Hannes Swoboda shares his ideas and views in the aftermath of the conference on peace and development in Africa
Bibi the King: a Leader of the Global Right Wing
Reconciliation in the Balkans: a Permanent Challenge (Thessaloniki, March 2019)
A State for All - Israel and Palestine 2019
The following remarks are based on a trip to Israel and Palestine from 15th to the 22nd of February 2019. A small civil society delegation from Austria consisting of the president, Hannes Swoboda, and director, Stephanie Fenkart, of the International Institute for Peace (IIP) in Vienna, the director of the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Schlaining, Austria, Gudrun Kramer and Wilfried Graf, director of the Kehlman Institute for International Conflict Resolution, met various experts, politicians and civil society representatives in Israel and Palestine. This was organized in order to get a picture of current new developments around the million dollar question: How to re-initiate a peace process?
Israel: on the Way to Peace or to War?
Africa 2019: Transforming despair and poverty into hope and jobs
Two briefs but nevertheless impressive visits to Addis Abeba and Nairobi are reasons for this new reflection on Africa. In Ethiopia, I met with Stephanie Fenkart, director of the International Institute for Peace (IIP), where she participated in a conference on Art and Peace. Together we flew to Nairobi to take part in a "Learning Journey to Silicon Savannah". During our visit, we saw poverty and deprivation but also much optimism and energy. Both capitals are thriving cities with many new skyscrapers - often not - yet - finished. In both cities, we found the effects of urbanization: higher education and fewer children per family. While Addis is much poorer and dusty, Nairobi showed clear economic progress and wealth in many green quarters around the city. For both capitals and their countries, hope can be seen at the horizon.
Lebanon and the Future of Syria
Unity and Disunity in Wider Europe: New Approaches to European Cooperation and Integration?
Ukrainische Aussichten - Im Spannungsfeld zwischen Ost und West
Der im Osten der Ukraine seit vier Jahren bestehende Konflikt „niedriger Intensität“ ist, wie überhaupt die Lage in diesem Land und um es herum, weitgehend vom Radar internationaler medialer Berichterstatter verschwunden. Nur gelegentlich erinnern Ereignisse wie die Eröffnung einer 19km langen Brücke zur annektierten Krim durch Putin persönlich oder kuriose Vorfälle wie der vorgetäuschte Mord an einem Kreml-kritischen Journalisten in Kyiv an die doch reichlich prekäre und spannungsgeladene Situation mit ihren Ausstrahlungen über die Region hinaus.
The Ban on Nuclear Weapons, Negative Security Assurances, and NATO States
by Heinz Gärtner
At a United Nations Conference on 7 July, 2017, 122 state parties voted in favor of a treaty that that would prohibit nuclear weapons. None of the nuclear-armed states, or their allies, participated in the vote (with the exception of the Netherlands, which voted against the treaty). The treaty expresses concern about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, and calls for their complete elimination. The Treaty calls for the full implementation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), including the disarmament obligations of the nuclear-armed states. The treaty should close the gap between nuclear and non-nuclear-armed states.