Multilateralism & Unilateralism

Russian elections: stagnant politics and economy, unending war

By Michael Roberts — thenextrecession

Russia holds parliamentary elections amid ongoing war in Ukraine, with the dominant United Russia party expected to win despite potential loss of supermajority. The Russian economy shows stagflation—slowing growth, persistent inflation, and declining civilian manufacturing—as military spending consumes resources while long-term structural weaknesses persist.

18 September 2026 · 5 min read
Human Rights

How Palantir Turned Ukrainians Into Lab Rats (And Helped Ruin Ukraine)

By Nate Bear — donotpanic

By Nate Bear* – donotpanic.substack.com AI war-tech firm Palantir has embedded itself deeply within Ukrainian military systems and civil society, turning the country into a laboratory for its dystopian technologies of tracing, surveillance and kill-targeting. Palantir, founded…

17 Sep 2026 · 10 min read
Multilateralism & Unilateralism

New world map makes Africa look bigger: what’s the fuss about? Cartographers explain

By Jack Swab and Derek Alderman — The Conversation

The UN endorsed the Equal Earth map projection, which more fairly represents landmasses compared to the commonly used Mercator projection that distorts regions near the poles. The change aims to provide a more accurate geographic understanding for educational and policy purposes, though its widespread adoption requires investment in updating textbooks and media.

17 Sep 2026 · 5 min read
Multilateralism & Unilateralism

BRICS: A More Powerful Non-Aligned Movement

By Uroš Lipušcek — Consortium News

By Uroš Lipušcek* – Consortium News The Global South today possess economic power on a scale the Non-Aligned Movement didn’t have during the Cold War. The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi over the weekend may well prove to be an important milestone in the gradual transformation of…

15 Sep 2026 · 14 min read
Thought & Society

The Blind Leading the Sighted: Trump Meets the AI Emergency

By Jeffrey D. Sachs — Common Dreams

Sachs* – Common Dreams What the US president exhibits is a fundamental incompetence that places us all in grave danger. On Sunday the President of the United States stood on a golf course in County Clare, Ireland and was asked what he intended to do about the most serious…

15 Sep 2026 · 5 min read
Multilateralism & Unilateralism

DEVNET – The Emergence of “Mythos” and National Security Policy in the Age of AI—Successive AI Incidents and a New Mission for the United Nations—

Anthropic and OpenAI leaders warn that advanced AI systems pose serious cybersecurity and information warfare threats, urging the industry to slow capability development, implement independent safety oversight and establish international cooperation standards to prevent potential damage to critical infrastructure and democratic institutions.

15 Sep 2026 · 6 min read
Thought & Society

September 11 and the End of the American Dream

By Roberto Savio

The author, present in New York during the September 11 attacks, traces how the event shattered American confidence and contributed to the erosion of the American dream through subsequent failures in Afghanistan and Iraq, economic deregulation, and the 2008 financial collapse.

14 Sep 2026 · 14 min read
Multilateralism & Unilateralism

The Houthis’ escalation in Yemen could flop

By Sultan Barakat — Al Jazeera

Houthi forces have advanced along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, capturing strategic territory including Perim Island and threatening the vital Bab al-Mandeb strait. The offensive, driven by Houthi desires for stronger negotiating leverage and the Gaza conflict, risks unifying a US-led coalition that could escalate regional tensions and prolong Yemen’s civil war.

14 Sep 2026 · 7 min read