January 2026 has barely begun, yet the pace of global upheaval is already staggering.

In just a few weeks, the United States has seized Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, issued threats against allies, and signalled a willingness to reshape the world order.

At the same time, international law and human rights are under unprecedented strain – from Ukraine to Sudan, from Gaza to Iran. Ceasefires fail to end the violence. Humanitarian organisations are expelled. Journalists and academics are silenced.

As 2026 begins, a fundamental question looms: are we witnessing a temporary crisis of the international system – or its steady unravelling?

In this episode, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International and former UN Special Rapporteur, and Jørgen Jensehaugen, Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo and a leading expert on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, examine the erosion of global norms, accountability, and multilateral institutions – and ask what, if anything, can still hold the system together.

PRIO’s Peace in a Pod is hosted by Arnaud Siad.

Photo: Getty Images/Europa Press

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