The United Nations and 21st Century Challenges

In this course, students will examine in-depth the challenges confronting the United Nations in the 21st century and efforts to address them. These challenges range from complex great power geopolitical contestations; the growing peacekeeping mandates to protect civilians, counter terrorism, and tackle pandemics; to addressing the political, technical, and financial hurdles in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals; to mitigating the climate change crises, including managing natural disasters, and climate refugee flows; and to understanding the potential of emerging technologies (artificial intelligence, drones, cyberspace, revolution in information and telecommunication, social media) with the objective of enhancing global digital cooperation and reducing digital confrontation. Students will study these challenges through a series of in-person lectures, site visits, official briefings, and simulations & exercises to enhance their policy-making skills.