Tom Fletcher calls for a moral ambition in driveless world

At the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), students are provided with the unique opportunity to discuss the world's most pressing issues with those shaping global affairs. On February 17th, PSIA was honored to welcome Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who delivered a speech on "Moral Ambition in a Driverless World."

Reimagining Humanitarianism with Human Solidarity

Drawing on his experience at the frontlines of today's worst humanitarian crises, Fletcher confronted the audience with a world in which international law is eroding, violence against civilians has become routine, and the institutions built to protect human dignity are under sustained attack. These crises fall hardest on civilians and the workers trying to reach them, with 350 humanitarians killed only last year. To fight back, Fletcher argued, we need to make a new case for humanitarianism - the impulse, not the system - with human solidarity as our most essential survival skill.

The UN's Limits and Why It Still Matters

Fletcher also addressed the issue of the United Nations and acknowledged its imperfections, while arguing that dismantling it without an alternative would be a moral and strategic failure. Reform, he argued, is not a concession to critics but an obligation to the millions who depend on the UN for survival. Yet he was candid about the institution's structural constraints: the UN is only as strong as the mandate it is given, and the architecture of the Security Council means it will rarely receive the mandate needed to act decisively in conflicts where permanent members hold a stake, whether in Ukraine, Gaza, or elsewhere. 

A Message for Future Humanitarians and Diplomats

For PSIA students in programs like Human Rights and Humanitarian Action or International Governance and Diplomacy, considering careers at the United Nations, Fletcher offered an important message. Although the path is harder now than it has ever been, this is precisely why new voices are needed. PSIA's role is to ensure that those voices are prepared: analytically rigorous, ethically grounded, and unwilling to accept a world that has abandoned its most vulnerable.

The Q&A session illustrated precisely what PSIA does best - engaging critical thinking, challenging established assumptions and encouraging dialogue with international stakeholders. Students pressed Fletcher on the limits of neutrality, the ethics of engaging with armed actors, and the personal toll of working within humanitarian action. As a closing remark, he reminded us that we do not choose the times we live in, but we choose what we make of them. For a School whose mission is to train the next generation of internationally minded leaders, that is both a challenge and an invitation.

Watch the full replay of the event