The World at a Crossroads: Managing a Change of Eras in an Age of Belligerent Uncertainty
Feb. 12, 2026
Hôtel Royal
Rue de Lausanne 41-43
Geneva 1201
Switzerland
Description
The American International Club of Geneva is delighted to host a speaker's luncheon featuring
Dr. David Chikvaidze, Vice President of Swiss Forum on International Affairs (FSPI) and former Chief of Staff to five Directors-General of the UN office at Geneva (UNOG).
Dr. Chikvaidze will give a presentation on the very important and topical subject of "Managing a Change of Eras in an Age of Belligerent Uncertainty".
Dr. Chikvaidze draws a stark picture of a world at a crossroads: the once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon of a change of eras happening against the backdrop of three decades of a disastrous post-Soviet transition, increasingly complex, interlocking, existential challenges, of the AI gamechanger, of a breakdown in multilateral thought and practice among the world’s most powerful nations with dysfunction in the UN Security Council, a re-evaluation of established reference points, and of war and threat of war returning as the tool of choice, amid belligerent uncertainty, virtually sidelining diplomacy. The stakes are historic.
Featured Speakers
Speaker Dr David Chikvaidze
Dr David Chikvaidze has nearly four decades of experience in the foreign service and international civil service, specializing in the challenges of multilateralism, great power relationships, Eurasian geopolitics, and global security. As Chief of Staff to five Directors- General of the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG), he provided strategic advice and back-channel …
Dr David Chikvaidze has nearly four decades of experience in the foreign service and international civil service, specializing in the challenges of multilateralism, great power relationships, Eurasian geopolitics, and global security.
As Chief of Staff to five Directors- General of the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG), he provided strategic advice and back-channel diplomacy.
Fluent in four languages, he has negotiated and mediated on complex issues across diverse cultural contexts, participating in key talks on humanitarian aid and security in North Korea, Western Sahara, the Balkans and Central Asia.
Chikvaidze’s career includes significant contributions to institution-building, such as establishing the prototype of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and modernizing the UN Library in Geneva.
Currently vice president of the Swiss Forum for International Affairs, Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), Associate Fellow of the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP), Associate Director at Strategia Worldwide, Dr. Chikvaidze is a member of several international advisory boards. He is a sought-after speaker in the United States and in various countries across Eurasia.
Diplomat by training, D. Chikvaidze holds a Ph.D. in political
science and has authored several articles on international relations. He has had many appearances on US network TV, UN Radio and UN speaking engagements, has written, and lectured on geopolitics and multilateralism, has taught courses on diplomacy and geopolitics,
and served as MA and PhD thesis advisor.
Born in Tbilisi, he is a Georgian citizen with extensive global networks.
Date and Time
Thu, Feb. 12, 2026
11:45 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Location
Hôtel Royal
Rue de Lausanne 41-43
Geneva 1201
Switzerland