The racial wealth gap in the United States clearly shows that global political challenges around equality are inseparable from other pressures, especially identity and poverty. Although this case is rooted in one state, it fits the stimulus well because the structures that sustain inequality are not purely dome

External mediators are neither inherently peace-making nor peace-destroying. Their involvement can be decisive in moving negotiations towards settlement, but it can also distort, delay or delegitimise that settlement. Overall, the claim that they are “as likely” to hinder as to facilitate is persuasive to an extent, be

The case study of Cape Town’s 2015–2018 water crisis shows particularly clearly how environmental politics is inseparable from both equality and health. Although the immediate trigger was environmental — several years of severe drought causing dam levels to fall dramatically and bringing the city close to “Day Zero” —

Sustainable development means meeting present needs without undermining the ability of future generations to meet theirs, across economic, social and environmental dimensions. Cultural characteristics refer to shared values, beliefs and social norms, while demographic characteristics include features such as age struct

International law can be understood as the body of treaties, conventions, customary rules and judicial mechanisms that regulate the behaviour of states and other international actors. Human rights are the fundamental rights and freedoms said to belong to all people, expressed in instruments such as the Universal Declar

Inequality and poverty are closely related, but they are not the same. Poverty refers to a lack of the resources and opportunities needed to meet basic needs, such as food, shelter, healthcare and education. Inequality refers to the uneven distribution of resources, opportunities and power within a society, and can be

Migration and remittances often do more than official development assistance in improving everyday life, but the claim is only partly true because the two flows contribute to different kinds of development. Remittances are money sent home by migrants working abroad, while official development assistance (ODA) is govern

Securitisation is the process, associated with the Copenhagen School, by which political actors present an issue as an existential threat so that exceptional measures become acceptable. Identity here means a sense of belonging, such as religion, that shapes both individual political behaviour and how the state categori

Legitimacy in global politics has both a domestic and an international dimension. Internally, a state is legitimate when its population broadly accepts its right to rule, whether through elections, tradition, ideology or effective performance. Externally, legitimacy refers to recognition by other states and internation

Media can be understood as both traditional platforms such as television, radio and newspapers, and digital platforms such as social media, blogs and online journalism that distribute information to mass audiences. Human rights discourse is the global conversation about what rights people are entitled to, which abuses

Affirmative-action policies can overcome descent-based inequality to a significant but limited extent. They are most effective at widening access to institutions of power and education, but much less effective at dismantling the social stigma, informal discrimination and material deprivation that reproduce hierarchy in

Growing water scarcity can make interstate conflict more likely, but only to a limited extent if considered in isolation. Water security means reliable access to sufficient safe water for populations and economies, while interdependence refers to mutual reliance between states on shared resources. In river basins that

Access to treatment depends on both domestic political will and global funding, but to different degrees at different stages of policy delivery. Political will can be defined as the sustained commitment of a government and its leadership to prioritise and implement a policy goal. Global funding refers to external finan

Breaking the cycle of poverty and conflict does require a strong emphasis on development, but not development instead of security. Poverty can be understood as a lack of resources, services and opportunities for a decent life, while security here refers mainly to protection from violent threats through military means.

The statement is persuasive to a large extent, but only if “defined” is understood as meaning whose version of peace becomes dominant in global politics, not whose version is morally correct. Peace is a contested concept. At its narrowest, it means negative peace: the absence of direct violence or war. More broadly, it

United Nations peacekeeping operations have been effective in protecting non-combatants in some conflicts, but only under limited conditions. Peacekeeping can be defined as the deployment of international personnel to help maintain ceasefires, support stability and, in many modern missions, protect civilians. Non-comba

Justice can be understood as the principles that govern the fair distribution of benefits, burdens and recognition in society. Power is not only the ability to force outcomes, but also the structural and cultural capacity to shape what people accept as normal, legitimate and fair. The claim that definitions of justice

Peace is a contested concept. In traditional approaches, peace is often understood as the absence of direct violence or war between armed actors: what Galtung would call negative peace. A feminist understanding, by contrast, is closer to positive peace, because it argues that peace is not complete while structural and

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a permanent treaty-based court created by the Rome Statute and operating since 2002 to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The protection of human rights can be understood as preventing abuses, deterring future vi

The effectiveness of the international community in protecting human rights is mixed: it has been successful in creating powerful norms, institutions and some forms of accountability, but it remains limited when enforcement clashes with state sovereignty and great-power interests. If the “international community” is un

International efforts to end the use of child soldiers have been partly effective, but their impact is uneven. Child soldiers are persons under 18 who are recruited or used by armed forces or armed groups in any capacity, not only as frontline fighters but also as porters, spies or for sexual exploitation. Internationa

A refugee, under the 1951 Refugee Convention, is a person with a well-founded fear of persecution, and the principle of non-refoulement means that such a person should not be returned to a place where they face danger. By contrast, border control refers to a state’s authority to regulate entry into its territory, which

Granting cultural rights to a national minority can reduce demands for full political sovereignty, but only to a limited extent. It is most effective when those rights are credible, protected in law, and combined with meaningful political inclusion. If cultural rights are partial, reversible, or offered alongside repre

Treating migration as a security threat is justified only to a limited extent. It can be justified when migration is deliberately instrumentalised by states, linked to trafficking networks, or arrives so suddenly that governments face an immediate breakdown in border management and public order. However, when ordinary