Feed aggregator

But with shaky ground beneath it and cracks in the military logic, critics fear it’s more spin than steel.

Americas The US has selected a design for the futuristic “Golden Dome” missile defense system, says President Donald Trump, adding that it will be operational by the end of his time in office. Just days after returning to the White House in January, Trump unveiled his intentions for the system, aimed at countering “next-generation” aerial threats to the US, including ballistic and cruise missiles. An initial sum of $25billion has been earmarked in a new budget bill – although the government has estimated it could end up costing 20 times that over decades. The Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center (RIA-JMTC) plans to ramp up production of 3D-printed drones for the US Army. This is part of the Army’s Transforming in Contact initiative, introducing new technologies directly into operational environments for field testing and evaluation. The program’s goal is to gather direct feedback from soldiers and assess the drones’ technical and operational capabilities under real operational conditions. Middle East & Africa Sweden’s foreign minister on Monday condemned Israel’s plans to “take control” of the Gaza Strip, saying the move would violate international law. Israel earlier this month approved plans for the expanded offensive currently under way and said it was aimed […]

The British press decried Monday’s ’reset’ as the end of Brexit. So why do pro-EU protests – and Morris dancing – continue?

Norway's Espen Barthe Eide predicts a growing NATO presence in the far north, and discusses expanded NATO defence spending targets.

Keeping the far-right AfD out of key parliamentary posts has gotten harder after their surge in Germany's most recent election.

The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue analyses how the South African president reacted in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting.

The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue analyses how the South African president reacted in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting.

Sector-specific considerations will be needed to successfully electrify industry, experts say, and Europe’s climate goals will be impossible without them.

Right-wing Afrikaners groups celebrated the ambush but others in the Rainbow Nation found it "uncomfortable" to watch.

Right-wing Afrikaners groups celebrated the ambush but others in the Rainbow Nation found it "uncomfortable" to watch.

Informal “minilateral” coalitions of the willing and interested have long been a feature of peacemaking. Groups of states identified as “friends” of the mediator or a particular peace process and contact groups bringing together interested powers date back to concert diplomacy traditions and proliferated at the end of the Cold War as conflict resolution activity surged. The incidence of such informal mechanisms grew exponentially between 1990 and 2009.

This report assesses how these mechanisms have evolved in the years since 2010 and investigates their place in parallel to the UN’s efforts to mediate internationalized internal conflicts in Libya, Syria, and Yemen; peace processes in the Philippines, Colombia, and Mozambique taking place in relatively benign regional settings, as well as the anomalous case of Venezuela, where efforts toward a peaceful resolution of the political crisis were mired in international divisions; the geopolitically contested contexts of Myanmar and Afghanistan; and the democratic transition and descent into war in Sudan.

The report concludes that groups have the potential to build internal coherence among their members, as well as to elevate public messaging and facilitate information sharing, but they can also become a forum for competition between their members. In this context, the report offers lessons to help those considering whether a group is appropriate. The “right” group structure will depend on the context, and the adage of “form follows function” is critically important. It is key to set realistic expectations and, in some cases, accept that the “right” structure will be no group at all. Successful groups and partnerships all point to the importance of skilled individual mediators committed to working with each other, whether within a group or without an established mechanism. Finally, some contexts may defy attempts to design or deliver a coherent international peace architecture. In these cases, more modest goals related to specific or localized gains and incremental support to conflict parties and other affected communities should be pursued.

Download

The post Minilateral Mechanisms for Peacemaking in a Multipolar World: Friends, Contact Groups, Troikas, Quads, and Quints appeared first on International Peace Institute.

Die Nati tut gut daran, den zweiten Schritt nicht vor dem ersten machen zu wollen und sich nur auf den heutigen Viertelfinal zu konzentrieren. Doch wir können schon weiterschauen. Warum? Weil Gegner Österreich die Tür weit öffnet.

Winterthur, GC oder Yverdon – einer dieser drei Klubs steigt am Donnerstag in die Challenge League ab, einer muss in die Barrage und einer darf beruhigt in die Ferien. Doch was, wenn der Abstieg eintrifft? Das sind die Prognosen für die jeweiligen Klubs.

Die erste Prämien-Prognose liegt vor. Laut Comparis schlägt die Grundversicherung im Schnitt weniger stark auf als in den Vorjahren.

Seit 146 Jahren gibt es die Voliere beim St. Galler Stadtpark - Gründungsjahr 1879. In der stadtbekannten Auffangstation leben Vögel, dorthin bringt man verunfalltes oder krankes Federvieh. Im Sommer muss die Volière-Gesellschaft ihre definitive Auflösung bekanntgeben.

Die St. Galler Voliere mit einer 146-jährigen Geschichte muss bald schliessen, die Voliere-Gesellschaft löst sich auf. Im Blick erhebt Voliere-Präsident Christian Müller schwere Vorwürfe an Stadtrat und Baudirektor Markus Buschor. Dieser wehrt sich heftig.

2019 folgte Dominique Blanc auf Peter Gilliéron als SFV-Präsident. Die Covid-Pandemie, zwei EM-Viertelfinals, aber auch sportliche Krisen prägten die Ära, die mit der Heim-EM der Frauen einen krönenden Abschluss findet. Blick zieht Bilanz.

Cécile Klusák (27) hat genug vom Armee-Bashing – und schiesst zurück. Die Chefredaktorin des «Schweizer Soldaten» nimmt jetzt die Politik in die Pflicht.

Auch in diesem Jahr wird der Brustkrebsmonat Oktober wieder pink. Dr. med. Ulrike Knödlstorfer, Fachärztin für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe, erzählt, wie wichtig Früherkennung ist, wie diese gemacht wird.

Musicalstar Fabienne Louves spricht erstmals öffentlich über ihre Brustkrebserkrankung. Die Luzernerin erhielt im Herbst die Diagnose und unterzog sich einer Chemotherapie. Trotz der Herausforderungen blickt sie zuversichtlich in die Zukunft.