Multilateralism UNpacked

In this episode of Multilateralism UNpacked, UNU-CPR Senior Fellow and Professor of Fiscal Law at the University of Nairobi, Attiya Waris, discusses the ongoing negotiations on a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation. Recorded in August during the negotiations, the conversation explores what a new international tax framework could mean for inequality, fiscal space and development finance.
Drawing on her role as United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt, international financial obligations and human rights, Professor Waris discusses taxing rights, transfer pricing and access to tax information, as well as the links between taxation, sovereign debt and development finance.
Professor Waris also discusses how conventional measures of countries’ economic strength can overlook assets such as renewable energy potential and productive populations, and why these should be considered alongside GDP when assessing fiscal space.
Further reading:
Hidden Debts, Missing Assets: What the Spring Meetings Forgot
Action for a Healthier Global Tax System
A Human Rights Approach as the Basis for a Global Fiscal Architecture
www.attiyawaris.org

In this episode, UNU-CPR’s Head of Geneva Office Dr. Adam Day joins Dr. Jack Durrell to discuss the future of UN peace operations at a moment of financial strain, geopolitical fragmentation and declining confidence in peacekeeping effectiveness.
The conversation explores how a worsening liquidity crisis is already driving cuts to missions on the ground, and what this means for civilian protection and operational capacity. It also examines how states are increasingly turning to bilateral and alternative arrangements outside the UN system.
Looking ahead, Dr. Day reflects on whether current reforms such as UN80 represent genuine strategic change or primarily an effort to manage financial contraction, and considers what emerging “lighter” and more bespoke models of peace operations could mean for the UN’s role in conflict settings.
The episode also highlights key missions to watch, including the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the absence of a robust UN presence in Sudan.

In this episode, UNU-CPR Director Dr. David Pasarelli speaks with Dr. Simon Chesterman, Vice Provost and David Marshall Professor at the National University of Singapore, about misinformation and disinformation in a world of information abundance.

The conversation explores why greater access to information has not translated into greater trust or understanding, and why false content often spreads more widely than factual information. It also distinguishes between misinformation, disinformation and malformation, with attention to intent.

They discuss the implications for the United Nations and multilateral cooperation, including how misinformation can erode trust in international institutions and complicate collective responses to global challenges, and the UN’s role in supporting information integrity across states and platforms.

The discussion also examines how algorithmic systems shape information flows, and why responses must involve states, platforms and individuals, alongside reflections on information overload and generative AI.

For more information:
Simon Chesterman, The Oxford Handbook of Misinformation and Disinformation (forthcoming)
Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, Eduardo Albrecht and Rebecca Brubaker, Disinformation and Peacebuilding in Sub-Saharan Africa: https://unu.edu/publication/disinformation-and-peacebuilding-sub-saharan-africa

Watch this episode of Multilateralism UNpacked on Youtube: https://youtu.be/PZhxXBVFEJY

In this episode, UNU-CPR Director Dr. David Pasarelli speaks with Dr. Simon Chesterman, Vice Provost and David Marshall Professor at the National University of Singapore, about misinformation and disinformation in a world of information abundance.
The conversation explores why greater access to information has not translated into greater trust or understanding, and why false content often spreads more widely than factual information. It also distinguishes between misinformation, disinformation and malformation, with attention to intent.
They discuss the implications for the United Nations and multilateral cooperation, including how misinformation can erode trust in international institutions and complicate collective responses to global challenges, and the UN’s role in supporting information integrity across States and platforms.
The discussion further examines how algorithmic systems shape information flows, and why responses must involve States, platforms and individuals, alongside reflections on information overload and generative AI.

For more information:
Simon Chesterman, The Oxford Handbook of Misinformation and Disinformation (forthcoming)
Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, Eduardo Albrecht and Rebecca Brubaker, Disinformation and Peacebuilding in Sub-Saharan Africa: https://unu.edu/publication/disinformation-and-peacebuilding-sub-saharan-africa

Watch this episode of Multilateralism UNpacked on Youtube: https://youtu.be/PZhxXBVFEJY

In this episode, UNU-CPR Director Dr. David Pasarelli is joined by Professor Inken von Borzyskowski about her award-winning book, Exit from International Organizations (co-authored with Professor Felicity Vabulas, Cambridge University Press, 2025). Winner of the Chadwick Alger Prize and shortlisted by the British International Studies Association, the book explores why states leave or are suspended from international organizations – a phenomenon often misunderstood as a recent surge driven by nationalism or populism.
The discussion highlights that, despite headlines, exit is rarely terminal. About half of withdrawing states and 80% of suspended states eventually return, demonstrating the resilience of international institutions and the enduring investment of states in multilateralism.
For more information:
Access Professor von Borzyskowski's research on state exit from international organizations: https://unu.edu/cpr/brief/why-do-countries-walk-away-international-organizations-and-what-do-current-breakups-mean