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A discussion on the need for the UN to refocus its mission and retool itself to address increased incidence of intra-State conflict. Raja Karthikeya is a Political Affairs Officer in the United Nations Secretariat supporting the General Assembly's deliberations on the Middle East. He has previously served with UN special political missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and led the Global Programme on Preventing Violent Extremism at the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism where he supported governments across Asia and Africa in developing inclusive policies to counter violent extremism. His work has included engaging civil society and youth to ensure inclusive political negotiations, facilitation of national unity government formation efforts, and design of transitional justice mechanisms. As part of his personal efforts to raise awareness about the peace & security dimension of climate adaptation, he crossed the Arctic and Antarctic circles in 2018. Prior to the UN, he has worked with international affairs thinktanks and has published widely on public policy challenges. Please note that Raja was speaking in his personal capacity as a visiting fellow at CCW and his comments do not reflect any position of the UN.