Interactive Dialogues: Recent Episodes
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with SCR’s Deputy Managing for What’s in Blue, Alina Entelis, to discuss her latest In Hindsight article: A Second Year of Delays in the Allocation of Subsidiary Body Chairs.
More than seven months into 2026, Council members have been unable to reach agreement on the allocation of subsidiary body chairs and vice-chairs, making it the longest period with no subsidiary body chairs and vice-chairs since this decision was first recorded in a presidential note in 1979. This episode explores the reasons for the current impasse, discusses the prolonged delay’s ramifications on the Council’s work, and proposes potential modifications to the subsidiary body allocation process.
SCR's July In Hindsight: A Second Year of Delays in the Allocation of Subsidiary Body Chairs
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Produced by Vladimir Sesar
In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Managing Editor Paul Romita and Deputy Manging Editor Dawit Yirga to discuss SCR's latest research report: The Security Council and the Power of the Pen.
The conversation explores how the penholder system shapes the Security Council’s drafting process and response to crises, and why it has become a focal point of concern for many member states. It examines growing dissatisfaction among elected members with the concentration of drafting authority in the hands of a few permanent members, and discusses how the E10 have sought to expand their role through co-penholdership and calls for more equitable burden-sharing. It also reflects on what these evolving dynamics mean for the Council’s effectiveness, transparency, and legitimacy, and considers possible avenues for reform.
- SCR research report: The Security Council and the Power of the Pen
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar
In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR’s Executive Director Shamala Kandiah and Senior Policy Analyst Sara Bertotti sit down to discuss some of the highlights of their recently issued research report Power, Process and Participation: The Search for the Next Secretary-General.
The report offers an analytically grounded overview of the rules, procedures, and informal practices shaping how the next UN Secretary-General will be selected and appointed. It draws lessons from the 2015/2016 process, examines dynamics and recent developments, and highlights potential challenges that may emerge while also providing options to address them.
The discussion reviews the main steps of the process as well as some of the upcoming key decisions that the Council is expected to make this month, including regarding the modalities of the Council’s meetings with the candidates and of the straw polls.
- SCR's May In Hindsight: The Search for the Next Secretary-General
- SCR's 2026 Research Report: Power, Process and Participation: The Search for the Next Secretary-General
- SCR's 2017 Research Report: The UN Secretary-General Selection and Appointment Process: Emerging from the Shadows
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar
In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Managing Editor Paul Romita to discuss SCR’s latest In Hindsight article: The Security Council in 2025 and the Year Ahead. The conversation explores how deep divisions among Council members shaped responses to major crises. They talk about what statistics reveal about the Council dynamics in 2025 and what could be some of the key challenges ahead in 2026.
- SCR's January 2026 In Hindsight: The Security Council in 2025 and the Year Ahead
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar
In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Policy Analyst Sara Bertotti sits down with Shamala Kandiah, SCR’s Executive Director, to discuss her latest In Hindsight article: The Search for the Next UN Secretary-General Begins. Drawing on SCR’s coverage of the 2015/2016 selection and appointment process, the discussion reviews the main steps of the process while also touching upon the negotiation of the joint letter issued by the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council on 25 November. The joint letter invited member states to present their candidates for the position, officially starting the process.
- SCR's December In Hindsight: The Search for the Next UN Secretary-General Begins
- SCR's 25 November What’s in Blue story: Appointment of the Next UN Secretary-General: Joint Letter from the Presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly
- SCR's 2017 Research Report: The UN Secretary-General Selection and Appointment Process: Emerging from the Shadows
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar
In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Dawit Yirga, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss the key findings from SCR's latest research report on the African members of the Security Council.
- Research Report - From the Margins to the Center: The Rise of the A3 in the UN Security Council
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR’s Executive Director, Shamala Kandiah, sits down with Colin Keating, the organisation’s founding Executive Director, for a candid conversation about SCR’s beginnings, its founding vision, and the events that shaped its creation.
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar.
In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Mathew Blainey, SCR's Policy Analyst, to discuss his latest In Hindsight article: The Increasing Use of Article 51 of the UN Charter and the Security Council.
- SCR's October In Hindsight: The Increasing Use of Article 51 of the UN Charter and the Security Council
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar.
In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Dawit Yirga, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss the UN80 Initiative and its implications for the Security Council.
- SCR's September In Hindsight: The Security Council and the UN80 Initiative—What Lies Ahead?
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Paul Romita, SCR's Managing Editor, to discuss the year so far in the UN Security Council and the challenges ahead.
- SCR's August In Hindsight: A Council in Waiting
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Alina Entelis, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss the latest developments in the children and armed conflict agenda.
- SCR's latest Research Report: Children and Armed Conflict: Progression, Regression or Maintenance of the Agenda?
- July Monthly Forecast In Hindsight: Moving Towards a Second Era of Application of the Tools of the Children and Armed Conflict Agenda
- SCR’s publications related to children and armed conflict
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Paul Romita, SCR's Managing Editor and Dawit Yirga, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss SCR's latest research report on 2025 Security Council Elections.
- SCR's Research Report: 2025 Security Council Elections
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Dawit Yirga, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss SCR's latest In Hindsight article: "Ensuring Effective Peace Operations in an Uncertain World".
- SCR's April In Hindsight: Ensuring Effective Peace Operations in an Uncertain World
- April Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Katerina Limenopoulou, SCR's Chief Operating Officer, to discuss SCR's latest In Hindsight article on the 2025 Peacebuilding Review.
- SCR's February In Hindsight: The 2025 Peacebuilding Review
- February Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Paul Romita, SCR's Managing Editor, to discuss SCR's latest In Hindsight article: The Security Council in 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025.
- SCR's January In Hindsight: The Security Council in 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025.
- January Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Dawit Yirga, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss SCR's latest In Hindsight article on UN-AU Cooperation.
- SCR's November In Hindsight: UN-AU Cooperation: A Path Toward Networked Multilateralism or Fragmented Responses?
- November Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, incoming Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down her predecessor, Karin Landgren to discuss her latest In Hindsight article on relevance of the Security Council.
- SCR's October In Hindsight "Does the Security Council Matter?"
- October Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Policy Analyst Gaurav Redhal to discuss the situation in Sudan.
- SCR's reporting on Sudan
- September Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Managing Editor, Paul Romita, to discuss the relationship between international humanitarian law and Security Council in light of the upcoming informal visit of members of the Council to Geneva to mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.
- SCR's August In Hindsight "The Geneva Conventions at 75: Much Work to be Done"
- August Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Managing Editor, Paul Romita, to discuss Security Council reform following the 12 August Council debate hosted by Sierra Leone on "Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa's effective representation in the UN Security Council".
- SCR's August brief on "Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation in the UN Security Council"
- August Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Deputy Managing Editor in charge of What’s in Blue, Alina Entelis, to discuss recent developments and trends relating to the children and armed conflict agenda, one of the Security Council’s most developed thematic items.
SCR's publications on CAAC
SCR July Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, Dawit Yirga and Policy Analyst Gaurav Redhal to discuss Somalia's security transition and related Council discussions.
- SCR's reporting on Somalia
- July Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, Dawit Yirga to discuss Security Council oldest subsidiary body Military Staff Committee.
- SCR's In Hindsight on Military Staff Committee
- July Monthly Forecast
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Policy Analyst, Ben Villanti to discuss recently adopted UNOWAS Security Council presidential statement and developments in West Africa and the Sahel.
- SCR's publications on UNOWAS
- SCR's What's in Blue story on UNOWAS presidential statement
- July Monthly Forecast: https://bit.ly/3TWqQey
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Policy Analyst, Erik Ramberg to discuss SCR's latest research report on Security Council Elections 2024.
Background reading:
- Security Council Elections 2024 research report: bit.ly/3VjRKh3
- June Monthly Forecast: https://bit.ly/3TWqQey
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Chief Operating Officer, Shamala Kandiah, and Managing Editor, Paul Romita, to discuss their latest 'In Hindsight' article in SCR's May Monthly Forecast. The article, titled "Applying to be a Member of the UN: The Palestinian Case," provides insightful analysis on this issue.
Background reading:
- In Hindsight article bit.ly/3JGrze7
- May Monthly Forecast: https://bit.ly/3TWqQey
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, Executive Director Karin Landgren sits down with SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, Dawit Yirga, to discuss his latest 'In Hindsight' article in SCR's April Monthly Forecast. The article, titled "The Escalating Conflict in Eastern DRC and UN Support of Regional Forces," provides insightful analysis on the complex situation in the region.
Background reading:
- In Hindsight article bit.ly/3PMgMCt
- Research Report “The Financing of AU Peace Support Operations: Prospects for Progress in the Security Council?” bit.ly/3Ayxehy
- April Monthly Forecast: https://bit.ly/3TWqQey
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This is the audio recording of SCR In Hindsight on "The Security Council and Conflict Prevention".
This article featured in SCR March 2024 Monthly Forecast.
Link to the article: bit.ly/49YVUQh
Link to SCR March 2024 Monthly Forecast: bit.ly/3Go6Iub
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SCR Chief Operating Officer Shamala Kandiah read the article.
This is the audio recording of SCR In Hindsight on "The Financing of AU-led Peace Support Operations: Assessing Council Dynamics and Anticipating Future Action".
This article featured in SCR February 2024 Monthly Forecast.
Link to the article: https://bit.ly/3SGyc5eLink to SCR February 2024 Monthly Forecast: bit.ly/3Go6Iub
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The article was read by SCR Deputy Managing Editor Dawit Yirga.
This is the audio recording of SCR In Hindsight on "The Security Council in 2023 ". This article featured in SCR January 2024 Monthly Forecast.
Link to the article: https://bit.ly/48Gze6H
Link to SCR January 2024 Monthly Forecast: bit.ly/3Go6Iub
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The article was read by SCR Executive Director Karin Landgren.
This is the audio recording of SCR In Hindsight on "UN Security Council Sanctions " This article featured in SCR December Monthly Forecast.
Link to the article: https://bit.ly/47VIxiA
Link to SCR December Monthly Forecast: bit.ly/3Go6Iub
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This is the audio recording of SCR In Hindsight on "UN Transitions in a Fractured Multilateral Environment" This article featured in SCR November Monthly Forecast.
Link to the article: https://bit.ly/45TZlFh
Link to SCR November Monthly Forecast: bit.ly/3SFRpVp
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This is the audio recording of SCR In Hindsight on "The UN Security Council and Regional Organisations: a Brief Exploration of Chapter VIII". This article featured in SCR October Monthly Forecast.
Link to the article: https://t.co/66PxIgcuLc
Can elected members make a difference to the work of the UN Security Council? Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ambassador I. Rhonda King reflects on her country’s membership of the Security Council (2020-21), covering the role of small states in the Council, the genesis of the A3 plus 1, the role of regional organisations and the changing nature of security.
Can elected members make a difference to the work of the UN Security Council? Estonian Ambassador Sven Jurgenson reflects on his country’s membership of the Security Council (2020-21), with thoughts on cybersecurity, sanctions, and preventing deadly conflict.