Global health issues are once again high on the international agenda. In New York, we have seen the United Nations hold several high-level meetings on topics extending from eliminating tuberculosis to promoting universal health cover to tackling health crises. Half a world away in Europe, governments expanded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) remit to assume a more operational role in responding to health emergencies. New intergovernmental entities such as the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) have been created, tasked with duties ranging from health system strengthening to providing innovative funding mechanisms for the development of new pharmaceuticals. Where individual governments have reduced funding for global health and instituted foreign aid policies that (once again) restrict access to basic services like family planning, other governments have responded by announcing their willingness to fill the leadership and financial void left by those departing the field. This has occurred even as yet other governments have demonstrated their blatant disregard for long-held international norms such as those prohibiting the use of chemical weapons. In short, as the second decade of the twenty-first century nears its end, global health politics are as fraught and politically charged as ever.