Tag Archives: Palestine

EU leaders: where’s the headline energy?

Posted on November 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

EU government leaders have put no headline energy into trying to end the warfare torturing eastern Congo for the past month. And you can’t blame that on being distracted by Israel retaliating against random rocket attacks from Gaza with an 8-day bombardment until Egypt brokered the ceasefire on 21 November. Heads of EU governments weren’t headline visible on Gaza either. They’re distracted by other things. Continue reading →

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Posted in The economic crunch

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What’s conflict?

Posted on June 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Students in the Master of Fine Arts course at Slade, University College London, have put together a collection of their work. They chose the theme of conflict and all the pieces reflect on it in one way or another. The collection ranges from internal conflict to open war, from the personal to the political and back again. They asked me to write a foreword and as a result I had (the opportunity) to think about some things from the bottom up. Here is what I wrote: Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace

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The EAS: what it takes to succeed

Posted on August 23, 2010 | 2 comments

Just before the summer shutdown, the last key decisions were taken to establish the EU’s new External Action Service – the European Parliament on 8 July and the Council of the EU on the 20th. As the EAS starts to become real, what can and should we expect from it? Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Power

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Obama, 1 year in: flaws aren’t failure – but there are new risks in policy towards Iran

Posted on February 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

President Barack Obama has handed himself his sharpest challenge yet: a year of showing his unclenched fist to Iran has produced nothing and now he is toughening up his stance with a missile shield for the US naval forces in the Gulf. What will this do to his presidency? There was so much hope and much of that energy remains, even if it is not being so effectively tapped, but in confronting Iran, might Obama seriously lose his way?

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Power

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Obama, Hu and climate change: a question of who leads

Posted on September 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

What just happened? – it might be a good question to ask about the UN climate summit convened by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last Tuesday. “Not a lot” is the most likely answer. Continue reading →

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Posted in Climate change, Power

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Obama in power (10): Cairo – brilliant speech but that awkward question persists

Posted on June 6, 2009 | 3 comments

President Obama’s speech in Cairo on 4 June offers further evidence of his unrivalled communication skills and of his will and capacity to address thorny issues by reframing and reshaping them in a way that offers new openings for change and improvement. As an opening to the Muslim world, is it possible to imagine an American president doing better given the realities in which he works? For many of the issues he raised, the question is if interlocutors and counterparts will step forward able to use the opportunities he is creating. And over Israel and Palestine, that is a familiar and awkward question. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Power

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Obama in power (8): the real challenge is Israel-Palestine, not North Korea

Posted on May 27, 2009 | 2 comments

Just as Obama was getting his presidential teeth into the Israel-Palestine issue – with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last week and Obama’s Middle East tour next – North Korea goes and finds a window in his crowded timetable, forcing itself on his attention with a nuclear test and missile firings. But, although things can go horribly wrong, North Korea presents a much more straightforward problem than Israel-Palestine and the wider Middle East. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Power

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