A new report from the European Leadership Network (ELN) has identified at least five potential near-term crisis between Russia and the West. This report, authored by Ian Kearns and Thomas Frear, examines the situations in Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine, as well as relations with external actors such as the USA, NATO and the EU. The authors argue that international leaders need to be aware of these potential clashes and give advice on how to handle these crises before they escalate. This argument includes: 1. Avoiding crises through clarity over core interests. 2. An unambiguous and well-communicated commitment to deterrence as a means of crisis avoidance. 3. Engaging in high-level political d

US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, speaks outside the General Assembly on 27 March, 2017 in New York. (Image Courtesy AFP) More than 100 countries are set to begin the first UN talks on a nuclear weapons ban this week. Major powers such as the USA, UK, France, Russia and Israel have all expressed firm objection. Read more on the talks, prospects for adoption, and background here and here. Read the UNHS report on nuclear disarmament. #nuclearenergy #nuclearweapons #disarmament #nucleardisarmament #UNnucleartalks #UNnuclearagenda

On 16 September, 2016, SCISA and UN House Scotland Hosted a seminar dedicated to understanding the necessary components to a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Syria. A full report on the the seminar is now available. #syria #warinsyria #assad #peacefulresolution #refugees #refugeecrisis #conflictinsyria #sdg16 #sdg11 #sdg3 #sdg1 #readreport

There are 51 trillion microplastic particles currently polluting the world’s waters. We add to those at the rate of eight million tons each year. UN projections suggest that if we continue at this pace of plastic disposal by 2050 there could be more plastic in the seas than fish. While its shameful that stretches of sea are troubled by plastic debris, microbeads, which are easily ingested by sea creatures, are an even bigger threat. This serves to explain why they are a matter of real and increasing concern to the eco-community. Microbeads are tiny plastic objects, smaller than 5mm, found in toothpastes, cosmetics, face washes and the odd shampoo. Worse than just floating pieces of plastic,

NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION AT SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT Humanitarian and Environmental Impacts and Responsibilities of Hosting Nuclear Weapons Download full report. The United Nations Association in Scotland recently co-hosted a major international conference on the humanitarian and environmental impacts of hosting and transporting nuclear weapons. Alongside UN House, UNA Edinburgh, Acronym and the Cross Party Group on nuclear disarmament, this conference will form a central plank of Scotland’s contribution to UN decisions on disarmament in 2017. This event, held on Friday 9 December and which also comes 30 years since the Chernobyl disaster, will address key issues about Scotland and nuclear weap