MULTILATERAL: NATO on the US Proposal & more – 25th Nov 2025

Saluton from Islington This is the Rorshok Multilateral Update from the 25th of November twenty twenty-five. A summary of what's going down in the world's major multilateral institutions.

Let’s kick off this week’s episode with defense news, as on Monday the 24th, Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, said that the recently leaked twenty-eight-point U.S. proposal for ending the war in Ukraine had at least pushed key players to start talking seriously. He made clear, though, that the plan still needs careful examination before anyone can treat it as a real path forward.

Rutte emphasized that any agreement must leave Ukraine fully independent and able to protect itself from future Russian aggression. He also said discussions about Ukraine eventually joining NATO are still alive, even if the alliance hasn’t reached full agreement on that step yet.

Also on Monday the 24th, the United Nations Development Program announced it had mobilized an initial two million dollars for Resilient Recovery grants to help Jamaica rebound from the impact of Hurricane Melissa. The funding is targeted at stabilizing the worst-hit western communities, restoring jobs and businesses, and supporting national recovery planning with a focus on climate-resilient and risk-informed rebuilds.

The effort includes debris removal, grants for small and medium enterprises, and support for improved infrastructure such as solar-powered systems and resilient roofing.

In health news, on Monday the 24th the World Health Organization unveiled a new set of guidelines aimed at embedding mental-health support across all government departments. The document goes beyond traditional health ministries by outlining roles, key actions, and measurable indicators for sectors like education, employment, justice, and urban development. It also offers a practical roadmap with eight steps, from high-level dialogue and policy review, to monitoring and evaluation, in order to turn commitment into action.

More on health, as on Thursday the 21st, the Pan American Health Organization announced that El Salvador and Costa Rica are the first countries in the Americas to issue fully digital yellow fever vaccination certificates, aligned with global standards.

These certificates are part of the region’s move to modernize public health infrastructure and allow easier travel while preventing duplicate vaccinations and boosting infectious-disease tracking. The Inter‑American Development Bank is backing the rollout.

In updates on trade, on Tuesday the 25th the World Trade Organization’s Director-General said that while heavy U.S. tariffs have shaken global trade, Africa has so far held up far better than many expected. She pointed out that most African countries chose not to retaliate and benefit from strong South-South commerce rather than relying on U.S. manufacturing supply chains. However, she cautioned that if the global trade architecture were to unravel, African economies risk losing access to growth opportunities and stressed the need for reform.

Meanwhile, on Monday the 24th the EU signed off a plan with the global media corporation Omnicom to buy the Interpublic Group in a roughly $13-billion all-stock deal, and it didn’t attach any strings. Regulators said the merger wouldn’t undercut competition in the region, even though it brings together two of the biggest names in global advertising.

The combined company is set to become the largest ad-holding group by revenue. The approval also reflects how traditional ad giants are pulling together to better compete with tech platforms and to expand their data-focused and AI-driven marketing tools.

On Monday the 24th the Organization for Economic Co‑operation and Development rolled out updates to its Model Tax Convention to better reflect modern realities like remote work across borders and the taxation of natural-resource activities. The revisions aim to adapt tax rules to digital and cross-border work patterns, ensuring that countries can fairly tax income even when people work from afar.

They also clarify how revenue from natural-resource extraction should be divided among jurisdictions. These changes are part of a wider push to keep tax treaties up to date with evolving global business and workforce trends.

Going back to the UN for a second, as on Monday the 17th the United Nations Security Council approved a U.S.-backed resolution supporting US President Donald Trump’s proposal for how Gaza should be administered after the conflict with Israel. The plan includes creating an international stabilization force and setting up a temporary governing body called the Board of Peace, which would guide rebuilding and security efforts.

The text also gestures toward a possible future Palestinian state once certain conditions are met, though without a fixed timeline. Reactions were divided, with the Palestinian Authority expressing openness, Hamas rejecting it outright, and Russia and China abstaining over concerns about the UN’s role.

Speaking of Israel, on Wednesday the 19th the International Criminal Court received a formal request from the State of Israel asking it to revoke an arrest warrant issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and to remove its chief prosecutor Karim Khan from involvement in the case. However, Khan denies any wrongdoing and maintains that the warrant was grounded in credible evidence.

On a related note, according to an op-ed by Jonathan Whittall published on Friday the 22nd, the U.S.–Israeli peace plan for Gaza amounts to a strategy of dividing and controlling the territory rather than genuinely governing or rebuilding it. He says the map has already started taking shape: Gaza is being split into a green zone under Israeli and allied control, and a red zone where Palestinians are displaced and heavily restricted.

The article warns that this design mirrors colonial tactics of fragmentation and that the plan gives Israel long-term security control while limiting Palestinians’ rights, mobility and self-governance. Whittall concludes that what’s being proposed isn’t a transition to freedom but a structural partitioning of Palestinian space and power.

You can check out the piece with the link in the show notes.

On Thursday the 20th the United Nations Secretary-General urged countries at the climate talks in Brazil to show more flexibility and a willingness to find common ground, saying that the global community is down to the wire and the world is watching. He stressed that while ambitions remain high, the time has come for practical, workable outcomes rather than waiting for perfect solutions. He also called on major emitters to step up their commitments, and on wealthy nations to significantly increase adaptation funding for vulnerable regions.

Meanwhile, on Sunday the 24th the International Labor Organization helped launch the AN Agri-Business Hub in Hawassa, located in Ethiopia’s Sidama Region. The new center is designed to connect small farmers and local agribusinesses with digital tools, training, and better access to markets. A big focus is on opportunities for young people and women, giving them support to build skills and modernize their work.

In more news from Africa, on Monday the 24th during the 7th summit between the African Union and the EU held in Angola, the African Union Chair and Angolan President made a strong appeal for more equitable tools to restructure debt and for fresh financing solutions tailored for Africa. He argued that existing mechanisms, like the G20’s Common Framework, have moved too slowly and failed to relieve several of the continent’s heavily indebted nations.

He called for a redesigned financial relationship that lets African countries invest in development without being weighed down by unsustainable obligations. The thrust is clear: Africa wants a bigger seat at the global finance table and a system that works for its realities.

Finally, let’s turn to the east, as on Monday the 24th members of the Association of South East Asian Nations agreed on a shared plan called the Joint Vision on a Trusted and Inclusive E-Commerce Ecosystem twenty thirty. The commitment was announced during the region’s e-commerce conference and lays out how Southeast Asian countries want online trade to look over the next several years.

The vision focuses on making digital markets more transparent, improving platform accountability, and ensuring small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and rural communities aren’t left out. It also pushes for smoother cross-border transactions, so regional online shopping and selling become easier and more reliable as the digital economy keeps expanding.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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See you next week!