Open Society Foundations editorial newsletter

The pressure on the existing world order is raising questions about who and what shape international cooperation. A more equitable and inclusive multilateralism may be emerging, championed by new coalitions of middle powers and countries of the Global South. These coalitions are exercising leadership in regional security, international financial reform, and rights protection, and advancing local models of peace, public safety, and reconstruction shaped by communities. During UNGA 81, Open Society hosted conversations with municipal government officials, civil society and philanthropy leaders, policymakers, and others to tackle some of the central questions facing the international system. Voices A More Equitable Multilateralism Who Gets to Build the Next World Order? As one model of multilateralism unravels, a more equal one may be taking its place. Pedro Abramovay, Open Society’s vice president of Programs, on the aspiration for a new multilateralism grounded in sovereignty, rights, restraint, dignity, and diplomacy. Labor Organizing Can Tech Workers Take on Oligarchs? Why strikes are difficult in tech, and how tech workers can find their leverage. Safety and Resilience Neighbors Started Mutual Aid After the Beirut Port Explosion. Six Years On, They Haven’t Stopped. Following the Beirut port explosion, residents of the city’s Geitawi neighborhood turned a gas station into a distribution point for crowd sourced aid, which they named Nation Station. Six years and two wars later, it is still providing a lifeline for communities. Inside Open Society Law Should Serve All People, Not Just the Powerful Executive Director James A. Goldston on how the Open Society Justice Initiative has spent more than two decades strengthening strategic litigation and giving partners funding and technical advice to stand up for people facing injustice. The Ideas Letter South Africa Agonistes Thirty years ago, South Africa was heralded as a harbinger of a just and non-racial order. Three decades on, that hope has been dashed. A miniscule share of the Black majority owns land or controls any means of production. Inequality is rampant and accelerating. Nearly half of the working-age population can be considered unemployed. And, as in so many other societies, the central scapegoats are immigrants—in this case, Africans from elsewhere on the continent. What happened? Is this political moment an anomalous outbreak of xenophobia or evidence of a durable new mass politics centered on exclusion and deportation? One Idea in One Minute What Changes in Governments Around the World When Women Hold Political Power? “When women hold political leadership, they're more likely to pursue policies that advance sustainable development. They're more likely to have inclusive political participation, and they're more likely to put stronger human rights protections in place.” –Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the Open Society Foundations If this message was forwarded to you, please sign up for future updates. © 2026 Open Society Foundations. Some rights reserved. 888c 8th Avenue, #201 New York, NY 10019, USA You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from the Open Society Foundations. Manage Subscription Unsubscribe from All View in Browser Your privacy is important to us. View our Privacy Policy