Search

Begin New Search Topic International Community Political Geography Middle East

11. The UN and Sustainable Peace in Syria - Still Worth Debating

Author:
Patrycja Sasnal
Publication Date:
11-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Abstract:
Against all odds and despite its unimpressive effectiveness record, the United Nations remains the sole formal authority willing to and capable of facilitating a sustainable peace in Syria. The paper will analyse the role of the United Nations in Syria, and that of the major powers that most influence the UN and global events. It will examine to what extent past conflicts and their resolution are relevant to today’s Syrian war and whether the UN has learnt from its engagement in previous conflicts and scholarly research on it. It also argues that the Trump administration may be ready to let Bashar al-Assad retake the urbanised belt of Western Syria and then push the UN to mediate in the conflict with only a fraction of the opposition involved, which would de facto legitimise the government in Damascus anew, or recognise the end of the civil war altogether.
Topic:
United Nations, Syrian War, Crisis Management, International Community, and Peace
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

12. Promise to Keep: Time to end the international isolation of the Turkish Cypriots

Author:
Marsel Brus, Mensur Akgün, Steven Blockmans, Sylvia Tiryaki, Theo Van Den Hoogen, and Wybe Douma
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
The objective of writing this report has been twofold, namely, to assess the legal validity of the continuing international isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, and to demonstrate that lifting the isolation currently imposed on Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will not necessarily amount to – or require – its recognition as a nation-state. This report asserts that the isolationist policies directed towards the Turkish Cypriots living in the Northern part of the island do not have any legal basis and therefore should be revoked immediately. The point of departure for the study is to call on the fact that the EU membership of the RoC created a unique status for the Turkish Cypriot community, under both international and EU law.
Topic:
European Union, International Community, Nation-State, and Isolationism
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Cyprus, and Mediterranean