Russian President Vladimir Putin has not demonstrated any discernible change over the last few weeks in his maximalist stance on how to end his war in Ukraine. Nevertheless, many other governments and organizations continue to propose ideas and initiatives for how to end this devastating conflict, though not all of these are conducive to Ukrainian… Read more »
Category: Peacebuilding
Can High-Level Diplomacy Turn the Tide of the Ukraine War?
World politics in the first half of June is set to be enlivened not only by elections in such major powers as India, Mexico and South Africa, but also by a heavy concentration of international summits, conferences and visits. Agendas are rich and diverse, as many global issues demand collective action, but one 27-months old… Read more »
Russia Attempts New Anti-Peace Offensive
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued reassurances of his readiness to negotiate an end to his war against Ukraine many times over the past 27 months, which Kyiv has duly rejected as attempts to pressure it to capitulate (see EDM, January 29, February 6, 26, April 15). A maneuver executed last week may, however, signify a change in Russia’s… Read more »
Peacemaking for Ukraine: The Swiss Track, the Chinese Pretence, and the Antalya Diplomacy Forum
Battles in the Donbas trenches and across the Black Sea waters keep raging as the belligerents persist with their strategies of attrition. Neither President Volodymyr Zelensky’s defiant presentation at the Munich Security Conference, nor President Vladimir Putin’s address to the Federal Assembly contained any indication of readiness to compromise. Notwithstanding this determination to keep the war going, three separate… Read more »
What Has Peacekeeping Ever Done for Us?
Are we overlooking positive synergetic effects of peacekeeping operations for peace and development? While UN peacekeeping operations have increasingly come into disrepute, studies underline that operations can prevent conflict re-escalation, limit violence against civilians, and promote settlement – even if not all missions are fully successful.
Illusions and Peace Plans in the Middle East
Both the two-state and one-state solutions exist only in the imagination. Time has run away from them, as things stand today. The violent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been going on for 75 years, with Israel emerging stronger from all of the more serious outbreaks of warfare. How can this conflict be resolved?… Read more »
Gaza: A Religious Conflict?
Hamas named its terror attacks on 7 October ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’. Hamas believes that Jewish extremists, with the direct and indirect support of the Israeli authorities, pose a threat to, and are plotting to take over, the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem. The terror attacks led to an outbreak of the kind of religious language… Read more »
Is the Time Ripe for Peace Diplomacy Regarding Ukraine?
In the war between Russia and Ukraine, the distance between the parties seems insurmountable. Ukraine has proposed a ‘peace formula’, and various other peace plans have also been put forward. Now Ukraine’s supporters are starting to signal that the time is ripe for diplomatic solutions.
Two Wars Set a Triple Test for Western Unity
International attention has shifted its focus from Ukraine to the conflict in Gaza and its potential impact on global governance. The Western front faces challenges in navigating peace efforts in both regions. The war in Ukraine has all but disappeared from the international news stream since the brutal attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel on October 7,… Read more »
The Next Surge of Conflict in the South Caucasus Is Still Preventable
The tragic exodus of the Armenian population from the Nagorno Karabakh region has closed a chapter in the long saga of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The disappearance of this self-proclaimed republic provides the opportunity to bring these bitter hostilities to an end; it takes, nevertheless, plenty of wishful political thinking to believe that a… Read more »