Africa

In Zusammenarbeit mit RED+ präsentiert Blick die Highlights der Partie HC Kriens-Luzern – Pfadi Winterthur (36:29).

Nach ihrem schweren Sturz in Cortina hat Lindsey Vonn (41) die vierte Operation hinter sich. Auf Instagram gibt sich die US-Skirennfahrerin kämpferisch und will nicht, dass ihre Fans traurig seien.

Luzern dominiert den FCZ mit vier Toren und feiert den zweiten Sieg in Folge. Bajrami und Owusu sind stolz auf die Energie der Mannschaft, fordern aber bessere Chancenverwertung.

Gegen St. Gallen liefert der GC-Neuzugang Köhler eine Top-Leistung in der Innenverteidigung. Mit unterblautem Auge spricht er über Zweikampfhärte, das unglückliche Debüt und warum der Punkt zählt.

Wer hat wie abgeschnitten? Hier findest du die Noten der 1:4-Pleite von Zürich gegen Luzern.

Wer hat wie abgeschnitten? Hier findest du die Noten des 4:1-Siegs von Luzern gegen den FCZ.

Barbara und ihre Tochter Maxime haben in Zuoz – La Punt den Einführungskurs für Skilehrerinnen absolviert und erzählen, was sie an diesem Beruf reizt – und was er heute verlangt.

Die Slowakei, Finnland und Schweden beenden die Gruppe B allesamt punktgleich. Während die Slowaken fix einen Platz in den Viertelfinals haben, müssen die Schweden sicher in die Zusatzschlaufe. Die Finnen könnten als bester Gruppenzweiter diese womöglich umgehen.

Der berühmte russische Oppositionelle Alexej Nawalny soll offenbar durch Gift getötet worden sein – das ergaben Gewebeproben. Doch was steckt hinter dem Wirkstoff Epibatidin?

Alors que des messages de vigilance circulaient dans certaines communes de la wilaya, la Direction de la Santé et de la Population (DSP) de Tizi […]

L’article Cas de « leptospirose » détectés à Tizi Ouzou : La Direction de la Santé réagit est apparu en premier sur .

La compagnie aérienne nationale, Air Algérie, a lancé une nouvelle phase de restructuration de son programme de vols à destination du Moyen-Orient et de l’Asie. […]

L’article Air Algérie réduit les vols vers cette destination et prépare une nouvelle liaison internationale est apparu en premier sur .

Giving some newborns in Guinea-Bissau an established hepatitis B treatment but not others is "unethical", it says.

Schockierender Fall in Spanien: Nach 22 Monaten Gefangenschaft gelang Salma R. nun die Flucht. Ihr damaliger Partner hatte die 38-Jährige entführt, misshandelt und vergewaltigt. Ihr Peiniger wurde mittlerweile festgenommen.

In Zürich spitzt sich der Wahlkampf zu: Am 8. März entscheidet sich, ob die linke Mehrheit im Stadtparlament hält und wer die Regierung prägt. Drei Sitze werden neu besetzt, darunter das Stadtpräsidium.

Oliver Pocher und Pietro Lombardi sprechen in ihrem Podcast offen über ihre finanzielle Situation. Während Lombardi auf eine Rente von 2635 Euro hofft, erwartet Pocher nur 336 Euro – trotz Millionenvermögens.

Bouquets of cash have been blooming in popularity in Kenya but recent warnings may slow the trend.

Bouquets of cash have been blooming in popularity in Kenya but recent warnings may slow the trend.

Bouquets of cash have been blooming in popularity in Kenya but recent warnings may slow the trend.

Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Samuel King
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb 13 2026 (IPS)

The latest World Economic Forum made clear the current crisis of multilateralism. Over 60 heads of state and 800 corporate executives assembled in Davos under a ‘Spirit of Dialogue’ theme aimed at strengthening global cooperation, but it was preceded by a series of events pointing to a further unravelling of the international system.

On 3 January, Donald Trump launched an illegal military strike on Venezuela to abduct President Nicolás Maduro, which was widely condemned as a violation of international law. On 7 January, he signed an executive order withdrawing the USA from 66 international bodies and processes, including 31 UN entities, such as the UN Democracy Fund, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Women. Then came the launch of Trump’s Board of Peace, evidently an attempt to supplant the UN Security Council. The country that helped build the multilateral system is walking away from the parts it doesn’t like and seeking to reshape the rest in its interests.

Trump’s approach to multilateralism is nakedly transactional. His administration engages with international processes only when they advance immediate US interests and withdraws from those that impose obligations. This disassociates multilateralism from its core principles: accountability over shared standards, equality among nations and universality. It encourages other states to follow suit.

This approach brings devastating financial impacts. US threats to defund international bodies have left institutions scrambling. UN development, human rights and peacekeeping programmes all depended heavily on US financial contributions. The World Health Organization faces shortfalls that threaten its ability to respond to health emergencies because the US government quit without paying its overdue contributions.

The USA’s closest allies aren’t safe. Trump threatened NATO member Denmark with 25 per cent tariffs unless it agreed to the USA’s purchase of Greenland, and suggested he might seize the territory by force. NATO’s Article 5 on collective defence – invoked only once, by the USA after 9/11 – lies in doubt. European states are reacting by seeking strategic autonomy, slashing development aid and reducing UN contributions while finding extra billions for military spending.

Problematic alternatives are looking to capitalise on crisis. At Davos, China positioned itself as the grown-up alternative to Trump, promoting its Friends of Global Governance initiative, a group of 43 mostly authoritarian states including Belarus, Nicaragua and North Korea.

The queue of heads of government meeting China’s leader Xi Jinping shows many states are pivoting this way. But it comes at a cost: in China’s vision of international cooperation, state sovereignty is paramount and there’s no room for international scrutiny of human rights or cooperation to promote democratic freedoms.

It’s the same story with the new Board of Peace. The body originated in a controversial November 2025 Security Council resolution establishing external governance for Gaza, but Trump clearly envisions a permanent, wider role for it. He chairs it in a personal capacity, with full power to veto decisions, set agendas and invite or dismiss members. Permanent membership costs US$1 billion, with the money’s destination unclear.

The Board’s draft charter makes no mention of human rights protections, contains no provisions for civil society participation and establishes no accountability mechanisms. Most members so far are autocratic states such as Belarus, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Its credibility is further undermined by the fact that Israel has just joined, despite having made a mockery of international humanitarian law. More democratic states have declined invitations, mostly due to concerns about the body’s unclear relationship with the UN. Trump’s response was to threaten increased tariffs against France and withdraw Canada’s invitation. He has made clear he considers himself above international law, casting himself as a de facto world president able to resolve conflicts through personal power and pressure.

As the old order dissolves, civil society must play a critical role in defining what comes next. While the UN – particularly its Security Council, hamstrung by the use of veto powers by China, Russia and the USA – needs reform, it remains the only global framework built on formal equality and universal human rights. As the UN faces assault from those abandoning it or seeking to dilute its human rights mandate, civil society must mobilise to keep it anchored to its founding principles and challenge the hierarchies that exclude global south voices.

It falls on civil society to organise across borders to uphold international law, document violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and demand accountability. Not for the first time, civil society needs to win the argument that might doesn’t make right.

Samuel King is a researcher with the Horizon Europe-funded research project ENSURED: Shaping Cooperation for a World in Transition at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

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