Latest Publications

• 2 June 2026

  Security Council Elections 2026

  Research Report

  On 3 June, the 80th session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections for membership of the Security Council.

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• 28 May 2026

  The Security Council and the Power of the Pen

  Research Report

  The penholder system is one of the Security Council’s most consequential informal working methods, shaping not only how Council products are drafted but also who leads negotiations and shapes responses to crisis situations. This system is a central feature of the Council’s decision-making process today. It is also an inherent aspect of how power is distributed and wielded in the Security Council.

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• 15 May 2026

  Mapping the Gap: Between the Promise and Reality of the Security Council’s Protection Agenda

  Research Report

  Over 25 years since the Security Council adopted resolution 1265 in 1999, establishing the protection of civilians (PoC) as a distinct agenda item, the long-observed gap between the protection framework that it has built and the reality experienced by civilians in armed conflict has never been wider. The Council has at its disposal well-established legal standards, operational tools, and reporting mechanisms developed through a substantial body of thematic and country-specific decisions. What it increasingly lacks is the political will and cohesion to apply them in the situations where they are most urgently needed. As civilian harm in armed conflict surges, the credibility of the Council’s protection framework—and its role in maintaining international peace and security—will be judged not by the norms it articulates but by its willingness to act on them.

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• 15 April 2026

  Power, Process and Participation: The Search for the Next Secretary-General

  Research Report

  The search for the next UN Secretary-General is unfolding amid rising conflict, intensifying geopolitical tensions, and growing strain on multilateral institutions. At this moment of global uncertainty, the choice of the next Secretary-General will shape both the organisation’s credibility and its ability to navigate in an increasingly fraught international environment.

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• 27 March 2026

  Maintaining International Peace and Security in the Age of Rapid Technological Change: Is the Security Council Wired for Purpose?

  Research Report

  Rapid advances in information and communications technology (ICTs), artificial intelligence (AI), and other new and emerging technologies are reshaping the parameters of international peace and security, influencing both the nature of conflict and the means by which it is prevented and managed. As technological convergence accelerates, risks are becoming more complex, interconnected, and difficult to anticipate. The implications of technological change are increasingly visible across issues already before the Security Council, including counter-terrorism, the protection of civilians, sanctions, peacekeeping, and women, peace and security. Yet Council engagement remains limited, fragmented, and politically contested, even as these technologies become more consequential for international peace and security.

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• 24 March 2026

  Living with the Veto

  Research Report

  Since the founding of the United Nations over 80 years ago, few issues have generated as much controversy among the world body’s membership, or so affected the Security Council’s work, as the veto accorded to the Council’s five permanent members (P5). Concerns among UN member states about the adverse effects of the veto (and the threat of the veto) remain intense and may even be on the rise. P5 disagreements that blocked effective Council action for well over a decade on Syria have also hindered meaningful engagement on issues such as Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine and “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”.

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