Our final episode of the year invites listeners into the life and legacy of U Thant, the longest‑serving Secretary‑General of the United Nations and a quiet architect of peace during some of the most dangerous moments of the Cold War.

Drawing on the perspective of historian Thant Myint‑U, his grandson, the conversation revisits U Thant’s role in crises such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Congo, showing how his calm, principled diplomacy helped steer the world away from catastrophe.

Grounded in Buddhist ethics and a deep belief in multilateral cooperation, U Thant’s leadership connected decolonization, social justice, and environmental concern long before these agendas were widely recognized on the global stage. Through archival stories and family memories, the episode explores how his example can inform efforts today to organize peace and renew trust in international institutions, as we reimagine the UN’s potential in a fractured world.

Resources: Ask a Librarian!

Myint-U, T. (2025). Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World. W. W. Norton & Company.

https://www.thantmyintu.com/peacemaker

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/UJRXUC80BSc

Content

Guest: Dr. Thant Myint-U

Host, production and editing: Amy Smith, UN Library & Archives Geneva

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

On the launch of the latest publication in the UN Historical Series, published by the UN Library & Archives Geneva, this episode of The Next Page explores the history of intellectual cooperation around the League of Nations, tracing the creation of the International Committee in Geneva and the Paris-based International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation.

Guest speakers Dr. Martin Grandjean, University of Lausanne, and Professor Daniel Laqua, University of Northumbria, discuss the Institute’s ambitions, institutional rivalries with Geneva, questions on elitism, inclusivity and the nature of the project, and examples of initiatives—from textbook debates and student exchanges to heritage and scientific cooperation—that helped shape cultural diplomacy and paved the way for later multilateral efforts like UNESCO.

Resources. Ask an Archivist! Ask a Librarian!

Grandjean, M. and Laqua D. (eds). Intellectual Cooperation at the League of Nations: Shaping Cultural and Political Relations. UN Historical Series.

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/554QVVqJaew

Content

Guests: Dr. Martin Grandjean (University of Lausanne) and Professor Daniel Laqua (University of Northumbria)

Host, production and editing: Amy Smith, UN Library & Archives Geneva

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

This is AI x Multilateralism, a mini-series on The Next Page, where experts help us unpack the many ideas and issues at the nexus of AI and international cooperation. AI has the dual potential to transform our world for the better, while also deepening serious inequalities. In this episode we speak to Dr. Rachel Adams, Founder and CEO of the Global Center on AI Governance and author of The New Empire of AI: The Future of Global Inequality. She shares why Africa-led and Majority World-led research and policy are essential for equitable AI governance that's grounded in the realities of people everywhere. She reflects on:

• why the work of the Center's flagship Global Index on Responsible AI and its African Observatory on Responsible AI are bringing much-needed research and evidence to ensure AI governance is fair and inclusive.
• her thoughts on the UN General Assembly's 2025 resolutions to establish an International Scientific Panel on AI and a Global Dialogue on AI Governance, urging true inclusion of diverse voices, indigenous perspectives, and public input
• why we need to treat AI infrastructure as an AI Global Commons
• and, the power of local-language AI and public literacy in ensuring we harness the most transformative aspects of AI for our world.

Resources mentioned:

• The Global Center on AI Governance
• The Center's Global Index on Responsible AI
• The Center's African Observatory on Responsible AI, and its research series Africa and the Big Debates on AI

Production:

Guest: Dr. Rachel Adams Host, production and editing: Natalie Alexander Julien Recorded & produced at the Commons, United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Podcast Music credits: Sequence: https://uppbeat.io/track/img/sequence Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/img/sequence License code: 6ZFT9GJWASPTQZL0 #AI #Multilateralism #UN #Africa #AIGovernance

In this episode, we host Associate Professor Disa Sauter from the University of Amsterdam, and Edward Mishaud from The Beyond Lab at UN Geneva, to explore affective science and the role of hope in driving individual and collective sustainability action. They explain active versus passive hope, how different emotions shape decision-making, and why hopeful, solution-focused communication matters for sustainable development.

The conversation highlights practical pathways for bringing emotion research into multilateral spaces, the secret of storytelling as a tool to cultivate hope, and real-world examples of collective impact. Listeners learn how hope can mobilize agency, bridge individual and collective action, and inform better policy, negotiations and outreach.

Resources: Ask a Librarian!

The Beyond Lab: https://www.thebeyondlab.org/

The International Day of Hope: https://www.un.org/en/observances/hope-day

https://www.thebeyondlab.org/article/international-day-of-hope-2025

Brosch, T., & Sauter, D. (2023). Emotions and the climate crisis: A research agenda for an affective sustainability science. Emotion Review, 15(4), 253–257. https://doi.org/10.1177/17540739231193741

McKibben, B. (2025). Here comes the sun: A last chance for the climate and a fresh chance for civilization. W.W. Norton & Company.

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/CWDmjqi9gfU

Content

Guests: Disa Sauter, University of Amsterdam

Edward Mishaud, UN Geneva Beyond Lab

Host, production and editing: Amy Smith, UN Library & Archives Geneva

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

This is AI x Multilateralism, a mini-series on The Next Page, where experts help us unpack the many ideas and issues at the nexus of AI and international cooperation. What does it mean to be AI literate, especially for the world’s diplomats leading negotiations on behalf of their countries? We’re joined by Dr. Jérôme Duberry, Senior Lecturer of International and Development Studies, Co-Director of Executive Education and the Head of the Tech Hub at the Geneva Graduate Institute. There, his research includes AI literacy across society, including among diplomats, and why this is critical to understanding the impact and potential of these technologies in our world. Jérôme shares what AI literacy means for diplomats, and why both a technical and societal understanding of these technologies is critical for mitigating the risks of exclusion of many parts of society in AI development and deployment. He also shares the importance of culturally sensitive and accessible AI training, and the role of science and technology diplomacy to ensure all countries can participate fairly in AI governance.

Resources mentioned: - The ITU AI Skills Coalition: https://aiforgood.itu.int/ai-skills-coalition/ - AI 2027 report, from the AI Futures Project: https://ai-2027.com/ - Elements of AI, a series of free online courses created by MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki: https://www.elementsofai.com/

Content

Guest: Dr. Jérôme Duberry

Host, production and editing: Natalie Alexander Julien

Recorded & produced at the Commons, United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Podcast Music credits: Sequence: https://uppbeat.io/track/img/sequence Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/img/sequence License code: 6ZFT9GJWASPTQZL0 #AI #Multilateralism #UN #Diplomacy

In this episode, Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), discusses the Convention’s first State of the World’s Migratory Species report, the urgent threats facing migratory animals, and the need for international cooperation and ecological connectivity to protect them.

The conversation covers key findings from the report, main threats such as habitat loss and over-exploitation, successful cross-border conservation efforts, and practical ways governments, communities, scientists and industry can work together to safeguard migratory species.

Resources: Ask a Librarian!

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals

State of the World's Migratory Species Report:

https://www.cms.int/publication/state-worlds-migratory-species

Central Asian Mammals Initiative: https://cami.cms.int/about-cami

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/4AK9WjzyQRs

Content

Guest: Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary, Convention on Migratory Species

Host, production and editing: Amy Smith, UN Library & Archives Geneva

Recorded online & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Locarno Treaties of 1925, this episode explores the treaties' place in the "long 20th century," examining how leaders like Gustav Stresemann, Aristide Briand, and Austen Chamberlain sought a new European order in a transformed Atlantic and global setting after the First World War.

Professor Patrick O. Cohrs explains the Treaties’ significance, strengths, weaknesses, and wider global echoes, and considers what the Locarno spirit can teach today’s leaders about diplomacy, learning, and collective security. Patrick O. Cohrs is Professor of International History at the University of Florence. He specialises in the history of modern international politics. His work focuses on war and peace and the transformation of the transatlantic and global order in the long twentieth century. He is the author of The Unfinished Peace after World War I (Cambridge University Press, 2006). His second book, The New Atlantic Order. The Transformation of International Politics, 1860–1933 (Cambridge University Press, 2022) won the 2023 Prose Award in World History.

Resources:

https://archives.ungeneva.org/

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/

Content

Guest: Professor Patrick O. Cohrs

Host, production and editing: Amy Smith, UN Library & Archives Geneva

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Welcome to AI X Multilateralism, a new series of conversations on The Next Page. In this collection, we’re joined by experts who help us unpack the many ideas and issues at the nexus of AI and international cooperation. Our first episode begins with the question: is it ethical to use AI in multilateral deliberations? We’re joined by Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, Head of Anticipatory Action and Innovation at the UNU-CPR, the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. As a data scientist she’s worked in the private sector and across the UN system, and recently supported the work of the UN's Advisory Body on AI that undertook analysis and made advanced recommendations for the international governance of AI. In this episode, we explore:

- the meaning of deliberations at the global level and why this is critical for multilateralism - how AI is being used today in multilateral deliberations and negotiations - the technical and ethical risks of using AI informally deliberations, including what this means for state sovereignty, authenticity and agency, and - solutions for turning the tide and harnessing AI ethically, fairly and sustainably by all who participate in multilateral fora through an ethics by design approach. Interested to find out more? - Read Eleonore's recommended open source pick, "An Ethical Grey Zone: AI Agents in Political Deliberations": https://carnegiecouncil.org/media/article/ethical-grey-zone-ai-agents-political-deliberation - Find out about the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI: https://www.un.org/en/ai-advisory-body/about - Learn about the Global Digital Compact, adopted by Member States in 2024 at the Summit of the Future: https://www.un.org/digital-emerging-technologies/global-digital-compact - Read about the two mechanisms established by the UN General Assembly on 26 August 2025 to strengthen international cooperation on AI governance, the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance: https://www.un.org/global-digital-compact/en/ai

Content

Guest: Eleonore Fournier-Tombs

Host, production and editing: Natalie Alexander Julien

Recorded & produced at the Commons, United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

Podcast Music credits: Sequence: https://uppbeat.io/track/img/sequence Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/img/sequence License code: R8196BLUZNYOYWVB #AI #Multilateralism #UN #Diplomacy