The fate of the future world order still depends on the ability of the 'troika' to control rivalry and on the results of such rivalry
Minimising the number of one’s enemies while multiplying one’s number of friends is a basic principle of diplomacy that has existed for centuries. The simplicity of the principle itself is more than compensated by the complexity of its practical implementation. In international relations, the price of friendship may be too high, limiting freedom of manoeuvre,...
... containing Iran militarily—has failed to deliver on its promise of regional security.
Yuliya Alekseeva:
China in the Mashriq: New Best Friend
China’s success as a mediator in the internal reconciliation of Palestine suggests that China’s proactive diplomacy in the region is not a one-off move: China is more than willing to contribute to regional stability and peace. As China’s role is welcomed by regional actors, it will continue to go grow, as will the role of the Global South. In turn, China’s ...
... characterized by extreme bias and dogmatism, narrowing the space for possible compromise.
Apparently, this position is unanimously supported by Western allies and, moreover, was most likely formulated with their direct assistance. Thus, the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrel openly
stated
that Zelensky’s plan is the only option discussed in the international arena. There are other plans – from China, Brazil, African countries – but all of them have been pushed back. None of them have been discussed ...
The termination of hybrid wars and their transformation into a hybrid peace is the fundamental problem of modern diplomacy
Over the past decade the concept of hybrid warfare has firmly established itself in political rhetoric in the West and in Russia. Russian experts have rightly pointed out the vagueness of the concept, its intersection with other concepts (such ...
... the mainstream expert community in Russia to open up to the West anytime soon
At the height of the Cold War, the Esalen Institute made a difference in Soviet-US relations, initiating and maintaining some of them through Esalen Track-2 and Track-1.5 Diplomacy.
Today Multi-Track Diplomacy remains of interest. Track-2 and Track-1.5 Diplomacy seem to complement and support Track-1 efforts by creating a favorable environment for negotiations, generating creative ideas, building trust, and generating ...
The growing gap between the ends that the US seeks in international relations and the means that it has available is particularly striking in the case of the so-called dual containment policy that Washington now pursues toward Russia and China
A couple of days ago, a Quad summit meeting in Sydney scheduled for May 24 was abruptly canceled. The US president had to pull out of his long-anticipated trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Instead, the heads of the four Quad member states got together...
... Russia a list of real estates that could be transferred to the Polish side to equalize the property balance. However, there was no progress in the negotiations, and Poland preferred to resolve the controversial embassy property issue by force rather than diplomacy.
Over the past year, there have been more exotic violations of the existing diplomatic practices. For example, during an official visit of Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev to the Polish Foreign Ministry Polish diplomats
suggested
that he openly ...
China has effectively coped with its role of facilitator, but now the country will have to enforce the agreements reached
In March 2023, seven years after diplomatic relations were severed, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) have agreed to reopen their embassies. This decision opens up the possibility of reducing tensions in the Gulf and, in the long term, in the entire region of the Middle East. Notably, both sides have stated the need to respect sovereignty...
Such a large and powerful country really cannot be isolated in terms of foreign policy
The sooner we understand that the basis of “soft power” is internal, and not in the activities of Russia’s representatives abroad, the sooner we will be able to benefit from our own objective advantages, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.
A year into the conflict between Russia and the West turning into a proxy military confrontation, the most important lesson learned in terms of the international...
... apparently scheduled for January 23 in Qatar (again, the start date for Lavrov’s African tour),
never took place
. It might be that getting Paul Kagame and Félix Tshisekedi to participate in the same event could well be one of the challenges for Russian diplomacy during the preparation for the Summit, given the current antagonism between the DRC and Rwanda.
Finally, one cannot but mention an essentially new level of external pressure exerted by all parties on the countries of Africa within the walls ...