At the 2025 Google I/O conference, CEO Sundar Pichai declared a watershed moment in technological evolution: “We are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are becoming reality for people all over the world.” This bold proclamation didn’t just mark another product launch—it represented the culmination of decades of…
With 2025, a new generation emerges—the Generation Beta. Gen Beta defines the demographic cohort who are born from 2025 to 2039. Some of the Gen Beta will live to see the 22nd century. But what they’ll see is a puzzle. In an exponentially evolving world, it is challenging to predict what the future holds for…
A little over two years ago, African Development Bank President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina rose to address a conference in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The session’s formal name—Development Without Borders—had its theme spelled out in an explainer: Leveraging the African Diaspora for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa. In other words, how Africans living outside…
For decades, artificial intelligence (AI) has been quietly revolutionizing healthcare, long before it became the buzzword it is today. While headlines celebrate AI’s latest feats—whether it’s diagnosing diseases with uncanny accuracy, assisting in robotic surgeries, or accelerating drug discovery—few realize that AI’s roots in medicine stretch back more than half a century. This is the…
Runway has evolved into a space where fashion meets activism It was a hot summer day in 2019, I was standing outside the Prada headquarters in New York City, moments before the brand’s Cruise 2020 collection. While all the celebrities were flashing their smiles and making their entry, something else was getting the camera’s attention–…
Music and language likely share the same ancient roots, emerging from early humans’ need to connect, communicate, and thrive as social beings. When NASA launched Voyager 1, currently the farthest human-made object from Earth, they included a tribute to humanity— a Golden Record. This record features music, sounds of nature, greetings in multiple languages, and…
Of all the arts, theater has always been a powerful force in bringing people together. In Ancient Greece, the birthplace of Western theater, audiences of 15,000-20,000 would gather to witness the playwrights compete, forging a shared cultural and social experience. More than 2,500 years later, theater remains a vital tool for community building and bonding….
John Gast, American Progress, 1872 Columbia, the female figure of America, leads Americans into the West and into the future by carrying the values of republicanism. MANIFEST DESTINY Manifest Destiny is defined as “the concept of American exceptionalism, that is, the belief that America occupies a special place among the countries of the world.” The…
In an insightful interview, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations at the United Nations, discusses the evolving landscape of peacekeeping, its challenges, and its future in a world fraught with conflict. Here, Lacroix shares his perspective on the relevance of peacekeeping, the complexities of peace operations in Africa, and the role of diplomacy in…
In the wake of Assad regime’s collapse, sanctions, religious zealotry, local enmities and geopolitical competition shape Syria’s complex and volatile landscape, in which HTS has become a dominant force, fueling not only hopes, but also concerns. According to UNDP, fourteen years of conflict in Syria have undone nearly four decades of economic, social and human…
Yamazaki Kazuyuki (left), Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, attends the Peace Bell Ceremony on the occasion of the International Day of Peace 2024 (21 Sep). The theme of the International Day of Peace 2024 is Cultivating a Culture of Peace. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s…
Is the country still the diplomatic hub it once was? ‘It is in our DNA,’ says the Swiss envoy. At a time when diplomacy is being tested like never before—from the war in Ukraine to escalating tensions in the Middle East—Switzerland, a cornerstone of international mediation, now faces questions about its neutrality. Is the country…
What is Climate Change? The World Weather Attribution (WWA) is an international group of scientists focused on uncovering how climate change influences extreme weather. By using climate modeling, statistical analysis, and comparison to historical occurrences of specific events, WWA has shown how climate change is making natural disasters more frequent and intense. Their simple yet…
As the son of a career Foreign Service Officer, our family moved every 18 months, changing countries, climates, and languages. Starting in the 1950s, much of the travel was by ship. It is hard to imagine 2025 climbing on a boat in Jakarta and three weeks later climbing off in Genoa – across the Indian…
The collapse of the Assad regime liberated Syrians from decades of brutal and repressive rule and has opened the way for a better path forward. But the group that has taken over—HTS led by Ahmad al-Shara—has an extremist past, the state and economy are in shambles, and the country continues to suffer from deep divisions….
Trump Trade War 2.0: Tariffs bring more questions and fears As soon as US President Donald Trump took office, he signed an executive order that would impose additional customs duties on imports from Canada, Mexico and China. On February 1, the White House announced that an additional 25 percent customs duty would be imposed on…
