Our readers have been given grave pause for thought over our headlining of this series of articles The Death of Diplomacy. They might like to consider too an allied phenomenon: the Death of the Ceasefire. In most of the worst conflicts in today’s world, there is supposedly a pause for negotiation. Consider the worn-out words that have on several occasions been applied to the dreadfully messy situations of Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Hamas, Israel Hezbollah/, Israel/Lebanon, Israel/West Bank, Sudan warring parties, India/Pakistan (where water wars have replaced physical attacks)… perhaps most glaring of all, United States/Iran.
The phrase ‘cease-fire’ has become totally meaningless, and many innocent civilians and institutions are suffering for that.
On the USA-Iranian front, what is of particular interest is how on earth Trump & Co and the Iranians bypass the shipowners and charterers stuck in the middle of the impasse. Despite Iranian determination to find a way of imposing a levy on shipping, how come some ships go in and out without a problem… Dubious dealing somewhere along the line.
The hopelessness of efforts to work out a ‘diplomatic’ Middle East solution is leading to attempts to rewrite the geography of oil and other trades. Witness the interest of the United Emirates to build a port adjacent to Fujairah, to be served by a new pipeline aiming to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, although this locality would still technically be in range of Iran’s weaponry.
Some of the above-mentioned dramas are going to blow up into even worse conflagrations, if the intentions of various parties are realised. Just look at the election rhetoric of far right-wing ministers within Israel’s government in seeking to remove an initial 250,000 Palestinians from Gaza, and the other 2 million people over the next six years.
Russia steps up its bombing of Kyiv and other cities and has been accused of a drone threat to Ukrainian targets at Leipzig airport. Ukraine, which is carrying out successful long-range strikes deep into Russian territory, is nevertheless hampered by its failed plea for US-made Patriot interceptors – adding to top-level political turmoil within the central European country.
AND finally Turkiye is about to blow up Peace in the Aegean, The Balkans and the entire East Med / North Africa regions. See also our last and try to wake up before it is too late!
See you in Chios for the finale of the 5th Chios Festival and conference…
