Author: Jeffrey D Sachs, Richard Horton, and Jessamy Bagenal
The COVID-19 pandemic confronts the world with urgent and unsolved challenges. The pandemic marks the third deadly outbreak due to a coronavirus after severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012.1, 2 In the absence of effective testing and contact tracing systems in many countries, COVID-19 has claimed more than 500 000 lives and disrupted the entire world, sparing no region.3
In April, 2020, more than half of the world's population resided in countries enforcing a lockdown, resulting in hugely disruptive impacts on individuals, businesses, and entire sectors of society, such as global tourism and travel.4 Even countries that have suppressed the pandemic are experiencing harsh economic spillover effects from the rest of the world. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded the decline in global gross domestic product from –3% in April, 2020, to –4·9% in June, 2020.5 Although everyone has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, poor and vulnerable populations, including low-skilled workers and refugees, are suffering far more than the rich in terms of lost lives, vulnerability to infection, declining incomes, and unemployment.6 Effective COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are still many months away at the minimum.3, 7, 8
CIRSD Vice President Stefan Jovanović Speaks at Regional Conference on China’s Role in the Western Balkans
Belgrade, June 5, 2025 – Stefan Jovanović, Vice President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), participated in the regional conference “Democracy Meets Strategy: Parliament’s Place in China Policy”, held in Belgrade. The event gathered parliamentarians, policymakers, and experts from across the Western Balkans to examine the region’s evolving cooperation with the People’s Republic of China.
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Despite Enticing Narratives, the International Community Has Fueled Bosnia’s Instability
In 1984, during the Sarajevo Winter Olympics, Bosnia and Herzegovina was presented to the world as Yugoslavia’s poster child—a picture that would fall apart only eight years later.
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Democracy in Iraq: A Facade for Corruption and Human Rights Violations
To guarantee the protection of the rights and freedoms of its people, the Iraqi government must be a true democracy.
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CIRSD Hosts Horizons Discussion with Professor Andrey Sushentsov on Russia’s Global Role and the Future of Multipolarity
Belgrade, April 2025 — The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) hosted a special edition of its acclaimed Horizons Discussions series, featuring an in-depth conversation between CIRSD President Vuk Jeremić and Professor Andrey Sushentsov, Dean of the School of International Relations at MGIMO University and one of Russia’s most influential strategic thinkers.
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