The Obama administration signaled that it intends to set the diplomatic pace over Syria as the U.S. and Russia announced joint plans for a peace conference. This was not only an accommodating gesture to the Russians, who have made immense political capital out of the conflict, but also a setback for Britain and France, which have agitated for a more hawkish Western line, including arming the Syrian rebels.
If you take any interest in the Syrian war and international diplomacy, you may well experience a disturbing sense of deja vu this week. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Moscow. His visit is part of a renewed American campaign to make Russia rethink its strategy of support for the regime in Damascus, which could culminate in talks between Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin at the June G-8 summit in Northern Ireland.
United Nations-Arab League Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is on the verge of quitting amid growing frustration at deadlocked international efforts to end the worsening conflict, diplomats. Brahimi, who took over from former UN leader Kofi Annan in August last year, is “itching to resign but being persuaded to hang on for a few more days,” said one UN Security Council diplomat.
The Obama administration not only confirmed that it is “very likely” that the Syrian military has “used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria” but also added that “the United States and international community have a number of potential responses available, and no option is off the table.”
As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his advisers look for the resources for a new generation of missions, they will face pressure to cut costs and downsize existing missions -- even if that means leaving some fragile states’ problems unresolved.
In this exclusive interview with ECSSR Website Richard Gowan, talks about a range of issues related to conflict prevention and resolution. Gowan also sheds light on the progress on United Nations reforms, EU’s peacekeeping ambitions, ongoing conflict in Syria and possibilities of conflagration in the Korean peninsula. The interview was conducted on the sidelines of ECSSR’s 18th Annual Conference – The Future Warfare in the 21st Century.
When it comes to Syria, the United Nations is stuck. You could almost be forgiven for thinking otherwise, given the extraordinary number of meetings, investigations, and resolutions currently devoted to resolving a crisis that has left more than 70,000 dead and raised the specter of chemical warfare.
Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s soft power and well-trained military can fill gaps in the United Nations peace-keeping missions around the world, a regional security conference was told Wednesday.
The UN's mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) marked its thirty-fifth anniversary last week (ironically, the first "I" in UNIFIL stands for Interim). With the Syria civil war raging next door, it's been a traumatic time for UN peacekeeping efforts in the region, which include UNIFIL and the even older UNDOF mission (tasked with monitoring the disputed Golan Heights).
Diplomatic Fallout: A More Hawkish Europe Gives U.S. Second Thoughts
The Obama administration signaled that it intends to set the diplomatic pace over Syria as the U.S. and Russia announced joint plans for a peace conference. This was not only an accommodating gesture to the Russians, who have made immense political capital out of the conflict, but also a setback for Britain and France, which have agitated for a more hawkish Western line, including arming the Syrian rebels.