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The best place to take an annual barometer reading of what is going on is the United Nations General Assembly. This September’s 18,000 attendees included most heads of state and a vast cross-section of global civil society.

Unavoidable was a pervasive sense of uncertainty about the future and the resolve and competence of states to work together to address threats to peace, let alone resolve conflicts. The rules and institutions that, for generations, have underpinned international cooperation and conflict prevention are fraying.

The threats are no mystery. They include pandemics, disrupted supply chains undermining livelihoods and food security, widening inequality as technology and AI redistribute power globally, within states and between generations, organised crime and state capture, climate change and the transgression of planetary boundaries.

Continue reading this op-ed by our Executive Director Michael Keating on Geographical Magazine.