From eradicating poverty to tackling climate change, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent one of the most wide-ranging efforts to build a fairer, more sustainable world. But are these goals realistic—or just rhetoric? In this final lecture, we’ll examine the global progress on the SDGs, the barriers to change, and whether international cooperation can deliver real results in the face of rising inequality, nationalism, and environmental breakdown.

This opening lecture looks at how and why the United Nations was founded and how it has evolved over eight decades. We’ll explore the political power dynamics built into its structure—especially the Security Council—and how these shape the UN’s ability to act in a divided world. From global summits to behind-the-scenes diplomacy, we’ll ask: who really runs the UN, and how much does it matter?

The UN was created to stop future wars—but how well has it done? This session dives into the UN’s track record on peace and security, including peacekeeping missions, diplomatic efforts, and the limits of its authority. With ongoing conflicts in places like Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, we’ll look at the successes, failures, and moral dilemmas of trying to maintain peace in a fractured world.