Ralph Bunche Institute

Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The Ralph Bunche Institute offers a wealth of research and public programming on international affairs, human rights, and conflict resolution.

Depoliticization of International Organizations: between functional necessity and pragmatism with Marieke Louis and Lucile Maertens

This week, RBI director John Torpey talked with Marieke Louis and Lucile Maertens about the trending depoliticization of international organizations and its effects for achieving results and enhancing cooperation. The discussion covers the causes of depoliticization, its framing in comparison to past years, the dangers of politicizing certain issues and not informing policy on science, and how depoliticization may end up protecting the status quo.

How did Orban win a fourth term? Illiberal democracy in Hungary with David Jancsics

Hungary’s Viktor Orban, the originator of the notion of illiberal democracy, has now been re-elected for four more years as Prime Minister of Hungary. This is on top of the 12 years that have preceded this election, and a previous stint as prime minister. This time he won with a supermajority that allows his party to revise the Constitution unilaterally. How did he do it? What can we expect from the ruler whom many regard as the greatest threat to democracy and Eastern Europe other than Russia? What will the EU do?

The war in Ukraine and its consequences for the global food supply with Catherine Bertini

Russia’s war on Ukraine has led to thousands of civilian deaths, thousands more soldiers’ deaths and millions of refugees and internally displaced persons. But this is only the beginning of the human toll of the Ukrainian war. A number of commentators have observed that perhaps the most important humanitarian consequence of the war may have to do with its effect on the availability and price of food around the globe. What will the war’s effect on the global food supply look like?

Why is the War on Ukraine Decisive for the Future of the West? With Metin Hakverdi

Two foreign and defense policy. In particular, it has agreed to substantially raise its military spending, as well as to give substantial weaponry to the Ukrainians to assist them to defend themselves. Recently installed, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it “Zeitenwende,” a “watershed” or perhaps more literally an “epochal transformation.” It’s been noted that this watershed development has also taken place with three women in the top security and defense jobs in the new German government: at defense Christine Lambrecht, minister of foreign affairs Annalena Baerbock, and interior affairs Minister Faeser.