May 2016 Review

May 2016 Review

TransConflict is pleased to present a selection of articles published during May, plus updates from the Global Coalition for Conflict Transformation

 Suggested Reading Conflict Background GCCT

1) What lesson from Sudan?

Gerard M. Gallucci – The break-up of Sudan, aided and abetted by the United States, can be seen as another example of ill-conceived outside interference in an internal conflict in the name of democracy and human rights. The record for holding together the multi-ethnic states left behind by Western colonialism and former empires, without autocratic and often brutal centralized rule, is slim. This is a hard truth. And once such states are broken, they do not heal themselves. Read on…

2) The global crisis of leadership

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir – Yes, leaders are a reflection of their time, and people the world over might have finally reached the breaking point. Their cry for trusting, caring, and bold leadership echoes everywhere. We can only hope that such leaders will hear the people’s outcry and emerge to answer their desperate call. Read on…

3) “Tito did this – and Vucic did” – what?

David B. Kanin – Aleksander Vucic is the most formidable politician to emerge so far in the post-Yugoslav space. What good will that do Serbia? Read on…

4) Goodbye Mr. Zero Problems – the end of the Davutoglu era in Turkish foreign policy

Dr. Ulas Doga Eralp – The Davutoglu-era will be remembered as a missed opportunity in Turkish foreign policy. Expectations exceeded the political capacity of an emerging power to the point that it began to harm the overall political stability of the country. Turkey’s next phase of foreign policy orientation will be restoring the broken relationships in the Middle East. Read on…

5) Security Council Resolution 2286 highlights a foundation of World Law

Rene Wadlow – On 3 May 2016, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286 calling for greater protection for health care institutions and personnel. We must support Resolution 2286 as a reaffirmation of the importance of world law, even if Security Council resolutions are rarely written in a dramatic style that can be quoted in newspapers. Read on…

6) How Syria was swept by the merchants of death

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir – The unimaginable sacrifices that the Syrian people have made should not be in vain. The international order, civility, and morality are at stake. If the international community fails to act now, future generations will recall how the community of nations lost its moral compass and humanity, and subjected the whole world to the bleakest days yet to come. Read on…

7) Conflict and women – ten facts about conflict and its impact on women

Kirthi Jayakumar – It is vital to account for this triple role and the basic impact of armed conflict on women so as to be able to sensitise humanitarian aid and post-conflict reconstruction approaches. Read on…

8) Inaugurating the Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka

TransConflict is pleased to present a letter from Reverend Donald Reeves regarding the May 7th inauguration of the Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka on May 7th 2016, the twenty-third anniversary of its destruction. Read on…

9) Nagorno-Karabakh and the fate of Azerbaijan’s hydrocarbon transport pipelines

David Davidian – A negotiated settlement between the warring parties, taking into account realities on the ground, will allow the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) to live in peace and create regional stability ensuring unfettered transport of energy reserves to waiting markets. Read on…

10) If you can’t beat them, ‘like’ them

Arik Segal – States should use the increasing power of social media networks and work with them to achieve foreign policy objectives. Read on…

11) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict – breaking the deadlock

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir – With this favourable climate, the current diplomatic efforts and some mutual confidence-building, we have the will to solve once and for all the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the EU has the capacity to assume the leadership role. This is our roadmap to reach peace. Read on…

12) Why Daesh cannot be bombed away

Sarah Schneider – While pacifism is naïve, the Don’t Bomb Syria campaign may have a point when it comes to how best to defeat Daesh – Daesh cannot simply be bombed away. Read on…

The Global Coalition for Conflict Transformation

1) Four new members of the GCCT

TransConflict is pleased to announce four new members of the Global Coalition for Conflict Transformation, from Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Peru and Nigeria, respectively. Read on…

2) On youth, peace and security

Gwyneth Hamann – In light of UN Resolution 2250, a group of organisations are coming together this summer to invite youth involved in peace, social justice, environmental movements and activism to come together for the Youth Peace Forum: Global Youth Rising (GYR). Read on…

3) Draft UN declaration on the Human Right to Peace

TransConflict is pleased to give its support to the revised draft declaration on the human right to peace, which contains the core contents of the Santiago Declaration on the Human Rights to Peace, adopted in 2010. Read on…

4) Sri Lanka – a new Commonwealth

The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice – The new Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, must rebuild an institution which her predecessor, Indian diplomat Kamalesh Sharma, pushed towards irrelevance through his hostility to civil society and calamitous handling of Sri Lanka’s Commonwealth Summit. Read on…

5) GSP+ – the European Union and Sri Lanka’s preferential trade status

The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice – The Sri Lanka campaign recently sent a briefing to European Union officials outlining our thoughts relating to the return of Sri Lanka to “GSP+” preferential trading status. What follows is a condensed version of that briefing. Read on…

6) Sri Lanka – The return of the white van

The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice – A spate of “white van” abductions in Northern Sri Lanka raises memories from the past, and does damage to Sri Lanka’s hopes for peace. Read on…


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