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Fred Carver

@arbeider4fred.bsky.social
277 followers 465 following 525 posts

Advice for hire. Occasional writing, editing, speaking. Atrocity Prevention, Peacekeeping, UN, South Asia. Based in Bergen, NO. frederichcarver.com

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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As you probably suspected, the answer is: everyone cites conflicting precedents and then they give it Dag's niece until the end of the season. Oh so very UN.
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
What happens if the UN Security Council cannot pick a new Secretary-General by the end of the year? It's very very possible so @benaldson.bsky.social and I outlined some of the options for @plataformacipo.bsky.social 1for8billion.org/if-security-...
1for8billion.org
If Security Council Can't Agree — 1 for 8 Billion
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A good start that Burnham went to UNGA, and that despite being the first UK PM since Hague era David Cameron not to set foreign policy directly from Number 10 but to actually have a non-titular Foreign Sec. Keir "I want to reach the top of foreign policy" Starmer didn't bother last year
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
My new editorial/introduction for SDG Action ahead of #unga sdg-action.org/looking-for-...
sdg-action.org
Looking for leadership | SDG Action
Indifference and hostility have created a leadership vacuum in development. But as practitioners do the best they can in challenging circumstances, they create their own forms of thought leadership
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
She lived a truly incredible life (essentially "what if Forrest Gump was an incredibly smart marxist?") and then wrote a fascinating but frustratingly incomplete memoir. I reviewed it here medium.com/freds-blog/m...
medium.com
Mokhtefi on Algiers
Another piece, this time a book review, I submitted on spec unsuccessfully. I wrote it nearly 3 years ago, for a magazine I co-edited so I…
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Foreign Policy Centre @fpcthinktank.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🌐 New long read | The State of the UN The UN may be in poor shape, but it is far from useless. Ahead of #UNGA, Fred Carver asks what has been lost as the international order fragments and what the UN still provides as the “velvet rope of diplomacy”. ➡️ fpc.org.uk/long-read-th...
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Pleasure to write this for @fpcthinktank.bsky.social on the current state of the UN, and what that means for the UK fpc.org.uk/long-read-th...
fpc.org.uk
Long Read | The State of the UN - The Foreign Policy Centre
What does a weakened United Nations mean for the UK? Fred Carver examines the state of the UN and where Britain can still exercise influence.
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Important piece by two of the great peacebuilders of our time. Guterres wanted to be a mediation SG but only rarely did he invest the time and resources over the long term needed. Here's how the next SG can do better passblue.com/2026/08/30/b...
passblue.com
Being Serious About Peace - PassBlue
Being Serious About Peace - PassBlue
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Fantastic essay. One of the things I keep coming back to is that the centralisation of authority is neither necessary nor desirable for sustainable peace. Only thing I'd maybe add is I think a big part of why the myth persists is GWOT's hostility to the non-state actor odi.org/en/insights/...
odi.org
Beyond the unitary state: rethinking state-building in an age of fragmentation
In this blog, former UN Assistant Secretary General Sir Charles Petrie examines the question of state-building in an age of fragmentation, drawing on close to 40 years of experience working in conflic...
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Eugene Chen @casquebleu.org · 21/08/2026
The peace operations review report is out at long last. TL;DR: it effectively argues for the status quo. In this reaction piece, I highlight the areas I thought the report got wrong, the items that are missing entirely, and what member states should do now. casquebleu.substack.com/p/nothing-ne...
casquebleu.substack.com
Nothing new in the peace operations review
Just entities protecting their interests and passing the buck
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
leilacancode.github.io/everythinggo...
leilacancode.github.io
Everything Good About Jason Arday
First-hand accounts from people who knew him. Collected by his students.
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"Participation in peacekeeping should not be a financial burden to contributing countries. But it should not become the means by which to bankroll and cultivate the tools of authoritarian conflict management."
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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
The Continent magazine has published an investigation I carried out alongside Kenyan journo James Okong'o exposing how Rwanda's government manipulates social media - secretly paying influencers - in support of the M23 occupation of DRC. Thank you @pulitzercenter.org for your support.
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
And now in @foreignpolicy.com with @benaldson.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/28/u...
foreignpolicy.com
Compromised Candidates
How backroom deals shape the race for secretary-general and prevent U.N. reform.
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The first ever full second term for an HCHR. Aside from the usual suspects surprised by Trinidad, and Guyana's absention presumably has something to do with CRB's candidacy (maybe to keep the US sweet, maybe she wanted to pick her own HC?)
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Really grateful to @casquebleu.org for his thoughtful engagement with our Backroom Deals report. I've replied here. casquebleu.substack.com/p/living-wit...
casquebleu.substack.com
Fred Carver on Blue Helmets, Red Tape
I'm very grateful to Eugene for his thoughtful engagement with our report (Backroom Deals), and I'm glad that you were impressed by the research. Coming from you that means a lot. I'm replying in a p...
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Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
A top job at a top think tank And at a moment where there is suddenly a whole lot of policy thinking to be done! Come & help @ruthcurtice.bsky.social lead @resolutionfoundation.org www.resolutionfoundation.org/about-us/opp...
resolutionfoundation.org
Director • Resolution Foundation
The Resolution Foundation is seeking a new Director, to work closely with the Chief Executive to develop and deliver the overall strategy of the organisation; to drive the next phase of the Foundation...
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
One of the most interesting projects I've done in a long time, working with @benaldson.bsky.social on a deep dive into the history of UN selection processes for 1 for 8 Billion and @plataformacipo.bsky.social It's now out! 1for8billion.org/backroom-deals
Backroom deals report
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Starmer had two big problems, the first well known, the second maybe somewhat overlooked: 1) if you win a mandate, even a landslide, on an entirely negative campaign around what you are not which advances no vision then you have no core ideological support to see you through the hard times
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
This is useful. I do keep going back to Graeber's the revolt of the caring classes to understand how we got here davidgraeber.org/articles/the... but I think this usefully maps out where (the UK at least) now is
davidgraeber.org
The Center Blows Itself Up
Politics, in wealthy countries, is increasingly becoming a war between the generations. While the support for smaller parties in the UK (Liberal Democrats, Greens, the Scottish National Party, even Br...
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
theanarchistlibrary.org/library/davi...
theanarchistlibrary.org
There Never Was a West
David Graeber There Never Was a West Or, Democracy Emerges From the Spaces In Between 2007 From the collection “Possibilities: Essays on Hierarchy,...
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
The New Statesman asked me to put down a few thoughts about Belfast. On the politics and media that have failed everyone, and how much, and how little, has really changed. www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
newstatesman.com
The Belfast riots: new targets, old hatred
This is the story of a hardcore loyalist element which has stewed for decades in far-right ideology
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Reposted by Fred Carver
Genevieve Carver @gen-carver.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
My book is out now! An adventure story for kids aged 8-12 featuring ancient rituals, a journey across the sea, and water spirits…@oneworldbooks.bsky.social
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Was an absolute pleasure to contribute to @ibvprev.bsky.social's visits to Greenland and Denmark at the start of this year. It informed this wonderful report on the role of resilience in democratic defence and European security img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/13...
img1.wsimg.com
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
My sis's book comes out today it looks amazing oneworld-publications.com/work/the-oce... @gen-carver.bsky.social
oneworld-publications.com
The Ocean and the Bones | Oneworld
In a pre-historic world where the spirits are fickle and the people are cautious, Little Meg is a Sunhealer's apprentice. She must learn to read the signs of nature and commune with the spirits to gui...
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Happy International Workers' day: what better way to commemorate Spies, Parsons, Fischer, and Engel than by joining the IWW? www.iww.org
iww.org
Industrial Workers of the World
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Bleakly funny www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
UAE refers Sudan general and others to court over ammunition shipment for Sudanese army
The United Arab Emirates has referred the chief of staff ​of Sudan's army and 12 other defendants and six companies to its ‌State Security Court over an alleged attempt to move ammunition through UAE ...
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Happy REAL World Book day to everyone except the UK who do it wrong
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Is it really all that surprising?
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
In Devex alongside @benaldson.bsky.social and @plataformacipo.bsky.social teasing a report we've been working on which should be out shortly on the history of the backroom deals that underlie, and sometimes undermine, Secretary-General selections www.devex.com/news/no-more...
devex.com
No more backroom deals at the UN
Opinion: The race for the next U.N. secretary-general must tackle the practice of national monopolies for top U.N. roles for certain member states.
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Would this mark the first time Trump has placed tariffs on Russia?
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Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lustration lus
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Presumably the Pentagon is desperately telling him they've agreed to everything and he can declare victory while Israel is equally desperately telling them they've agreed to nothing and he must follow through. And all the while Iran has been contacted indirectly and non-specifically, if at all
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
The Red Alert franchise is going to some strange places these days
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James Ingram @ingyingram.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Hatzola provide first aid + essential emergency health care for anyone + everyone. If you can donate to help them get back to helping, link here: hatzolanw.org/support Tackle #antisemitism with kindness
hatzolanw.org
Hatzola NW
Hatzola North West - Emergency Ambulance Service
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
This is bleak from @richardgowan1.bsky.social. All the more reason to avoid the SC and go to the GA. Altho I do wish the SC would do a bit more to weigh up the harm of the SC becoming Trump's rubber stamp over that of Trump walking away www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trump-board-...
worldpoliticsreview.com
Trump May Not Need a ‘Board of Peace.’ He Has the U.N. Under His Thumb
The bulk of U.N. member states are so keen to maintain good relations with Trump that they give him an easy ride in New York.
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
The thing about a legalistic approach, done right, is it brings a profound moral clarity. Here's a welcome dose of the moral clarity you would expect from Moni Ali Khalil (on what looks to be an interesting Luso-Serbian podcast!) open.spotify.com/show/1U6JiTl...
open.spotify.com
Spotify – Web Player
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Machiavelli
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
theguardian.com
Iranians living in UK tell Starmer that war will only strengthen Tehran regime
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe among more than 100 signatories to letter urging PM not to get drawn further into the conflict
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Interesting that Labour, Lib Dem, and Green voters have near identical opinions on what the UK should do but radically different perceptions of whether what the UK is doing is correct. And perhaps a little surprising that Lib Dem perceptions match Labours?
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I dunno. With Iraq there was a concerted effort by politicians, civil servants, experts, & friendly journos to fabricate evidence & build consensus around establishing a lie as reality. This is cheaply thrown out in full knowledge that neither we nor he believes it or believes the other believes it
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
This is that pundit brain thing where the downsides of articulating your strategy out loud for the world to hear massively outweigh the upsides but you do it anyway because demonstrating acumen in front of your peers is more important to you than actually getting a good outcome
Rules of engagement designed to "unleash American power", Hegseth says.
“We’re playing for keeps,” Hegseth said. “Our war fighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it.

He continued: “This was never meant to be a fair fight and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.”
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Anyone know any good novels from Benin? - in English - available on Kindle Failing that: literally an work of fiction from Benin at all available in translation on kindle?
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Genevieve Carver @gen-carver.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Excited to reveal the cover for my debut children’s book from @oneworldbooks.bsky.social @rocktheboatnews.bsky.social , y the fabulous Richard Johnson ! #kidlit
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
He's avoiding all the British mistakes in Iraq but making all the Danish ones
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
a thing historians will marvel about when they study this era is the extent to which the "war is a thing that happens to poorer, browner people" class went about systematically dismantling every aspect of the global political order that confined the costs of war to poorer and browner people
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Excellent statement from GCR2P. Although I think if you're looking to the international community to do better you do need to look to UNGA gcr2p.cmail19.com/t/j-e-ydirvk...
gcr2p.cmail19.com
Statement on the Recent Developments in the Middle East
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Nick Brumfield @nickjbrumfield.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
The number of OSINT folks on Twitter relishing in all of this as if it is a game is a sign of a sick, sick culture
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
This is a bit trite but since that doesn't seem to be stopping anyone else: I feel the reason we are where we are both wrt Iran and generally is because the defence and security industries operate under a set of perverse incentives whereby provided they do not fail catastrophically then the worse..
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Fred Carver @arbeider4fred.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
"Obi Wan "Old Ben" Kenobi. Very dumb guy. Low energy. He said I couldn't win but I struck him down so I imagine that's the end of it"
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