Jordan Ryan
@peaceful1.blue
Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Carter Center Vice President for Peace. Currently advises the UN, Folke Bernadotte Academy, Toda Peace Institute, and Hamilton Advisors. Founding member of Diplomats Without Borders.
The dynamics of digital polarisation are now central to understanding conflict, fragility and the erosion of public trust. This article for Toda maps structural forces inside today’s information systems and assesses their implications for peace and democratic integrity.
toda.org/global-outlo...
toda.org/global-outlo...
Digital Polarisation and the Future of Peace: Why Governance Must Catch Up With Power | Toda Peace Institute
Democracy today is at a critical juncture. Political systems worldwide face pressures that once would have been extraordinary: accelerating authoritarianism, deepening civic fragmentation, and collaps...
toda.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:42 AM
The dynamics of digital polarisation are now central to understanding conflict, fragility and the erosion of public trust. This article for Toda maps structural forces inside today’s information systems and assesses their implications for peace and democratic integrity.
toda.org/global-outlo...
toda.org/global-outlo...
Democratic fragility is rising. Tech alone won’t fix it. Peacebuilding lessons can. My latest for Toda
toda.org/global-outlo...
toda.org/global-outlo...
The New Fragility: Peacebuilding Meets Digital Democracy | Toda Peace Institute
Established democracies are exhibiting governance stresses that were once associated primarily with fragile and conflict-affected states. Polarisation is weakening institutional trust, fragmenting civ...
toda.org
November 18, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Democratic fragility is rising. Tech alone won’t fix it. Peacebuilding lessons can. My latest for Toda
toda.org/global-outlo...
toda.org/global-outlo...
Are We Losing Our Democracy? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | Are We Losing Our Democracy?
Donald Trump has wielded power as no previous president has.
www.nytimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Are We Losing Our Democracy? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
When governments step back, people step up.
Help @KarunaPeace keep community-led peacebuilding alive—from Nigeria to Massachusetts.
Every contribution matters. 💙
👉 karunacenter.org/donate#Peacebuildingn#KarunaCentere#ActForPeacece
Help @KarunaPeace keep community-led peacebuilding alive—from Nigeria to Massachusetts.
Every contribution matters. 💙
👉 karunacenter.org/donate#Peacebuildingn#KarunaCentere#ActForPeacece
https://karunacenter.org/donate
October 31, 2025 at 4:14 PM
When governments step back, people step up.
Help @KarunaPeace keep community-led peacebuilding alive—from Nigeria to Massachusetts.
Every contribution matters. 💙
👉 karunacenter.org/donate#Peacebuildingn#KarunaCentere#ActForPeacece
Help @KarunaPeace keep community-led peacebuilding alive—from Nigeria to Massachusetts.
Every contribution matters. 💙
👉 karunacenter.org/donate#Peacebuildingn#KarunaCentere#ActForPeacece
For decades, the U.S. preached democracy to the world—while subverting it abroad. Now the tools it once used overseas are being turned inward.
The Empire Has No Clothes: America's Democratic Sermons and the Authoritarian Boomerang | Toda Peace Institute toda.org/global-outlo...
The Empire Has No Clothes: America's Democratic Sermons and the Authoritarian Boomerang | Toda Peace Institute toda.org/global-outlo...
The Empire Has No Clothes: America's Democratic Sermons and the Authoritarian Boomerang | Toda Peace Institute
In 2025, a startling spectacle emerges: the nation that proclaimed itself democracy's global arbiter now displays the very symptoms of authoritarianism it once denounced.,
toda.org
October 31, 2025 at 7:19 AM
For decades, the U.S. preached democracy to the world—while subverting it abroad. Now the tools it once used overseas are being turned inward.
The Empire Has No Clothes: America's Democratic Sermons and the Authoritarian Boomerang | Toda Peace Institute toda.org/global-outlo...
The Empire Has No Clothes: America's Democratic Sermons and the Authoritarian Boomerang | Toda Peace Institute toda.org/global-outlo...
Why is the United Nations’s founding Charter more than a historical document? In our new PassBlue essay we argue that at 80 its core constitutional principles must guide reform — not mere power-bargaining. Read here:
passblue.com/2025/10/23/w...
passblue.com/2025/10/23/w...
Why the UN Needs a Charter Conversation, Not More Power Struggles - PassBlue
Why the UN Needs a Charter Conversation, Not More Power Struggles - PassBlue
passblue.com
October 25, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Why is the United Nations’s founding Charter more than a historical document? In our new PassBlue essay we argue that at 80 its core constitutional principles must guide reform — not mere power-bargaining. Read here:
passblue.com/2025/10/23/w...
passblue.com/2025/10/23/w...
My letter in today’s Wall Street Journal: the UN shouldn’t abandon its carbon tax on shipping. Climate policy needs resolve, not retreat. Global coordination must not yield to populist pressure. www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Letters: The U.N. Shouldn’t Give Up on Its Carbon Tax
Letters: The U.N. Shouldn’t Give Up on Its Carbon Tax
Opinion | The U.N. Shouldn’t Give Up on Its Carbon Tax
The IMO understands the urgency of the moment while the U.S. dithers.
www.wsj.com
October 20, 2025 at 10:47 PM
My letter in today’s Wall Street Journal: the UN shouldn’t abandon its carbon tax on shipping. Climate policy needs resolve, not retreat. Global coordination must not yield to populist pressure. www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Letters: The U.N. Shouldn’t Give Up on Its Carbon Tax
Letters: The U.N. Shouldn’t Give Up on Its Carbon Tax
The U.S. is rewriting multilateralism — but does “reform” now mean “retreat”? In this new piece from IPI’s Global Observatory, I examine a pivotal shift in American diplomacy and its implications for global governance.
Read more:
na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Read more:
na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
From Reform to Retreat: How the US Is Rewriting Multilateralism - IPI Global Observatory
Jordan Ryan on how the US has turned “reform” into retreat, reshaping multilateralism itself.
na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:39 PM
The U.S. is rewriting multilateralism — but does “reform” now mean “retreat”? In this new piece from IPI’s Global Observatory, I examine a pivotal shift in American diplomacy and its implications for global governance.
Read more:
na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Read more:
na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
When law is used to punish rather than protect, democracy quietly unravels.
My new Toda policy brief, Weaponisation of Law: Assault on Democracy, exposes how governments—democratic and authoritarian alike—are twisting legality into a tool of control.
toda.org/assets/files...
My new Toda policy brief, Weaponisation of Law: Assault on Democracy, exposes how governments—democratic and authoritarian alike—are twisting legality into a tool of control.
toda.org/assets/files...
toda.org
October 13, 2025 at 9:33 AM
When law is used to punish rather than protect, democracy quietly unravels.
My new Toda policy brief, Weaponisation of Law: Assault on Democracy, exposes how governments—democratic and authoritarian alike—are twisting legality into a tool of control.
toda.org/assets/files...
My new Toda policy brief, Weaponisation of Law: Assault on Democracy, exposes how governments—democratic and authoritarian alike—are twisting legality into a tool of control.
toda.org/assets/files...
My letter to the editor on Trump’s performance at the UN
Trump at the U.N.: A Bitter Display www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
Trump at the U.N.: A Bitter Display www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
Opinion | Trump at the U.N.: A Bitter Display
www.nytimes.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:47 PM
My letter to the editor on Trump’s performance at the UN
Trump at the U.N.: A Bitter Display www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
Trump at the U.N.: A Bitter Display www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
The UN’s 80th-anniversary reforms call for a “paradigm shift.”
But can you shift a system with no coherent center?
My new essay argues that without hard levers—financing, integration, leadership—“Shifting Paradigms” falls short.
👉 Read here:
theglobalobservatory.org/2025/09/why-...
But can you shift a system with no coherent center?
My new essay argues that without hard levers—financing, integration, leadership—“Shifting Paradigms” falls short.
👉 Read here:
theglobalobservatory.org/2025/09/why-...
The UN’s Coherence Paradox: Why the UN80 Reforms Are Not Enough - IPI Global Observatory
Today’s global challenges—including climate shocks, geopolitical conflicts, mass displacement, and the rapid spread of disruptive technologies—are more interconnected than at any point in the UN’s his...
theglobalobservatory.org
September 23, 2025 at 1:51 PM
The UN’s 80th-anniversary reforms call for a “paradigm shift.”
But can you shift a system with no coherent center?
My new essay argues that without hard levers—financing, integration, leadership—“Shifting Paradigms” falls short.
👉 Read here:
theglobalobservatory.org/2025/09/why-...
But can you shift a system with no coherent center?
My new essay argues that without hard levers—financing, integration, leadership—“Shifting Paradigms” falls short.
👉 Read here:
theglobalobservatory.org/2025/09/why-...
How do words turn into violence? 🗣️
Toda Peace Institute’s new brief shows how extremist rhetoric uses both overt messages and coded language to weaken democratic norms — and why fact-checking alone isn’t enough. Collective action is critical. Read more: toda.org/policy-brief...
Toda Peace Institute’s new brief shows how extremist rhetoric uses both overt messages and coded language to weaken democratic norms — and why fact-checking alone isn’t enough. Collective action is critical. Read more: toda.org/policy-brief...
From Words to Violence: Countering Extremist Rhetoric in Democratic Societies | Toda Peace Institute
This policy brief examines how sophisticated rhetorical strategies—combining overt divisive messaging with coded extremist language—operate across multiple communication levels to legitimise violence ...
toda.org
September 16, 2025 at 12:42 PM
How do words turn into violence? 🗣️
Toda Peace Institute’s new brief shows how extremist rhetoric uses both overt messages and coded language to weaken democratic norms — and why fact-checking alone isn’t enough. Collective action is critical. Read more: toda.org/policy-brief...
Toda Peace Institute’s new brief shows how extremist rhetoric uses both overt messages and coded language to weaken democratic norms — and why fact-checking alone isn’t enough. Collective action is critical. Read more: toda.org/policy-brief...
Democracies rarely collapse overnight.
They erode when insiders stay silent — and truths surface only after it’s too late.
That’s the argument of my new essay for @TodaPeace:
🔗 toda.org/global-outlo...
They erode when insiders stay silent — and truths surface only after it’s too late.
That’s the argument of my new essay for @TodaPeace:
🔗 toda.org/global-outlo...
Reluctant Truth-Tellers and Institutional Fragility | Toda Peace Institute
In democracies under strain, the most important truths often arrive too late, uttered hesitantly by those who should have spoken earlier. ,
toda.org
August 19, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Democracies rarely collapse overnight.
They erode when insiders stay silent — and truths surface only after it’s too late.
That’s the argument of my new essay for @TodaPeace:
🔗 toda.org/global-outlo...
They erode when insiders stay silent — and truths surface only after it’s too late.
That’s the argument of my new essay for @TodaPeace:
🔗 toda.org/global-outlo...
Where the Road Ended
open.substack.com/pub/jordanry...
open.substack.com/pub/jordanry...
Where the Road Ended
A Memory from Lowndes County, 1969 — While America Reached the Moon
open.substack.com
July 20, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Where the Road Ended
open.substack.com/pub/jordanry...
open.substack.com/pub/jordanry...
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/14/o...
A rural rescue and a national warning about health care cuts
by Opinion Contributor
3 hours ago
A rural rescue and a national warning about health care cuts
by Opinion Contributor
3 hours ago
July 14, 2025 at 6:49 PM
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/14/o...
A rural rescue and a national warning about health care cuts
by Opinion Contributor
3 hours ago
A rural rescue and a national warning about health care cuts
by Opinion Contributor
3 hours ago
What happens when a global power stops showing up?
The U.S. withdrawal from multilateral institutions—boycotting the Seville summit, gutting global health aid, sidelining the UN—isn’t just policy drift. It’s helping fracture the entire system.
The U.S. withdrawal from multilateral institutions—boycotting the Seville summit, gutting global health aid, sidelining the UN—isn’t just policy drift. It’s helping fracture the entire system.
America's Retreat and the Future of Economic Multilateralism | Toda Peace Institute
This policy brief discusses the systematic retreat of the United States from multilateral institutions which threatens global economic reform, coinciding with China's construction of alternative frame...
toda.org
July 11, 2025 at 3:13 AM
What happens when a global power stops showing up?
The U.S. withdrawal from multilateral institutions—boycotting the Seville summit, gutting global health aid, sidelining the UN—isn’t just policy drift. It’s helping fracture the entire system.
The U.S. withdrawal from multilateral institutions—boycotting the Seville summit, gutting global health aid, sidelining the UN—isn’t just policy drift. It’s helping fracture the entire system.
Science is not partisan—but silence is.
How Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural White Americans Too www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
How Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural White Americans Too www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
How Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural White Americans Too
www.nytimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Science is not partisan—but silence is.
How Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural White Americans Too www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
How Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural White Americans Too www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
Trump gutted PEPFAR. 75,000 already dead. Millions more at risk.
Once, evangelicals helped build the world’s most successful health program.
Now, most are silent.
Peter Wehner asks the question too few dare to:
What gospel are we really living?
📖 [Link] #PEPFAR
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Once, evangelicals helped build the world’s most successful health program.
Now, most are silent.
Peter Wehner asks the question too few dare to:
What gospel are we really living?
📖 [Link] #PEPFAR
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Why Evangelicals Turned Their Back on PEPFAR
A religious movement that has so often taken public stands has been unusually quiet since Trump gutted the program to combat AIDS in Africa.
www.theatlantic.com
July 7, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Trump gutted PEPFAR. 75,000 already dead. Millions more at risk.
Once, evangelicals helped build the world’s most successful health program.
Now, most are silent.
Peter Wehner asks the question too few dare to:
What gospel are we really living?
📖 [Link] #PEPFAR
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Once, evangelicals helped build the world’s most successful health program.
Now, most are silent.
Peter Wehner asks the question too few dare to:
What gospel are we really living?
📖 [Link] #PEPFAR
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...