Civil Society and Hope for the Future

Editors Karin van Leeuwen and Morten Rasmussen explain how their Cambridge Handbook uses deep archival research across dozens of collections and brings together international contributors to reveal how the League of Nations used legal techniques, institutions, and networks to shape an incipient form of global governance. The episode highlights key findings — the League’s legal section and court experiments, tensions between sovereign equality and imperial hierarchies, and case studies like Upper Silesia and the Manchurian crisis — and argues the handbook reframes the League as central to the development of international law and institutions, while noting the limits of ‘‘peace through law". Resources: Ask a Librarian! Ask an Archivist!Ikonomou, H. A. et al. (eds.) (2026) The Cambridge Handbook of the League of Nations and International Law. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available via Global Search

Mario Oyarzábal, Member of the International Law Commission and the Legal Advisor to the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discusses the new book International Law for Diplomats, a concise, practitioner-focused guide written to help diplomats—lawyers and non-lawyers alike—handle real-world issues like treaty negotiation, state immunities, use of force, human rights, and dispute settlement. The episode explains the book’s structure around systemic issues, current issues, and practical craft, its accessible style, and the UN Legal Counsel’s foreword. Its central message is that international law is not a specialist domain but diplomacy’s keystone, essential for advancing state interests and reinforcing the rule of law. Mario Oyarzábal reminds us, "that international law is a toolbox for cooperation for resolving disputes peacefully, for accountability."

This is AI x Multilateralism, a playlist of conversations at the UN Library & Archives Geneva where we’re joined by experts who help us unpack the many ideas and issues at the nexus of AI and international cooperation. The environmental impact of AI systems is becoming clearer and increasingly discussed. But what if we went beyond this to look at how the success of AI is dependent on the earth’s resources? In this episode we are joined by Martín Tironi Rodó, Director of FAIR, the Futures of Artificial Intelligence Research Nucleus, and the sociologist of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He shares why artificial intelligence is deeply interconnected with planetary intelligence, and calls for more research, agency and leadership across Chile and Latin America in shaping the future of AI. Resources:

In this episode we explore some of the emotional and psychological life of international governance. Professor Daniel Laqua, Professor Dan Gorman and Dr. Anne-Isabelle Richard talk about GLO, a transatlantic research project examining how civil society, activists, and NGOs have campaigned to build, shape, reform or put an end to international organizations from the early 20th century to the early 2000s. They discuss findings from the project about emotional experiences such as love, hate, trust, and sense of belonging in this context, and consider the way people relate to and through international institutions through psychodynamic concepts of projection and transference. Listen to examples from the League of Nations, United Nations Associations, Jubilee 2000, and the Council of Europe. Learn about the archival research methods, and what grassroots diplomacy suggests about the possibilities of change. Resources: Ask a Librarian! Ask an Archivist! Global Governance Trust and Democratic Engagement in Past and Present (GLO) Project website: https://research.northumbria.ac.uk/glo The podcast was recorded on the occasion of the conference ‘Love, Hate, and the Fate of International Organisations: The Psychological Life of Global Governance (1900–Present)’, held at the Geneva Graduate Institute https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/events/love-hate-and-fate-international-organisations-psychological-life-global

This is AI x Multilateralism, a playlist of conversations at the UN Library & Archives Geneva where we’re joined by experts who help us unpack the many ideas and issues at the nexus of AI and international cooperation. Should philanthropy be a part of the development and governance of AI? We’re exploring this question with Hubert Halopé and Giuseppe Ugazio, both part of the team at the Artificial Intelligence & Philanthropy Project at the University of Geneva. They explore:- Why studying the links between AI and philanthropy matter. - The findings in the project's open source book, The Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Philanthropy, including how AI can be used within philanthropy itself, and how philanthropy can impact the inclusive and responsible development and use of AI. - Why philanthropic organisations should play a key role in AI governance and in the ethical use of AI, and - How philanthropy can be present in multilateral AI governance mechanisms at the UN. Resources: