Back when I started blogging, I only knew I wanted to write. After a bit of experimenting I knew I had to pick a theme I was genuinely interested in. So why indeed is it world affairs I decided to be blabbing about?
Right after high school I went to learn sociology. At first it was only to prepare for law school and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to finish it all the way through, but then I became really interested in the topics we’ve learnt about. To this day, I love reading and studying behavioural sciences, mostly social psychology. But what I really became interested in was political sociology, and the history of politics studied through the stages of sociological development. I studied and researched politics, with special emphasis on politics in the media. By the time I had to pick a theme for my thesis, I was sure I wanted to work in politics and/or political research one day.
Then came law school, where this interest remained and strengthened, but of course my worldview widened over time. It was after Hungary joined the European Union, and the law of the EU became one of my favourite subjects. My political views were more or less shaped already by this time, but learning about the EU and other international organisations made it obvious I am a huge believer in multilateralism. Besides international law I took classes in international human rights law and the law of international organisations. I wrote my thesis and several other papers about the UN Security Council.
I was still in law school when I became acquainted with the Hungarian United Nations Association, which is part of the World Federation of United Nations Associations, and was very active at the time. They organised a lecture series that they called “UN Academy” around the topic of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals. I have attended (and thoroughly enjoyed) the lectures, even got a certificate proving that I have and remained member of the Association ever since. (The Millenium Development Goals are of course now Sustainable Development Goals, but I am still as interested in the topic, as ever.) Unfortunately the Hungarian UNA was not very active in the last few years, last I heard the organisation had new leaders, but haven’t heard of them (in terms of events or any activity) in a long time.
It was as member of the Hungarian UNA that I got invited to the public address of then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he held at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences quite a few years ago now. During his tenure – mostly thanks to the emerging and ever growing social media platforms – the UN did a lot to open towards young people through different social media campaigns, which I think had a lot to do with my growing enthusiasm. But besides making me a fan, these efforts started to paint a different picture of the UN from what we’ve known before. Instead of being a closed club of boring diplomats (sorry!) it started to look like something modern, engaging cool celebrities and young advocates to spread the message (which was always about helping, doing good, making a change). I simply loved it.
Still during my university years, I became member of the Hungarian Model UN Student Association, which wasn’t as active (and mostly wasn’t as supported by the university or outside sources) as Model UN is (and should be) at major universities around the world. Sadly, the organisation ceased to exist since.
Since those days, I’ve been to a lot of events, read a lot of books and articles, listened to podcasts, took courses, followed lots and lots of people and organizations related to my topic of interest. But why am I interested in multilateralism and international diplomacy? It might sound cliché, but I believe in that old saying that together we are stronger than one by one. I believe in the power of individuals coming together and doing good, and also the power of nation states coming together and doing good. I believe in the power of international organisations gathering states together to operate better than they would be doing alone.
What I want to blog about are those positive stories and practices that can inspire people to do good in their own communities. I am planning to highlight opportunities to do good and help shaping the world to our own liking. Expect educational posts (that I will share to educate myself as much as anyone) about international law and international organisations, and also stories and information from NGOs and the humanitarian world. I do have plans to write about the serious topics, as well as lighter ones from the world of diplomacy. I have quite a few ideas, I only need the time to proceed.
Hope to see you around for this!
