by M.K. Bhadrakumar,* India
(31 October 2023) There is no question that smart power enhances foreign policy. Since the notion of “smart power” entered international diplomacy some two decades ago, a major regional power, Iran, is applying it to an actual conflict situation.
by Guy Mettan,* Geneva
(25 October 2023) Geneva readily positions itself as an international city, a humanitarian city, and a city of peace. Unfortunately, its commitment and tradition have been undermined since Switzerland decided, at the end of February 2022, to break its tradition of neutrality and move closer to NATO.
(25 October 2023) The hostilities that broke out Saturday 7 October are at a level that we have not seen in many years. They have the potential to cause even more suffering to civilians on both sides.
(25 October 2023) (Cairo, 19 October 2023) With essential supplies running out in Gaza, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday appealed for humanitarian access to the besieged enclave.
by Jeffrey D. Sachs,* USA
(18 October 2023) Following Hamas’s heinous attack on innocent Israeli civilians, senior Israeli military strategists are threatening the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. This would be another Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), akin to the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. If Israel commits massive war crimes in Gaza in the face of global calls for restraint, Israel would put its fundamental national security at risk.
by M. K. Bhadrakumar,* India
(4 October 2023) (Edit.) Renowned American military historian, strategic thinker and war veteran Colonel (ret.) Douglas MacGregor (who served as an advisor to the Pentagon during the Trump administration) predicts that a new “Biden phase of the war” is coming. [See video link at the end of the text in footnote 6.]