The UN Security Council has the potential to play a greater direct role in crisis response and mediation not only in New York, but in the field. It has done so sporadically in the past. In its early years, the Council experimented with inter-governmental missions to investigate potential conflicts and undertake mediation in cases including the Balkans and Indonesia. In the post-Cold War period, Council missions engaged directly in crisis diplomacy in multip=le conflicts, playing an important peacemaking role in East Timor in 1999.
The Battles That Can Cost South Asia the War Against COVID-19
In The Diplomat, CIC's Said Sabir Ibrahimi and Centre for Research and Information senior analyst Syed Mafiz Kamal examine the challenges that South Asia faces when fighting COVID-19.
"Given the lack of healthcare infrastructure and levels of poverty in South Asia, a greater number of people are at risk of contracting the coronavirus and dying from it or hunger," they write. "Actions need to focus on increasing the region’s testing capacity, raising awareness about physical distancing and hygiene, producing PPEs, and fighting hunger."