In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Managing Editor Paul Romita and Deputy Manging Editor Dawit Yirga to discuss SCR's latest research report: The Security Council and the Power of the Pen. 

The conversation explores how the penholder system shapes the Security Council’s drafting process and response to crises, and why it has become a focal point of concern for many member states. It examines growing dissatisfaction among elected members with the concentration of drafting authority in the hands of a few permanent members, and discusses how the E10 have sought to expand their role through co-penholdership and calls for more equitable burden-sharing. It also reflects on what these evolving dynamics mean for the Council’s effectiveness, transparency, and legitimacy, and considers possible avenues for reform.

• SCR research report: The Security Council and the Power of the Pen 
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar

In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR’s Executive Director Shamala Kandiah and Senior Policy Analyst Sara Bertotti sit down to discuss some of the highlights of their recently issued research report Power, Process and Participation: The Search for the Next Secretary-General. 

The report offers an analytically grounded overview of the rules, procedures, and informal practices shaping how the next UN Secretary-General will be selected and appointed. It draws lessons from the 2015/2016 process, examines dynamics and recent developments, and highlights potential challenges that may emerge while also providing options to address them.

The discussion reviews the main steps of the process as well as some of the upcoming key decisions that the Council is expected to make this month, including regarding the modalities of the Council’s meetings with the candidates and of the straw polls. 

• SCR's May In Hindsight: The Search for the Next Secretary-General 
• SCR's 2026 Research Report: Power, Process and Participation: The Search for the Next Secretary-General
• SCR's 2017 Research Report: The UN Secretary-General Selection and Appointment Process: Emerging from the Shadows
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar

In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Managing Editor Paul Romita to discuss SCR’s latest In Hindsight article: The Security Council in 2025 and the Year Ahead. The conversation explores how deep divisions among Council members shaped responses to major crises. They talk about what statistics reveal about the Council dynamics in 2025 and what could be some of the key challenges ahead in 2026. 

• SCR's January 2026 In Hindsight: The Security Council in 2025 and the Year Ahead
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  Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar

In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Policy Analyst Sara Bertotti sits down with Shamala Kandiah, SCR’s Executive Director, to discuss her latest In Hindsight article: The Search for the Next UN Secretary-General Begins. Drawing on SCR’s coverage of the 2015/2016 selection and appointment process, the discussion reviews the main steps of the process while also touching upon the negotiation of the joint letter issued by the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council on 25 November. The joint letter invited member states to present their candidates for the position, officially starting the process.

• SCR's December In Hindsight: The Search for the Next UN Secretary-General Begins
• SCR's 25 November What’s in Blue story: Appointment of the Next UN Secretary-General: Joint Letter from the Presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly
• SCR's 2017 Research Report: The UN Secretary-General Selection and Appointment Process: Emerging from the Shadows
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar

In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Dawit Yirga, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss the key findings from SCR's latest research report on the African members of the Security Council.   

• Research Report - From the Margins to the Center: The Rise of the A3 in the UN Security Council
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR’s Executive Director, Shamala Kandiah, sits down with Colin Keating, the organisation’s founding Executive Director, for a candid conversation about SCR’s beginnings, its founding vision, and the events that shaped its creation.

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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar. 

In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Mathew Blainey, SCR's Policy Analyst, to discuss his latest In Hindsight article: The Increasing Use of Article 51 of the UN Charter and the Security Council. 

• SCR's October In Hindsight: The Increasing Use of Article 51 of the UN Charter and the Security Council
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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar. 

In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Dawit Yirga, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss the UN80 Initiative and its implications for the Security Council.  

• SCR's September In Hindsight: The Security Council and the UN80 Initiative—What Lies Ahead?
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Paul Romita, SCR's Managing Editor, to discuss the year so far in the UN Security Council and the challenges ahead. 

• SCR's August In Hindsight: A Council in Waiting
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In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR's Executive Director Shamala Kandiah sits down with Alina Entelis, SCR's Deputy Managing Editor, to discuss the latest developments in the children and armed conflict agenda.  

• SCR's latest Research Report: Children and Armed Conflict: Progression, Regression or Maintenance of the Agenda?
• July Monthly Forecast In Hindsight: Moving Towards a Second Era of Application of the Tools of the Children and Armed Conflict Agenda
• SCR’s publications related to children and armed conflict
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