Welcome back to This Week in Peace, where we cover recent events in global peacebuilding.
This week there were several positive developments, but many setbacks. Ethiopia has marked the first anniversary of a crucial peace treaty, even as an end to the violence remains elusive. Formal peace between Serbia and Kosovo remains elusive, despite mediation attempts by the European Union and its member states to reach an agreement. Calls for peace continue as Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza approaches its first anniversary and civilian deaths continue. Russia has withdrawn its ratification of a key nuclear treaty, threatening world peace as its war in Ukraine continues. And this week marks the 10th anniversary of Geneva Peace Week, an annual forum for peacemakers from around the world.
Ethiopia
A year ago, the Ethiopian government and representatives of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed the Pretoria Agreement in South Africa. The peace deal ended two years of war in the rebel Tigray province, which saw the involvement of Eritrean forces and numerous war crimes committed by both sides, and which left hundreds of thousands of people dead. dead and more. a million displaced within Tigray. Although the end of the war is a positive step towards long-term peace in Ethiopia, the threat of further widespread violence remains. Tensions Tensions between the government and armed groups in the Amhara and Oromia regions, as well as widespread corruption, threaten both the overall security situation and the distribution of much-needed humanitarian aid. The UN has warned of the risk more violenceand it is crucial that the Ethiopian government and powerful regional governments take steps to ensure that a new civil war does not break out.
You can read more Peace News reporting from Ethiopia. here.
Serbia and Kosovo
Attempts by European leaders to negotiate a normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo have been unsuccessful. Tensions have been high since September, when a militant group of Serbian origin took hostages at a monastery in Kosovo. Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, accused Serbia of complicity in the attack, which was denied by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Serbia continued to refuse recognition of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 following destructive ethnic conflict in the late 1990s when Yugoslavia broke up. Both states aspire to become members of the EU and NATO has maintained a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo since 1999. The EU has insisted that the issue must be resolved before either other State can be considered a full member, and has played an active role in the negotiations between the two countries. both. Although the current setback is regrettable, the degree of international investment aimed at preventing a new outbreak of violence is a positive factor, and Brussels will continue its initiative launched years ago to normalize links between the two Balkan states.
Growing calls for a ‘humanitarian pause’ in Gaza
The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has continued, with no sign of ending, and global calls for peace have continued, some of which have been echoed in last week’s edition this week in peace. The United States, Israel’s most high-profile international supporter since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, was the latest country to call officially to “suspend” Israel’s air and ground campaigns in Gaza, citing the urgent need to provide aid. US President Joe Biden publicly supported the idea this week, revealing an earlier agreement with Israel to briefly suspend bombing to facilitate the release of two American hostages. The second-highest-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Dick Durbin, recently called for a ceasefire, which the administration does not currently support. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu recently rejected the idea of a ceasefire and rejected growing international criticism over the number of civilians killed by Israeli airstrikes. As the conflict continues, peace is desperately needed to protect civilians and prevent future violence. While a humanitarian pause would not resolve the conflict, it would at least allow desperately needed aid to reach Palestinian civilians, and perhaps be the first step toward long-term peace.
You can read more in our coverage of this topic here. Peace News published an article yesterday about the work of organizations and individuals working to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which you can read here.
Russia
While we are talking about a draft Ukrainian peace plan Beginning in Malta (in Russia’s absence), Russian President Vladimir Putin revoked his country’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The treaty is a key Cold War agreement that bans nuclear explosions worldwide. The United States has also not ratified the treaty, but is a signatory to it and has adhered to its provisions, and many other nuclear powers, including China and India, have also not ratified the treaty . Nonetheless, Russia’s withdrawal, which comes as its invasion of Ukraine nears the two-year mark, sets itself in a crisis situation. bloody impasse, is a negative development. The war in Ukraine has seen Russian officials threaten to use tactical nuclear weapons, and some in Russia have called for resuming testing as a form of deterrence against Ukraine’s allies. The CTBT, despite its problems and imperfect implementation, is a necessary step toward strengthening world peace, and this withdrawal is a worrying development. A peaceful end to the war in Ukraine is necessary to avoid further bloodshed, and actions such as this withdrawal send the wrong signal, when all parties involved should strive to reach a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution.
Peace Week in Geneva
Peace Week in Geneva, an annual conference focused on peacebuilding, took place this week. Organized by the Geneva Platform for Peacebuilding, it brings together individuals and organizations from around the world to discuss peace. This year’s events included policy briefings, panel discussions and networking opportunities for peacebuilders. The overall theme of this year’s conference was “Building Trust, Building Peace: An Agenda for the Future”, a mission that is more important than ever in a context of recent increase in violent conflicts around the world.
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Leo Weakland graduated from George Washington University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs. He is responsible for development and operations for Peace News Network and is based in Washington, DC. Before Peace News, he worked as a research assistant at GWU, for a nonprofit focused on supporting veterans running for office, and interned at the Office of General Counsel at the Centers for Disease Control.
