Global Governance Podcast

At a time of mounting pressure on the post-1945 international legal order, Professor Oona Hathaway explores the resilience of the prohibition on the use of force, the challenge of great-power non-compliance, and the possibilities for meaningful UN reform.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

Michael Mandelbaum reflects on American foreign policy, mounting nuclear dangers, geopolitical fragmentation, and whether today's international institutions can adapt before another global crisis compels reform.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

As geopolitical fragmentation deepens, Ambassador Juan González-Barba reflects on Europe's future, the power of shared values, and how principled cooperation can help shape a more stable international order.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

As grand corruption erodes democracy, security, and public trust, Allan Rock explores the case for an International Anti-Corruption Court, the future of UN reform, and the stronger global institutions needed to uphold the rule of law.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

In a recent podcast conversation with Adam Lupel, we explored the growing mismatch between today’s global risks and the United Nations’ capacity to respond effectively. Our discussion ranged from Security Council paralysis and the corrosive effects of veto use, to the UN’s limited ability to address contemporary threats such as civil conflict, state fragility, and transnational risks. We also examined why disarmament and prevention—once central to the UN’s mission—have weakened, and what it would take to restore them as credible pillars of collective security. Importantly, we considered forward-looking ideas, including the role of an Earth System Council in addressing planetary instability as a security issue, and the need to deepen civil society participation to strengthen legitimacy. These questions go to the heart of a broader challenge: how to modernize global governance so the UN can evolve into a more effective, problem-solving institution at the center of international cooperation. We invite you to listen to the full conversation and engage with these critical issues.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

In this episode, Jojo Mehta, CEO of Stop Ecocide International, explores the growing global movement to recognize ecocide as an international crime. Building on the vision she developed with the late Polly Higgins, Mehta explains why criminal law—alongside regulation—is essential to closing accountability gaps in a fragmented world. She reflects on the milestones that have moved ecocide from the margins to mainstream legal and diplomatic debate, and what its adoption could mean in practice for governments, corporations, and investors confronting the climate crisis. Looking ahead, she outlines practical steps for action and a credible pathway toward systemic change. This is a thoughtful and persuasive conversation that makes a powerful case for why ecocide law could reshape global incentives—well worth a listen.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

Artificial intelligence is transforming the global information ecosystem at breathtaking speed. In this timely conversation, Julia Haas, Head of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media’s AI & Freedom of Expression project, examines what this means for journalism, democratic governance, and human rights.We discuss the rise of deepfakes and AI-driven disinformation, the concentration of power in big tech platforms, and the economic vulnerabilities of modern newsrooms. How do we preserve information integrity without enabling censorship? How can regulation enhance accountability without strengthening state control? And as media organizations increasingly adopt AI tools, how can trust be protected?Julia argues that safeguarding media freedom in the age of AI is not merely a technological challenge—it is a democratic test. Multilateral cooperation, principled regulation, and stronger public-interest infrastructure will be essential if innovation is to reinforce, rather than erode, open societies.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

In this wide-ranging discussion, Professor Peter J. Hoffman argues that the United Nations’ current paralysis reflects a deeper crisis of legitimacy rather than a temporary political impasse. He examines why incremental reform is no longer sufficient, probing core questions of Security Council authority, democratic representation beyond states, the governance of planetary risk, and the constitutional status of human rights. Drawing on historical experience with institutional change, Hoffman situates the Second UN Charter between realism and ambition, contending that transformative reform often appears unrealistic until conditions make its necessity undeniable. As he concludes, what is dismissed today as idealism may, with the passage of time, come to be seen as the most realistic response to a system no longer fit for purpose.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

In this excerpt from CBC Ideas, Augusto López-Claros reflects on a rapidly changing world and the civic movements demanding that the UN evolve with it. From the failures of the current system to the rising pressure from civil society, he outlines why the UN Charter’s original architects left behind a little-known pathway — Article 109 — designed to ensure periodic review. Nearly 80 years later, that review has never happened. This episode explores why now may be the moment to invoke it, and how a global coalition is working to modernize multilateralism for the 21st century.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

Martin Kreutner, Dean Emeritus of the International Anti-Corruption Academy and a distinguished former member of the Austrian Federal Appeals Tribunal traces the historical roots of our present global order and compellingly argues that the shift to various forms of strongman diplomacy currently under way, in the spirit of the 1945 Yalta conference that established the key political parameters of the United Nations, is likely to be costly for human well-being. Much better to build a more inclusive system, that gives voice to people everywhere and recognizes that we live in a different world in which economic and political power is more diffuse and confronting myriad global challenges which require stronger international cooperation.  Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org