“Swimming the Volga” is a distinctly personal account written by Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack that begins in 1989 (in the waning years of the Cold War) when as a young army Captain, he received both a Soviet visa and US approval to study Russian at a regional university in Kalinin. This occurred in Russia over the turbulent 1990s just before the rise of Vladimir Putin. General Zwack also highlights how the Russian “state of mind” has changed from 1989 to today, whether the US and Russia are moving to a new Cold War, unexpected consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, revitalization of NATO, red lines to avoid World War 3, and how—even with the UN Security Council being semi-paralyzed-- several United Nations agencies are playing a vital role in Ukraine, such as the UN World Food Program (WFP) , UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UN Children’s’ Fund (UNICEF), as well as his suggestions for ending the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.

Dr. Alice Mah, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, has research interests in environmental justice, corporate power, and the politics of green industrial transformations. She is the author of “Plastic Unlimited: How Corporations Are Fuelling the Ecological Crisis and What We Can Do About It.” Dr. Mah focuses on how plastics are devastating to the environment, alternatives to plastics, shortcomings of recycling, electronic waste disposal, finite resources for an expanding population and demand, and the role of the United Nations Environment Programme’s recent plastics agreement adopted in Nairobi to curtail their uses, as well as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in their battle against the climate crisis.

Yasmine Sherif, Director of the United Nations Education Cannot Wait Program, highlights how Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. ECW supports and protects holistic learning outcomes – so no one is left behind. A recent Global Estimates Study revealed that there are now 222 million crisis-affected children and adolescents in need of urgent, educational support; a significant increase from the estimated 75 million children in 2016. The Ukraine crisis, the Yemen crisis, the Afghanistan crisis and so many other humanitarian emergencies around the world disrupt the education of millions of children every day. Education Cannot Wait has just launched an inspiring #222MillionDreams global campaign in the lead-up to ECW’s High-Level Financing Conference taking place on 16-17 February 2023.

Ambassador (retired) Carey Cavanaugh is professor of diplomacy and conflict resolution at the University of Kentucky and chairman of International Alert, a London-based independent peacebuilding organization. His foreign service career focused on conflict resolution, arms control, and humanitarian issues. Ambassador Cavanaugh discusses NATO solidarity on Ukraine, the unexpected consequences of launching a war, the interdependence of the countries of the world and the importance of the United Nations agencies ranging from the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, the World Food Program, UN Refugee Agency, UNICEF, IAEA at Chernobyl and others in working to extend humanitarian assistance, reduce conflict and promote peace and security.

Dr. Kevin Gallagher, director of the Global Policy Center at Boston University and co-author of “The Case for a New Bretton Woods: Reforming Global Economic Governance for Prosperity and the Planet,” focuses on how The Bretton Woods Institutions which are the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF ), both Specialized UN agencies, were set up at a meeting of 43 countries in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA in July 1944. Their principal aims were to help rebuild the devastated postwar economy, promote international economic cooperation and reduce poverty. The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The IMF encourages international financial cooperation by introducing a system of convertible currencies at fixed exchange rates and extends loans to countries that are experiencing economic distress to avoid or reduce financial crises.

Andrew Hudson, Head of the United Nations Development Program’s

Water and Oceans Governance Program,

explains how the climate crisis is the epicenter of our environmental challenges; however, there are many others such as overfishing, invasive species, pollution from agriculture, wastewater habitat loss of mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass, ocean acidification and islands of plastics floating in the oceans and below surface. He emphasized that the upcoming UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon will focus on sustaining the coral reefs, especially the Great Barrier Reef, the largest in the world. Goal number 14 of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to sustainably conserve and use the oceans and seas in a responsible manner.

Dr. Chantal Line Carpentier, New York Office Chief for the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), discusses how UNCTAD serves as the United Nations focal point for trade and development, and for interrelated issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development. She stresses the importance of the Global Crisis Response Group, recently established by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to develop strategies to confront trade and development challenges in Ukraine and other international hotspots, and the critical role that is played by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to empower women, combat climate change and eliminate poverty to mention only a few.

Louis Charbonneau, United Nations Director at Human Rights Watch, highlights the critical role played by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other such entities to focus the spotlight on human rights violations in dangerous areas, such as the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, Sudan and Ukraine. Although the UN Security Council is paralyzed and needs to be reformed, some other major agencies of the UN are on the ground in Ukraine and are helping to keep millions of people alive. The UN Refugee Agency, which is assisting over 80-million refugees worldwide, is working with millions of Ukrainians who have been forced from their homes. A few other UN agencies in the war zones include the World Food Program, UNICEF and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The UN General Assembly voted to suspend Russia’s participation on the UN Human Rights Council, which humiliated Russia. Ironically, a large number of US media personalities reporting on the Ukrainian conflict do not understand the depth and breadth of the UN, and falsely equate the Security Council as the entire UN System.

Paula Caballero, Regional Managing Director for Latin America with the Nature Conservancy, discusses her recent book, “Redefining Development: The Extraordinary Genesis of the Sustainable Development Goals.” She provides an overview of the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) and the Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030) in focusing on the economic, social and developmental aspects of eliminating poverty, empowering women and girls, combating climate change, developing sustainable cities and consumption, to mention only a few. A major impetus to launch the Sustainable Development Concept was the 1992 Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) which unveiled Agenda 21, a blueprint for sustainable development activities by the private and public sectors.

Dr. C. Fred Bergsten, Nonresident Senior Fellow and Director Emeritus at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former Economic Deputy to Dr. Henry Kissinger at the National Security Council, highlights his recent book “The United States vs. China.” Dr. Bergsten focuses on a wide range of topics, such how the US and China can avoid an economic/military Cold War; potential damage to the liberal international economic order; a failed America First unilateral approach to economic sanctions; US-China military budgets; ineffectiveness of the Containment Strategy of China by the US; role of the following flashpoints such as South China Sea, Hong Kong, Spratley Islands and the Uighur persecution; and the importance of decoupling economic issues from others such as climate change and unwinding the economic trade war.

Felix Dodds, an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina, co-authored a recent book titled “Tomorrow’s People and New Technology: Changing How We Live Our Lives.” How will emerging technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, cloud computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G), and fully autonomous vehicles, among others, have a significant impact on every aspect of our lives, especially home life, travel, education, work, health, entertainment, and social life. Professor Dodds recently attended the important groundbreaking United Nations Conferences in Glasgow and Nairobi that launched major international commitments to confront the climate crisis and reduce the devastating plastic pollution problem. His upcoming book is titled: “Heroes in Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage.”

Professor Anthony King, Chair of War Studies at the University of Warwick in the UK, recently authored “Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century.” His previous books on infantry tactics and army command at the divisional level prompted him to undertake this book from a sociological vantage. He posits that urban warfare can be traced back to the siege of Jericho. Warfare has transitioned into cities, such as Mosul, Aleppo and Kyiv. One major change is that urban warfare has evolved into grueling micro-sieges, ranging from below street level to the airspace above the city. While the combatants jostle for local control, digitalized social media and information networks communicate the struggles to global audiences and diasporas, which often bring in outside participants. Kyiv is a prime example of how combatants in a city are mobilizing a broad diaspora to support their efforts through racial, ethnic and cultural alignments. One key is to use the United Nations and other diplomatic mechanisms to avoid disastrous wars.

Mr. John R. Wilmoth, Director of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division at the UN, recently published a major report on the “Global Population Growth and Sustainable Development” that probes the linkages between global population growth and the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Mr. Wilmoth expanded on some of the findings as to how rapid population growth is a common feature of the demographic transition and it is both a sign of success and a challenge to be met; global population is expected to continue to grow rapidly over the next few decades; access to reproductive health-care services and a declining fertility rate can accelerate social and economic development; higher incomes contribute more to environmental degradation than population growth; developing countries need help in confronting climate change and food systems will be transformed to feed a growing population and limit environmental damage.

Jason Dodier, an American international business professional at Schneider Electric, discusses energy management from the standpoint of operations, business development, marketing and sales. He highlights why it is important to move quickly to renewable energy sources and away from fossil fuels. To be effective, the world needs to reduce its fossil fuel use 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. As has been mentioned frequently, there is no Planet B. Humans must preserve this planet for future generations. There are many innovative technologies in the areas of energy value chains, restoring better fertilization practices and decarbonizing the grid, to mention a few. One excellent tool is the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals which work toward eliminating poverty, eradicating hunger, empowering women and girls, energy efficiency, combating climate change and 12 more that would help create a more sustainable world. As with all successful undertakings, a critical strategy that should be implemented is to focus on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).

Steve Schlesinger, a Fellow at the Century Foundation in New York City and the author of "Act of Creation: Founding of the United Nations,” highlighted how the UN was created after WW2 to primarily help provide peace and security. Today, with the almost geometric challenges confronting the UN and its 193-member states, the agenda has broadened to enhancing human rights, promoting economic and social programs, working with Rotary International to eliminate the scourge of polio, as well as working with countries to help move aircraft, ships, mail and weather information in international space. He contrasted the Donald Trump, First America-unilateral approach to Joe Biden’s inclusive-multilateral arrangement to combat diseases, climate change and regional conflicts, to mention a few. Mr. Schlesinger congratulated President Biden for re-joining the Paris Climate Accord, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Human Rights Council, all of which are programs that assist the USA and other countries. He contends that the UN is more relevant today than at any time in its history, what with the intractable, expansive problems confronting the world.

Dr. Gregory O. Hall, Professor at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky, discusses Vladimir Putin’s myriad of motivations for illegally invading Ukraine. He emphasized the importance of the United Nations and its main organs, especially the Security Council, General Assembly and International Court of Justice, to coordinate with the European Union, NATO and other institutions and countries in promoting peace and security in Ukraine and other volatile areas of the world. It appears that there is a counter-productive campaign of misinformation and disinformation by a variety of media outlets, such as some Fox personalities, as well as former president Trump to provide credibility and legitimacy to Putin’s illegal invasion. In the late spring, Dr. Hall’s most recent book with be published titled, “Examining US-China-Russia Foreign Relations: Great Power Politics in a Post-Obama Era. “

Dr. Daniel J. Pesut, an Emeritus Professor of Nursing, Past Director of Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership, and Katherine R. and C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership at the University of Minnesota, highlights the challenges confronting the nursing profession and how foresight will be instrumental in strengthening the profession, especially by heeding the “Future of Nursing Report” that encourages creating a culture of health, reducing health disparities, improving nursing education, allowing nurses to develop a full scope of practice and improving the health and well-being of the U.S. population and others worldwide. Dr. Pesut addresses the critical role that is being played by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to promote better health and well-being, eliminate poverty, combat climate change and eradicate hunger, as a few examples.