International

How the chance was lost for a Peace settlement of the Ukraine war

The West wanted to continue the war instead

A detailed reconstruction by General (ret.) Harald Kujat* and Professor Hajo Funke**

Preliminary remark

by Michael von der Schulenburg***

This is a detailed reconstruction of the Ukrainian-Russian peace negotiations in March 2022 and the associated mediation attempts by the then Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, supported by President Erdogan and former German Chancellor Schröder.

It was drawn up by retired General H. Kujat and Professor Emeritus H. Funke, two of the initiators of the recently presented peace plan for Ukraine. And it is also in connection with their peace plan that this reconstruction is so extremely important.

US embarks on proxy war against Iran

by M. K. Bhadrakumar,* India

(30 November 2023) A massive US naval deployment in a wide arc of the so-called Greater Middle East is under way – stretching from Crete in the Eastern Mediterranean, into the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb and into the Gulf of Aden and all the way into the Gulf of Oman. This deterrent display may transform as large scale offensive operations and aims to rework the geopolitical alignments and bring them back to the traditional grooves of intra-regional rivalries in the Gulf region.
Middle East

Why Israel wants to erase the context in the war on Gaza

The dehistoricisation of what is happening helps Israel pursue genocidal policies in Gaza

by Ilan Pappe,* Israel/England

(23 November 2023) On October 24, a statement by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres caused a sharp reaction by Israel. While addressing the UN Security Council, the UN chief said1 that while he condemned in the strongest terms the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, he wished to remind the world that it did not take place in a vacuum. He explained that one cannot dissociate 56 years of occupation from our engagement with the tragedy that unfolded on that day.

US, Israel to open second front in Lebanon

by M. K. Bhadrakumar,* India

(16 November 2023) The announcement late Sunday night by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquartered in Doha about the arrival of a Ohio-class American nuclear submarine in its “area of responsibility” presages a significant escalation of the situation around the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Middle East

Israel and the United Nations

by Karin Leukefeld,* Germany/Syria

(16 November 2023) Israel has problems with the United Nations. When it comes to the country’s conflict with Palestine, Israeli diplomats quickly are out of control and challenge the world organisation and its member states. The ongoing bombardment of the population in Gaza, of densely populated neighbourhoods, refugee camps, schools, hospitals, civilian infrastructure, journalists and their families show that Israel is ignoring central agreements of international law.

The great Chinese realignment

by Guy Mettan,* Geneva

(16 November 2023) Responding to a Chinese invitation, I participated for around eight days in various meetings organised on the “Third New Silk Roads Summit” which was held in Beijing on October 17 and 18. By its scale, this forum was the largest international event since the Winter Olympic Games were held in February 2022. More than 130 countries, dozens of heads of state, prime ministers, and ministers from all backgrounds and all obediences were to be seen there, with the notable exclusion of Westerners and the G7, only represented by neighbouring Japan and a few leaders from the Balkans.