diplomacy
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Geopolitical power play in Arctic shipping
Rising earth temperatures have opened up new navigation routes through the Arctic, allowing commercial ships to shorten journeys between Europe and Asia dramatically. While this could improve trade flows between continents, territorial conflicts and legal uncertainty have given rise to concerns. With no binding legal treaty regulating the region, Arctic states are likely to explore soft governance options.
Greenland and Washington’s offer
President Donald Trump’s offer to buy Greenland was dismissed as a joke, but it reflects both American practice and a legitimate strategic concern.
Nonrecognition and trouble in international relations
Detaching and protecting a part of the territory of a weaker state has become a surrogate for traditional armed conflict, played with open cards. As amply demonstrated in the cases of Ukraine, Cyprus, Serbia, Georgia or Moldova, pseudo-state entities emerging in such detachments have considerable staying power, even though they ...
Mediation helps start a fragile transition in Sudan
The fall of President Omar al-Bashir in Sudan can be seen as the demise of just another African strongman. Yet in a large state divided along complex ethnic, religious and political lines, his personalized tyranny made political stability possible. Now that is gone and an internationally mediated transition agreement is ...
A rocky start for “the deal of the century”
The unveiling of the $50 billion U.S. investment plan to secure peace in the Middle East by improving conditions in the West Bank and Gaza met international skepticism, and virulent opposition from the Palestinian authorities. But for President Donald Trump, solving the conflict none of his predecessors could would gain ...
