Diplomacy & Crisis News

Voicing deep concern at the continuing escalation of violence in Burundi, the United Nations Security Council today called for urgent acceleration of mediation efforts by East African States and urged all Burundian stakeholders to fully cooperate with a proposed African Union (AU) peace-keeping mission.

Long before Donald Trump’s demonizing of Muslims, the Founding Fathers debated whether Islam should be defended.

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Crisis Group welcomes yesterday’s bold decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC) authorising the deployment of an African Prevention and Protection Mission in Burundi (MAPROBU) to halt the slide toward civil war and mass atrocities. The humanitarian situation in the country is increasingly dire. More than 200,000 refugees have fled across its borders, and each dawn reveals fresh corpses in the streets of the capital, Bujumbura. UN officials warn that without immediate action the situation risks descending into “catastrophic violence”.

As United Nations-sponsored consultations on Yemen continued today, the UN envoy facilitating the talks expressed deep concern at numerous reports of violations of the three-day-old ceasefire and urged the parties to respect that agreement and allow access to the country’s most-affected districts.

In its first resolution to focus on the politics of ending Syria’s five-year-long war, the Security Council today gave the United Nations an enhanced role in shepherding the opposing sides to talks for a political transition, with a timetable for a ceasefire, a new constitution and elections, all under UN auspices.

The Russian leader has been stirring the pot from Crimea to Syria — but to what end?

A doctor on trial for comparing President Erodgan to Gollum is only the most visible example of Ankara's growing crackdown on freedom of expression.

President Obama likened the search for lone-wolf terrorists to finding mass shooters.

Pakistan may be winning the war against radicals on the battlefield, but it’s losing the war for hearts and minds.

With the small Central African country spiraling toward chaos, the AU may be about to make an unprecedented decision to force a peacekeeping mission.

Worldwide wood production has undergone a revival over the past year as it has seen the greatest leap since the global economic downturn of 2008-2009, according to the latest data released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Gravely concerning at continued reports that human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Hebron, are being subjected to physical attacks and death threats, United Nations independent experts today denounced such harassment as “unacceptable” and called for it to end immediately.

Pakistanis hope that the army’s new chief of staff, Raheel Sharif, will crack down on militants and boost security. But can one man change a corrupt legal system and prejudiced security infrastructure?

Cold War-era deterrence theory won't cut it anymore.

Ninety per cent of voters in the Central African Republic (CAR) are in favour of the new Constitution, according to partial election results, while campaigning is now under way for the presidential elections and the final list of parliamentary candidates has been published, the United Nations mission in the country reported today.

Forced displacement this year is likely exceed all previous records, for the first time topping 60 million, meaning that one out of every 122 persons on Earth has been forced to flee their home, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.

After five years of discord, Ankara and Jerusalem are ready to mend ties, driven in no small part by Turkey’s desire to get access to Israeli natural gas.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today joined diplomats from the International Syria Support Group meeting in New York to discuss a solution to the country’s five-year war, and he is expected to brief the Security Council later today on the latest developments.

Concerned over growing polarization of political debate concerning refugees in some countries, the United Nations today released guidance aimed at helping States deal with security concerns while maintaining refugee protection, saying the two were not “mutually exclusive.”