Dr. Nicole Goldin , Head of the Centre's Equitable Development research pillar, on key takeaways from the recent IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, DC. Dr. Goldin shares insights on recent economic headwinds, the funding crisis and how the development sector can adapt through cooperation, domestic resource mobiliz...