Christian Downie investigates how informal international organizations like the G20 govern — In November, Indonesia will host the 17th G20 Leaders’ Summit. Leaders from arguably the most significant countries in the world will gather in Bali to discuss everything from the state of the global economy to action on climate change. Unlike other gatherings, such as the United Nations, leaders will not…

Dong Jin Kim discusses the challenges facing health officials looking to contain the country’s recent rise in cases — While the true extent of North Korea’s ongoing COVID–19 outbreak remains unclear, the need for an effective international response that can overcome existing political impasses remains urgent. Drawing on his research on global health diplomacy and North Korea, Dong Jin Kim outlines the key features of the current crisis, the…

Michael Gentile & Martin Kragh outline the key principles of Russia’s information warfare strategy in Ukraine — In this blogpost, we outline how conspiracy theories are used in Russian information warfare. Drawing on research conducted in Ukraine in the summer of 2020, we highlight two key aspects of the Kremlin’s strategy. First, that the Russian government deliberately pushes multiple conflicting conspiracy theories to undermine accurate explanations of…

Mariana Vieira — All issues of International Affairs feature a comprehensive book review section which surveys the latest writing on international politics. In the latest in our Top 5 Books series, Book Reviews Editor Mariana Vieira presents her choices from the May 2022 issue. Share your favourite new books on international relations in…

Jennifer Mustapha and Yasmin Chilmeran share limitations of the WPS agenda and explore its implementation in Iraq and the Asia-Pacific region — The Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda has been a key organizing pillar for policymakers across the world attempting to systematically include women in peacebuilding processes, and address the impact of armed conflict on Women and Girls. Sprawling from large-scale state led National Action Plans and UN policy initiatives, to…

Kira Huju investigates how Hindu nationalist ideals are being entrenched in the Indian Foreign Service — Since his election as Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi, of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been transforming how India sees itself and its global role. These changes have drastically impacted the functioning of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), whose diplomats represent a changing India in the…

Jochen Prantl and Evelyn Goh investigate the hurdles for policy-making in an increasingly interconnected world — The need to for policy-making to be responsive to complex overlapping international crises has never been clearer. From the global COVID-19 pandemic and its wide ranging economic and social effects to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and its profound impact on international energy and food systems already contending with…

Krisztina Csortea — Every issue of International Affairs features a comprehensive book review section which assesses the latest writing in international relations. In the latest in our Top 5 Books series, Managing Editor Krisztina Csortea presents her choices from the March 2022 issue. Share your favourite new books on international politics in the…

Policy-makers need to focus on climate justice argue Jan Wilkens and Alvine Datchoua-Tirvaudey — As international attempts to limit the damage done by climate change continue in the aftermath of COP26, an issue ostensibly given increasing mainstream attention is climate justice. In this blogpost, we argue that climate policy-makers have failed to sufficiently engage with questions of climate justice and that they will continue…