Advertise on podcast: State of the Globe Podcast

The United Nations has averted bankruptcy, but its financial and political crisis is far from over. In this episode, GGI's Joachim Koops is joined once again by UN finance expert Dr. Ronny Patz to discuss how the UN was pulled back from collapse, what the cuts mean for its work in the field and around the world, and why the Europeans are rediscovering effective multilateralism. The conversation debunks the myth that budget cuts are mere efficiency gains, looks for the deeds behind Europe's rhetoric, and asks what the future of multilateralism looks like in a world that needs collective problem solving more than ever.

This episode focuses on the international dimension of AI and the so-called global ‘AI race’. It provides a detailed analysis of key required resources, layers and players (energy, chips, infrastructure, models, and apps) and examines the difficulties and illusions about any single country achieving ‘AI sovereignty’. The podcast also explores the rivalry between the US and China and examines the role  Europe and the European Union (including the ‘EU AI act’) could play and why EU policy-makers should resist the temptation of watering down the EU’s regulatory power.

This AI governance mini-series explores the economic and labour market aspects of AI, its broader societal challenges including impacts on democracy and human rights, and its international, geopolitical, and global governance dimensions. In the first episode, Joachim Koops and David Timis examine how AI is changing work far beyond productivity gains. From labour market disruption and workplace adoption to education, skills, and critical thinking, they ask how societies can govern the transition from learning to work in a world shaped by AI.

The United Nations is facing the most severe financial crisis in its 80-year history. In this episode, GGI’s Joachim Koops is joined by UN finance expert Dr. Ronny Patz to discuss how US funding withdrawals, shifting European priorities, and China’s growing role are reshaping the UN system. The conversation explores emergency budget negotiations, the limits of UN reform, and what a fragmented global order means for the future of multilateralism.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Dr. Samir Puri on the big questions related to global cooperation, competition and what he refers to in the sub-title of his latest book as the ‘ Great Global Rebalancing that’s Changing our World”. In this book, Samir -who has worked as a diplomat in the British foreign office, as an academic and now think tanker based in Singapore- argues that one the most crucial developments we are currently witnessing is one of “Westlessness” – i.e. a waning influence of Western powers and the ‘West in General’ and at the same time a rise of influence of non-Western indicators of power, influence and ways of doing things. This does not mean that the West is in hopeless decline or imploding as many pundits argue, but rather that the Western-dominated indicators, processes and norms that have determined global governance and international cooperation since the Second World War are shifting dramatically at many levels and in almost every single domain of global politics. We talk about some of the empirical evidence that underpins his arguments and examine some of the most pressing political, economic and moral implications for future policy-making. This also includes a conversation about how an increasingly fragmenting and pluralizing world can and will be governed and how policy-makers in Western and non-Western capitals could and should respond.