Organized crime, arms trafficking, and illicit financial flows are a chronic and ubiquitous problem among many developing countries. In 2015, the adoption of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 16.4 decisively placed organized crime and illicit financial flows on the development agenda. While the focus of SDG 16 is on peace, justice, and strong […]
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On November 18th, The Independent Commission on Multilateralism hosted its third Public Consultation on its Discussion Paper on “Terrorism including issues related to Ideology, Identity Politics, and Organized Crime.”Click here to view the event video on YouTube>>Threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism continue to metastasize, stemming from a constellation of fault lines and imbalances caused […]
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A panel of experts in drug control policy examined the interactions between sustainable development and the world drug problem at an IPI panel, “Debating the Intersection between the Sustainable Development Agenda (SDGs) and United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) 2016” on November 16th, 2015.The meeting, co-organized with the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum (CPPF), […]
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Transnational organized crime (TOC) has developed into a powerful force impacting lives both locally and globally, having benefitted from the increasing integration of the global economy and regional proliferation of state fragility. Particularly in the post-conflict context where multilateral organizations are mandated to support the government in re-building state capacities, there is a lack of […]
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The international response to the world drug crisis has given disproportional attention to repression rather than prevention. This view was expressed by several participants at an IPI policy forum convened on July 22 to discuss the upcoming United Nations General Assembly special session on the world drug problem.“Repression is a damaging policy, since it redirects […]
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In a discussion about his new book The Checkmate Pendulum: From Fiction to Reality that took place at IPI’s Vienna Office on January 29, former high-ranking UN official Antonio Maria Costa warned that “the world order as we have known it since the Second World War is changing, and the rulebook is being rewritten.” Citing “Russia’s […]
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Organized crime and peacebuilding can be seen as separate issues, but recent research and practice suggest the two are deeply linked—conflict is increasingly fueling crime, and crime in turn makes peace harder to achieve.To address this phenomenon, IPI hosted a one-day workshop on November 13th on the topic of “Building Peace at the Nexus of […]
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Since the end of the Cold War, organized crime has moved from being a marginal problem in a few cities and regions to being a mainstream threat to national stability and international peace and security. While the threat has become transnational, the multilateral response has been slow, disjointed, and reactive.Broad structural changes are needed to […]
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Criminal networks are flourishing in regions of the world that suffer from conflict and weak institutions, and, as part of global market forces, they are undermining stability and human security at large. On April 8th, IPI hosted its annual New York seminar that examined the complexity and multifaceted nature of the threats posed by transnational […]
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Organized crime has evolved dramatically over the past decades, and there are insufficient tools and training to enable members of peace operations to properly assess and respond to these threats. To address this shortcoming, IPI developed and implemented a two-week pilot course—the first of its kind—on how to cope with organized crime as a spoiler […]
Read moreAs negotiators and climate leaders around the world process the outcomes of COP30, there is widespread disappointment that the parties did not agree on a roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels (TAFF). This omission reflected the complexity of the…
In February 2025, African heads of state gathered in Addis Ababa to announce a bold challenge to the global financial order: the continent will launch its own credit rating agency. The move follows years of mounting frustration over the…
Since the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the city of El Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region…
Armed conflict no longer unfolds solely on the battlefield. It is fought fiercely along digital frontlines—from…
President Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and the New York Declaration on a two-state solution have created an opening for peace in Gaza—though one that is fragile and fraught with danger. These blueprints are wide in scope but light on detail where it matters, including on stabilization…
In recent weeks, we’ve witnessed the escalating…
This December, the mandate of the UN…
Around 1.3 billion people experience significant disability—around 16% of the world’s population.…
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the passage of Resolution 1325, which launched the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda. This resolution…
Never has the cliché that we are at a pivotal moment in Middle East diplomacy been more…
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