nexustandards.com/digital-ai · 1 taught
Digital, Cyber and AI
NRS-M20 Geopolitics, conflict and human security
1standard1discipline
Illustrative: a chamber of seats in blocs with a vote sweeping across, or delegations around a table and the exchanges between them
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Governance, Policy and International Affairs · Department of International Affairs and Diplomacy
Agreements, regional bodies, science diplomacy and shared rivers
Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons
Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons covers how states and institutions cooperate on shared risks through agreements, regional bodies, science diplomacy and dialogue, and how global commons such as the atmosphere, oceans and shared rivers are governed.
- Courses
- In preparation
- Levels
- In development
- Labs
- Network lab
- Science diplomacy
- Climate and nature diplomacy
- Shared water and energy systems
- Global commons governance
- Regional dialogue
- Humanitarian cooperation
- Technology diplomacy
- Peace and human security
Courses in development extend the scope to one further subject: Science diplomacy and transboundary cooperation.
02Maps
Build a twin of any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.
Governance, Policy and International AffairsAny placeTwin builder
- 13 countries
- First-level divisions, geoBoundaries gbOpen with a licence gate per boundary: read live when the 3D twin opens
- Natural events, NASA EONET: read live when the 3D twin opens
Drag to turn the globe, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows turn, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.
2 live layers, checked 17 Oct 2026
Places5
Layers3
iCredits
- Countries (Natural Earth 1:110m) The 13 countries with any vertex inside the box, as published at 1:110m with their name, ISO3 code and the Natural Earth population estimate. Made with Natural Earth (public domain), version 5.1.2 bundled at build time. read 2026-10-17. Estimate: Boundaries as published imply no position on any territory; the population figure is the Natural Earth estimate carried in the file, not a census count.
- First-level divisions, geoBoundaries gbOpen with a licence gate per boundary First-level divisions of the countries whose API record passes the licence gate in your browser, for the institutional reach view; a refused licence leaves the country without divisions and says why. geoBoundaries (Runfola et al. 2020, www.geoboundaries.org) and, per country, the boundary's own source and licence as the API record states them (Ethiopia ADM1: Open Africa, Code for Ethiopia, CC BY 4.0). Live: this page requests www.geoboundaries.org when the layer is opened; the data date is printed with it. Estimate: Boundaries as published imply no position on any territory. The gate reads each record's boundaryLicense before any geometry is requested; one request per country per page view.
- Natural events, NASA EONET live Open natural events (storms, fires, floods, volcanoes) of the last twenty days inside the box, with their category and source. NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); each event keeps its original source link; no NASA endorsement implied. Live: this page requests eonet.gsfc.nasa.gov when the layer is opened; the data date is printed with it. Estimate: Event metadata curated by NASA from the named sources; not a warning.
Why this place: A region of about 2,300 by 2,500 kilometres where regional bodies (IGAD, the African Union, the East African Community, the Nile Basin Initiative) overlap with shared-water diplomacy on the Nile, drought and flood alerts, displacement and conflict, so institutional mandates, foresight and cross-border policy can be taught on the same globe. The twin is globe-scale rather than terrain-scale: it draws countries and first-level divisions as published, with the disclaimer that boundaries imply no position on any territory. Data quality: Natural Earth is bundled and public domain, geoBoundaries publishes each division with its own licence (Ethiopia ADM1 is CC BY 4.0 from Open Africa and Code for Ethiopia), NASA EONET events are live and open, and the INFORM Risk Index is published per country by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. It connects to the Risk governance and institutions, Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons, Climate and nature governance, Conflict, fragility and security and foresight disciplines and to the convening and policy context pages of the ecosystem sites.
Flat map of the same data: the 13 countries on a graticule and the numbers below. The globe opens on devices that can draw it, once its code has been checked; the live events and divisions load in the globe on request, each with its data date.
The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).
03Live map
People and hazards in the Horn of Africa
Where people live, night-time lights and the floods and fires public institutions answer to, over the Horn of Africa.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 2
People and hazards
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
People and hazards, framed on the Horn of Africa.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONETSources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
- VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Optional layers (3 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
04The subject
The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies
The field and its scope
For negotiators, advisers and analysts who work on agreements, regional dialogue and science diplomacy for shared risks, and who need to judge when cooperation holds and how the commons are actually governed.
Quantities and units
Methods and their limits
Each method is listed with what it assumes and where it fails.
What the field debates
Bodies that set practice, and the data they publish
Bodies and standards are named so learners can find and apply their published work; the Academy teaches their use and links to the publisher, and no affiliation is implied.
05The method
From a signature to an effect: participation, depth and leakage in a commons agreement
A treaty's participation count records consent, not outcome; regime effectiveness is the share of the gap between no cooperation and the collective optimum that is actually closed, and it falls with shallow commitments and with leakage to non-parties.
Sources: Ostrom, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (1990); Barrett, Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making (2003); Young, Effectiveness of international environmental regimes: existing knowledge, cutting-edge themes, and research strategies (2011); Putnam, Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games (1988).
06At a glance
At a glance, standards and evidence, research and evidence, what is changing and learning
Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons at a glance
risksacademy.comgovernance-policydiscipline
- Open, 0
- In preparation, 1
- Also taught here, 2
- Subtopics, 8
Nexus Standards it teaches and relies on
The Nexus Standards the discipline teaches toward, grouped by master standard, with the disciplines that teach each.
nexustandards.com/society · 1 taught
Governance, Security and Society
NRS-H111 Geopolitical confrontation and strategic weapons
1standard1disciplinenexustandards.com/readiness · 1 taught
Readiness and Adoption
NRS-E6 National and regional adoption and hubs
1standard1discipline
Nexus Standards at the AcademyThe Academy proposes how each discipline teaches toward the Nexus Standards; the mapping is open for public review.
Research and tools
Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.
The hub lists the newest research and preprints for Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
What is changing now
Recent developments in diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons, each with its source; sources checked on 16 October 2026.
Courses in this discipline
Courses for this discipline are in development; until they open, study it through the connected courses and open lessons below.
The courses from connected disciplines below also teach this field.
Courses from connected disciplines that also teach this field
Each course has its primary discipline elsewhere and teaches this field as part of its scope.
From connected disciplines1 course open
- RAN-307Policy and GovernanceOpen for enrolmentNexus, L2 Intermediate, 21.5 hours, primary discipline: Risk-informed public policy
- RAX-510Planetary NRM: global commons, tipping and shared exposureIn preparationNexus-Based Risk Management, L3 Advanced, 10 hours (estimate), primary discipline: Nexus-Based Risk Management (NRM)
How the subject is practised in labs
| Lab | What you do in it | Courses using it |
|---|---|---|
| Network lab | Build dependency graphs, find critical nodes, trace cascades | 1 |
07Console
How Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons is taught, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
08Practice
Practice, learning and connections
How technology helps and what risk it brings
Achievements in this discipline
Pathways that teach it
Where the subject is practised
- The Global Risks Forum (GRF)Diplomacy NexusClimate and nature diplomacy, Global commons, Humanitarian cooperation, Migration and displacement, Peace and human security, Regional dialogue methods, Science diplomacy, Shared water and energy systems, Technology diplomacy
Field platforms of the ecosystem where the subject is studied and applied.
The two Foundry systems where it is practised
- FoundryNXS-CMD systemDeliberation among institutionsCouncil room
- NXS-RLS systemAgreements and commitments between partiesObligations room
Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.
Across the ecosystem
09Take part
Take part in Governance, Policy and International Affairs
Start from who you are.
10References
Core references and where to begin
Start with Ostrom, then Hardin, then Barrett.
11Questions
Questions, answers and key terms
Is study here free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the courses in diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.
Key terms
Term
Global commons
Resources and areas beyond national jurisdiction, such as the high seas and the atmosphere.
Term
Multilateralism
Cooperation among three or more states, often through international institutions.
Term
Transboundary cooperation
Joint management of risks or resources that cross borders.
Term
Track II dialogue
Informal dialogue among non-government experts to support negotiations between governments.
ReportsContribute
Contribute evidence from this page.
Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
Risk Academy
Related
Around Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons
Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons
Start with an open course
The catalogue lists each course with its outcomes, labs, hours and level.