Conversations on Ending the War in Ukraine Grow Louder and Emptier

Posted by & filed under Peacebuilding, Ukraine War

The first week of the “Golden Age” of U.S. policy announced by President Donald Trump registered a stream of messages from the White House on the need to bring the war in Ukraine to an end (White House, January 20).

Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Donald Trump in September 2024. Photo: Uliana Boichuk/Novyny LIVE/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

The Kremlin duly responded with signals of readiness to discuss all matters of mutual interest, taking into account the “current realities” (RIA Novosti, January 24).Read More

Trump Vol. 2 Will Impact Global Development

Posted by & filed under Humanitarianism, Peacebuilding

The United States is by far the world’s largest provider of foreign aid, but it is completely unclear whether and how this will continue. Trump speaks of quickly achieving peace but at the same time he threatens neighboring countries. One thing is certain, however: Trump will not prioritize climate issues.

The United States is by far the world’s largest provider of foreign aid. Before the inauguration, there were strangely few signals about the U.S.’s foreign aid policies and priorities. Photo: J. Countess/Getty Images

Much attention has been given to Trump’s statements about the takeover of Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal. In an increasingly divided and conflict-ridden world, this creates uncertainty and concerns that international law and human rights will be deprioritized over the next four years.Read More

Moscow Sticks to Peace Denials Despite War Exhaustion

Posted by & filed under Peacebuilding, Security, Ukraine War

The Russian offensive in Donbas has slowed in the last few weeks to a crawl, and in the Kursk oblast, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to expel the Ukrainian forces remains unfulfilled. This deadlock, in which both sides suffer heavy casualties, could have created a favorable situation for opening peace negotiations. Such talks remain a hypothetical proposition, and the Kremlin is signaling its full commitment to its maximalist demands of Ukraine’s capitulation (Rossiiskaya Gazeta, January 10).

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in 2018. Photo: Mikhail Svetlov / Getty Images

This demonstrative toughness sharply contrasts with public opinion, which clearly favors ending the war.Read More

Greenland Is Not for Sale

Posted by & filed under Energy Transitions and Conflict, Environment, Governance, Law and Ethics

President Donald Trump has provoked strong reactions with his proposition to buy Greenland, not the least because the right to self-determination is a fundamental principle in international law, allowing peoples to freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social, and cultural development.

Nanortalik, Greenland. Photo: Jim Griffin via Flickr (CC-BY)

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This Is What Norwegians Think About Emergency Alerts on Mobile Phones

Posted by and & filed under Security

The mobile phone has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. We carry it with us everywhere, and it’s a crisis when it’s lost. Now it has also taken on a new role: alerting us to emergencies.

The traditional sirens for alerting are still there, while alerting on mobile phones is now being tested. Photo: Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection

On Wednesday, January 8, emergency alerts on mobile phones were tested across Norway, eighteen months since the system was first tested nationwide.

But how has the Norwegian population received the new alert system?Read More

The International Criminal Court at Risk of Collapse

Posted by & filed under Law and Ethics

As many are by now acutely aware, the International Criminal Court (ICC) relies on state cooperation to investigate and arrest individuals charged with international crimes. This is not new. What is new is the seriousness, complexity, and extent of the political resistance that the ICC is currently facing after issuing an arrest warrant for a Western ally. The court risks collapse.

The arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the first against a sitting head of state in a so-called liberal democracy, writes Kjersti Lohne. Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

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We Need to Talk About Children Born of War

Posted by & filed under Civilians in Conflict, Gender

Every day, children are born in war and armed conflict, in Ukraine, on the Gaza Strip, in South Sudan, in Myanmar and elsewhere.

Photo: Alexey Furman/Getty Images

Some of these children might have parents who are enemies, that is, parents who are on opposite sides of the conflict. Some of these children might have been conceived through conflict related sexual violence. After the Bosnian war, and the genocide in Rwanda, in the 1990s we started talking about rape as a weapon of war and unprecedented political attention followed.
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An Untested Refugee Theory

Posted by & filed under Middle East

From late January 2025, the Israeli ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will come into effect. What does this mean for the rights of the Palestinian refugees, and who will then take responsibility for helping them?

A Palestinian sand sculptor commemorating World Refugee Day in Gaza City in June 2020. Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In October 2024, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed two laws targeting UNRWA. Both laws are due to take effect after 90 days.Read More

Escalation Management: Putin-style, Ukraine-challenged, and NATO-pursued

Posted by & filed under Security, Ukraine War

Russian missile strike on the sprawling industrial complex in Dnipro on November 21 produced far more strategic resonance than material damage – and has reopened hard questions about the constant mutation of the long Russia-Ukraine war and the methods of managing its escalation.

Kyiv in April 2024. Photo: STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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