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May 22, 2008 | UN Peacekeeping - Struggling to Define 'Business as Usual'

Ethan Christian Arrow: Raising the issue of UN legitimacy in matters of hard and soft power, a panel of speakers have recommended tailoring operations according to local needs. Perhaps running the UN more like a business and less like a Western power would produce better results for all concerned.

January 29, 2008 | The Hard Choices of Intervention

Volker Perthes: I admit that there is no simple checklist to determine how, when, or where German troops should be deployed abroad. But there are a number of valid questions that can be posed before soldiers are sent to peacekeeping and peace-enf

August 6, 2007 | Amnesty Prevents Darfur Violence When Governments Can't

Ariela Blätter: I chide the transatlantic partners for their continuing failure to stop the attacks in Sudan. The Eyes On Darfur initiative uses commercial innovation to achieve what governments have not, preventing further bloodshed by broadcasting satellite images of the most vulnerable areas.

April 9, 2008 | Local Truces Bring Political Progress to Iraq

A top-down model of political compromise is inapt to restore order and bring peace to Iraq’s tribal society. ++ But now, a balance of truces between hyperlocalized clans and councils is generating optimism, political progress, and a drop in ethno-sectarian violence. ++ If they hold, these networks will prevent terror and genocide, and encourage the US to help with reconstruction, peacekeeping,

March 17, 2008 | The 5th Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq

The Iraq war no longer raises much interest on behalf of the American and European people. ++ Raw US military presence compounded by a lack of regional policies and informed diplomacy with Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Israel has left the country in a stalemate. ++ The next American president will face two options: everlasting peacekeeping or a possible bloodbath at the time of withdrawal.

July 4, 2007 | Are They For Real? - Chinese Troop Deployment to Darfur

Edward Cody of the Washington Post comments on Chinese plans to deploy military engineering troops in Darfur. As part of the UN peacekeeping mission, this is mainly seen as a measure of goodwill towards the EU and USA, where NGOs have voiced outrage on the ongoing conflict.

China purchases oil from Sudan and conducts arm sales to Darfur, transactions that have been continually criticized by

June 12, 2007 | Jacob Mundy Discusses the Challenges to Western Saharan Autonomy

Negotiating a solution to the conflict between Morocco and Western Sahara faces many obstacles, reports Jacob Mundy of Foreign Policy in Focus. An increasing sense of nationalism among Western Sahara’s native Sawahri, for instance, stands in direct opposition to US’s nearly unconditional support of Morocco as an ally in the ‘War on Terror’. While autonomy for Western

April 12, 2007 | Robert D. Kaplan on When North Korea Falls

North Korean nuclear tests are symptoms of an unheralded threat: not the exertion of North Korean strength, but the prospective collapse of Kim Jong Il’s government. Weakness in Pyongyang could result in desperation, a WMD attack on the South, or full-on military engagement with Seoul. Drawing on this possibility of collapse, Robert D. Kaplan discusses opportunities for:

1. Reconstruction and