Interview

At the recent Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the IMF outlined what it called “Steps to Energize Global Recovery.” These were generally met with skepticism, as many observers pointed to a global “stalemate” that is preventing the implementation of the international policy framework needed to address the remaining challenges from the global financial crisis. To get a better understanding of the situation and of the related discussions at the IMF meetings, we talk to Domenico Lombardi, director of CIGI’s Global Economy Program and a former member of the IMF executive board.

Beginning this month, Geneva will host the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Given North Korea’s threats of nuclear war and the ongoing standoff with Iran over its non-compliance and nuclear ambitions, much is left on the table for participants to discuss. To learn more about the NPT, Review Conference and Preparatory Committee, we spoke to CIGI research assistant Simon Palamar.

It has been just over two years since Libya’s revolution, and the country continues to make headlines. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya is set to expire this week, with a likely renewal. To learn more about what has been going on in Libya and what we have learned from the country’s revolution, we speak to Middle East expert and CIGI Senior Fellow Bessma Momani.

This week, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will begin its open consultations, in preparation for the 2013 IGF annual meeting to be held in Bali, Indonesia. To learn more about the IGF’s role in global governance, we speak to CIGI Research Fellow Mark Raymond, who is currently working on the Global Security Program project Organized Chaos: Reimagining the Internet.

From continued turmoil in the Middle East and the lingering effects of the financial crisis to stalled debates over the environment, 2012 gives us much to think about as we move forward as a global community. With a focus on the global economy, global security, global development and the environment and energy, we speak to CIGI experts Paul Jenkins, Mark Raymond, Barry Carin and Simon Dalby about the global governance challenges expected to receive attention in the new year.

During Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s November 2012 visit to India, it was announced that the two countries had reached a nuclear cooperation agreement building on an arrangement first announced between Harper and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2010. To learn more about what this nuclear cooperation means for the future of nuclear energy, security and safeguards, we speak to CIGI researcher Simon Palamar.

A recent CIGI paper described peacekeeping as the UN's most visible raison d’être — soldiers in blue helmets are a frequent and now very identifiable symbol in global security. Less attention has been given to the important, yet challenging, work done by non-state actors, member states and the UN Secretariat in the area of peacebuilding. To learn more about this essential and evolving element of national, regional and international security and human development, we speak to Professor Timothy Donais.

On October 18, 2012, the United Nations (UN) Security Council will elect five new non-permanent members — one from Africa, one from the Asia-Pacific, one from Latin America and the Caribbean, and two from the Western Europe and Others category. To learn more about this occasion, we speak to Paul Heinbecker, CIGI distinguished fellow, Canada’s former ambassador, permanent representative of Canada to the UN and author of Getting Back in the Game: A Foreign Policy Playbook for Canada.

This week sees the continuation of increased tension between China and Japan over a set of islands in the East China Sea. To learn more about what might be driving these tensions and how a peaceful resolution can be reached, we speak to James Manicom, a CIGI research fellow and expert in maritime security and international relations in East Asia.

Last week, on the eleventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, violent protests targeted US embassies throughout parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Asia and Europe. To learn more about what this wave of violence means for US diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim world, we speak to CIGI Senior Fellow Bessma Momani.