The UN’s Role as a Mediator in Resolving Environmental Conflicts
Beginning from the era of the Second World War, continuing with building post-war cooperation, ending up with the Cold War, going through various humanitarian crises and environmental disasters, this year, as I write this post during a global pandemic and climate catastrophe, the United Nations is celebrating its 75th anniversary. It has been a rocky road full of remarkable recognized and unrecognized achievements, but also with minor and major failures. Today, humanity is facing new types of struggles and uncertainty, challenged by the “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics”, reviewing their liberal, national and patriotic values, experiencing conflicts, as well…
“Man is by nature a political animal” (Aristotle, 1998, 1253a1)
On Wednesday, November 4th, the United States formally withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, the completion of which President Donald Trump began in June 2017. In the year of a global pandemic, the U.S. became the only country in the world not to participate in the global collaborative effort to fight the climate crisis. All these happening in the context of the country’s presidential elections and the ongoing counting of…
Coexistence or Extinction? The Case for Rights.
“The UN has for several decades been the world’s most important forum for the articulation, codification, and institutionalization…as well as the practical defense of human rights principles”. (Conca, 119)
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has the power to shine a spotlight on various universal and inalienable rights. The UN Human Rights Council (UNCHR), and, not to mention, the UN General Assembly have the ability to influence the performance of states. Owing to their well-designed and constructed use of practices, some of the most critical conditions for human life, well-being and security, such as clean drinking…
“Matsutake are wild mushrooms that live in humandisturbed forests. Like rats, raccoons, and cockroaches, they are willing to put up with some of the environmental messes humans have made. Yet they are not pests; they are valuable gourmet treats — at least in Japan, where high prices sometimes make Matsutake the most valuable mushroom on Earth. Through their ability to nurture trees, Matsutake help forests grow in daunting places. To follow Matsutake guides us to possibilities of coexistence within environmental disturbance. This is not an excuse for further damage. Still, Matsutake show one kind of collaborative survival.” …
Elen Paronyan
I am a student at College of the Atlantic, majoring in Human Ecology. Using this platform for my Senior Project on Global Environmental Politics.
