At dawn in Switzerland, I read the alert: Charlie Kirk, 31, shot dead at a Utah Valley University event. This isn’t a verdict on his ideas; it’s a warning. A murder on a debate stage signals that words are losing to force. He built a career on argument; answering it with a bullet declares debate illegitimate. When speech is branded “violence,” real violence follows. Accept that trade and the liberal promise collapses into nihilism—and so, eventually, does civic peace.

The UN’s legitimacy, long upheld by the shadow of American dominance, now trembles as global conflicts multiply and US influence wanes. Much like the League of Nations before it, the UN risks irrelevance—not from lack of ideals, but from lack of enforcement power. As multipolarity returns, states once restrained grow bolder. The global order teeters, and the dream of collective peace dims. When everyone is a king, no one is.

Ethiopia’s journey toward democracy remains marred by its ethnic divides and authoritarian legacy. Though Mengistu’s fall in 1991 promised reform, deep-rooted mistrust and political domination continued. The Tigray War reflects this fragile state, as federal power clashes with regional defiance. Despite reforms, democracy in Ethiopia remains unconsolidated, undermined by violence, ethnic tension, and elite control.