Rubio vows to put State Department at core of Trump foreign policymaking
Washington DC, US Reuters Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his tenure as the top US diplomat on Tuesday by pledging to keep his department at the heart of US foreign policymaking and execute what he said was President Donald Trump’s aim of promoting peace through strength. Ending Russia’s war in Ukraine would be official […]
As Notre Dame reopens, Macron stands in ashes of French political edifice
Paris, France Reuters The reopening of Notre Dame cathedral, five years after being devastated by a fire, was supposed to be Emmanuel Macron’s triumph. The French President has often used the reconstruction of Notre-Dame as a parable for his own fortunes, repeating that he was ridiculed in 2019 when he promised to rebuild it in […]
US leads new effort to end hostilities in Lebanon and Gaza, sources say
Beirut, Lebanon/New York, US Reuters The United States is spearheading a new diplomatic effort to end hostilities in both Gaza and Lebanon, linking the two conflicts as part of a single initiative, seven sources familiar with the initiative told Reuters. Details are being discussed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, […]
“Nothing is lost in peace”: Pope Francis mobilising Vatican diplomats to quell a world war he says has begun
CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, reports on how Pope Francis and the Vatican are pursuing peace in the globe’s two major conflicts, working through official and unofficial channels…
Essay: A litany for Ukraine – Pray, and act, for peace
BRIDGET MOIX, general secretary of the US Friends Committee on National Legislation, says – in an article first published on Religion News Service, that one year into the expanded war in Ukraine, it is clear a military approach will not bring peace…
Vatican influence: Is Pope Francis’ diplomacy of dialogue failing?
CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, reports on how, in Kazakhstan, Pope Francis could not dialogue with Russia or China, but Vatican experts say the real work happens behind closed doors…
West Africa: Coups show limits of diplomacy, opening door to new players
In the wake of a series of coups in West Africa, AARON ROSS and DAVID LEWIS, of Reuters, look at the wider context…
At UN, Biden promises “relentless diplomacy”, not Cold War
United Nations Reuters US President Joe Biden mapped out a new era of vigorous competition without a new Cold War despite China’s ascendance during his first United Nations address on Tuesday, promising military restraint and a robust fight against climate change. The United States will help resolve crises from Iran to the Korean Peninsula to […]
Indonesia says it holds intensive talks with both sides of Myanmar crisis
Reuters Indonesia is holding intensive talks with both the Myanmar military and representatives of the ousted elected government in a bid to end a crisis over a Feb. 1 military coup, Indonesia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. Indonesia has taken the lead within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in efforts to resolve […]
Essay: Lessons from the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, 25 years after the genocide it failed to stop
US scholar SAMANTHA LAKIN, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at what her research shows can be learned from what happened in Rwanda a quarter of a century ago…