Latest news with #globalsecurity
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
UN needs overhaul to take on today's global challenges, former chief Ban Ki-moon says
A former UN secretary general has called for an overhaul of the United Nations to better confront global challenges as 'some powerful nations' seek to undermine the institution. Ban Ki-moon , who was secretary general of the United Nations from 2007 to 2016, said in Hong Kong on Tuesday that the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza showed the need for a multilateral response. 'The illegal Russian war against Ukraine and the horrific war in Gaza represent one of the most dangerous moments for global security, and challenges to multilateralism, in decades,' Ban told the Fullerton Forum hosted by the University of Hong Kong's Centre on Contemporary China and the World (CCCW). Ban said that various global crises, including these conflicts, pandemics and climate change, 'have shown how we are all interconnected'. 'They also make it clear that we need multilateral responses,' he added, according to the speech published by the CCCW. In his speech, Ban thanked China for its role in implementing the Paris Climate Agreement and for its efforts to combat climate change. Ban, who is now deputy chair of The Elders, a human rights group composed of international statesmen founded by late South African president Nelson Mandela, took direct aim at US President Donald Trump, saying the shift towards unilateralism had been 'bolstered by the advent of Trumpism' in the United States.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Carney guided the G7 through the 'diplomatic Rockies,' says expert
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled off a successful, focused performance as host of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., according to some world leaders and foreign policy experts. Fen Osler Hampson, international affairs professor at Carleton University, said Carney guided the G7 "through the diplomatic Rockies," navigating "shifting weather" on the global front and avoiding "avalanches and treacherous cliffs." This year's summit took place against the backdrop of a new war between Israel and Iran, which pushed U.S. President Donald Trump to leave Alberta a day early. On Monday, G7 leaders published a statement affirming that Israel "has a right to defend itself" and that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon." Hampson described Carney as pragmatic and said he was "quite deft" in handling the G7 statement on the Middle East. "He was able to keep Trump on board on that statement," Hampson said. Hampson also said that productive sessions continued on G7 priorities, like global security, after Trump's departure. Carney held bilateral meetings with Trump and other world leaders during the two-day summit. Carney's office said Monday that the U.S. president agreed to negotiate a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S. by mid-July. Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump said the G7 meeting was "really terrific. Good people." When asked how Carney received him, Trump said, "Very good. He couldn't have been nicer." "He's a good man … a good representative of Canada," he added. Ontario Premier Doug Ford told a press conference Tuesday that he supports how Carney is handling Trump. "He's dealing with a different type of cat with Trump. You don't know which way this guy's going to bounce from morning to morning," Ford said. "He wakes up, eats his Wheaties and all of a sudden everything's changing. So I'm going to back the prime minister 100 per cent and I know all the premiers will. We need to get a deal." Ford said it was "good news" that Carney and Trump agreed to put a deal together over the next month. "At least they had an opportunity to meet, and I'm confident that we'll get a deal done," he said. Carney seemed to impress several world leaders who attended this year's summit. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One after leaving the G7 summit, Trump said he had a "good time." French President Emmanuel Macron, who will host the G7 next year, said Tuesday that Carney fulfilled his mission as G7 host by keeping the multilateral body united. "We shouldn't ask the Canadian presidency to resolve every issue on earth today. That would be unfair," said Macron. "But he held the group together. He did it with his characteristic elegance and determination." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on social media that he had an "excellent" meeting with Prime Minister Carney. He said he complimented him and the Canadian government on "successfully" hosting the summit. Canada and India agreed to name new high commissioners and restore regular diplomatic services to citizens in both countries. Canada expelled six Indian diplomats and consular officials last fall, following news that law enforcement had linked agents of the Indian government to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens. At the G7 summit, Carney also promised $4.3 billion in new support for Ukraine's defence, including $2 billion for weapons like drones, ammunition and armoured vehicles and a $2.3-billion loan to help Ukraine rebuild its infrastructure. Hampson said the announcement of the support package shows that Carney is positioning Canada as a leading supporter of Ukraine among G7 countries. "He's showing diplomatic agility, a results-driven approach to this meeting," Hampson said. Carney faced some backlash for inviting Modi to the summit. More than 100 Sikhs gathered in Calgary on Monday to condemn Modi ahead of his visit to the G7 leaders' summit. "There never was a good time to try to turn the page with the Indians," Hampson said, adding that other countries are always invited to the summit. "It would be odd not to have the world's fifth largest economy at that meeting, right?" he added. Srdjan Vucetic, a professor at the University of Ottawa's graduate school of public and international affairs, said any criticisms of Carney's invitations are likely going to be "muted" and the prime minister can claim he's approaching his responsibilities "pragmatically." Vucetic said Carney did "great" at the summit and proved he was "savvy" during his meeting with Trump — citing his decision during an introductory press conference at the G7 to interrupt Trump mid-rant in order to move on to other topics. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025. Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
Forbes
3 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Spending On Nuclear Weapons Surges As Global Tensions Rise
T The world is at one of its most dangerous points in recent memory. An unresolved war in Ukraine, military escalation in the Middle East, continuing civil war in Sudan, tensions between India and Pakistan, and a near collapse of the global nuclear arms control regime. Add to this internal conflicts at home that have led to the deployment of active duty Marines to put down demonstrations in Los Angeles and the murder of a prominent elected official in Minnesota, and one can be forgiven for feeling like the global situation is spinning out of control. At this moment of peril, the last thing the world needs is a surge in spending on nuclear weapons, which, if used in significant quantities, can end life as we know it. But according to a new report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), that is precisely what is happening. Global spending on nuclear weapons topped $100 billion in 2024, the last year for which full statistics are available. The new figure was an 11% increase from 2023. More than half of world nuclear weapons spending – $56 billion – was accounted for by the United States. The risks of piling up yet more nuclear weapons in a world that already has thousands of them are real, but so are the profits that flow from developing, building, and maintaining them. The ICAN report identified 26 companies that split $20 billion in contracts for nuclear systems in 2024, with a whopping $463 billion in outstanding contracts from deals made in past years. But even as some nations double down on nuclear spending, there are signs of hope – 98 countries have signed, ratified or acceded to the Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which bans all nuclear weapons activities and commits signatories to work towards their destruction. The question is whether the publics of the nuclear weapons states – the United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, France, the United Kingdom, North Korea, and Israel – can persuade their governments to join the nuclear ban treaty, or at least reduce the size of their arsenals and agree to some rules of the road on crisis communications and agreeing not to strike first with their nuclear arsenals in a crisis. The prospects for trimming nuclear arsenals and reducing the risk of a nuclear conflict seem daunting in the short-term, but history suggests that changes in nuclear policy can come about in relatively short order with adequate public pressure. A case in point is what happened during the Reagan administration. In a few short years, a staunchly anti-communist president who referred to the Soviet Union as the evil empire and joked that 'the bombing starts in five minutes' had acknowledged that 'a nuclear war can never be won and should never be fought' and set the stage for significant reductions in the size of U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals. This shift was not due to some personal quirk or crisis of conscience on the part of Ronald Reagan, although some of his associates have reported that he had a visceral opposition to the idea of ever launching a nuclear weapon. But the main driver of the Reagan administration's shift in nuclear policy was the U.S. anti-nuclear movement, symbolized by the nuclear freeze campaign and punctuated by a million person rally for disarmament in New York's Central Park in June of 1982. As the movement grew, aides to the president told him that the anti-nuclear movement had gone mainstream, and that if he wanted to survive politically he had to take action to convince the public that they were not at risk of dying in a nuclear holocaust. And so he did, both with the ill-fated Star Wars missile defense program and through serious dialogue on nuclear arms reductions with Soviet reformer Mikhail Gorbachev. History rarely repeats itself precisely, but it is possible that the instability spanning the globe might, just might, prompt citizens and diplomats alike to seek measures to control and reduce global nuclear arsenals and take affirmative steps to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons use. But first there needs to be a warming of relations among the big nuclear powers – the U.S., Russia, and China. They don't need to become best of friends, but they need to be clear-eyed about the fact that no one will win if the nuclear arms race spirals out of control, and that dialogue on how to control and reduce these potentially world-ending weapons is urgently necessary.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Carney guided the G7 through the 'diplomatic Rockies,' says expert
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled off a successful, focused performance as host of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., according to some world leaders and foreign policy experts. Fen Osler Hampson, international affairs professor at Carleton University, said Carney guided the G7 "through the diplomatic Rockies," navigating "shifting weather" on the global front and avoiding "avalanches and treacherous cliffs." This year's summit took place against the backdrop of a new war between Israel and Iran, which pushed U.S. President Donald Trump to leave Alberta a day early. On Monday, G7 leaders published a statement affirming that Israel "has a right to defend itself" and that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon." Hampson described Carney as pragmatic and said he was "quite deft" in handling the G7 statement on the Middle East. "He was able to keep Trump on board on that statement," Hampson said. Hampson also said that productive sessions continued on G7 priorities, like global security, after Trump's departure. Carney held bilateral meetings with Trump and other world leaders during the two-day summit. Carney's office said Monday that the U.S. president agreed to negotiate a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S. by mid-July. Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump said the G7 meeting was "really terrific. Good people." When asked how Carney received him, Trump said, "Very good. He couldn't have been nicer." "He's a good man … a good representative of Canada," he added. Ontario Premier Doug Ford told a press conference Tuesday that he supports how Carney is handling Trump. "He's dealing with a different type of cat with Trump. You don't know which way this guy's going to bounce from morning to morning," Ford said. "He wakes up, eats his Wheaties and all of a sudden everything's changing. So I'm going to back the prime minister 100 per cent and I know all the premiers will. We need to get a deal." Ford said it was "good news" that Carney and Trump agreed to put a deal together over the next month. "At least they had an opportunity to meet, and I'm confident that we'll get a deal done," he said. Carney seemed to impress several world leaders who attended this year's summit. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One after leaving the G7 summit, Trump said he had a "good time." French President Emmanuel Macron, who will host the G7 next year, said Tuesday that Carney fulfilled his mission as G7 host by keeping the multilateral body united. "We shouldn't ask the Canadian presidency to resolve every issue on earth today. That would be unfair," said Macron. "But he held the group together. He did it with his characteristic elegance and determination." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on social media that he had an "excellent" meeting with Prime Minister Carney. He said he complimented him and the Canadian government on "successfully" hosting the summit. Canada and India agreed to name new high commissioners and restore regular diplomatic services to citizens in both countries. Canada expelled six Indian diplomats and consular officials last fall, following news that law enforcement had linked agents of the Indian government to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens. At the G7 summit, Carney also promised $4.3 billion in new support for Ukraine's defence, including $2 billion for weapons like drones, ammunition and armoured vehicles and a $2.3-billion loan to help Ukraine rebuild its infrastructure. Hampson said the announcement of the support package shows that Carney is positioning Canada as a leading supporter of Ukraine among G7 countries. "He's showing diplomatic agility, a results-driven approach to this meeting," Hampson said. Carney faced some backlash for inviting Modi to the summit. More than 100 Sikhs gathered in Calgary on Monday to condemn Modi ahead of his visit to the G7 leaders' summit. "There never was a good time to try to turn the page with the Indians," Hampson said, adding that other countries are always invited to the summit. "It would be odd not to have the world's fifth largest economy at that meeting, right?" he added. Srdjan Vucetic, a professor at the University of Ottawa's graduate school of public and international affairs, said any criticisms of Carney's invitations are likely going to be "muted" and the prime minister can claim he's approaching his responsibilities "pragmatically." Vucetic said Carney did "great" at the summit and proved he was "savvy" during his meeting with Trump — citing his decision during an introductory press conference at the G7 to interrupt Trump mid-rant in order to move on to other topics. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025. Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
Zawya
3 days ago
- Politics
- Zawya
UAE, Russian Presidents hold phone call discussing ways to contain regional escalation
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, held a phone call today to review the strategic partnership between the two countries, as well as the latest developments in the Middle East and the grave implications for regional and global security. The two leaders discussed efforts being made to contain the situation and put an end to the escalation, stressing the importance of exercising restraint and pursuing dialogue to avoid further threats to security and stability. They underscored their support for all efforts aimed at achieving a solution through diplomatic means
