World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

There have been repeated stabbings and cars ramming into civilians in the Occupied West Bank over the last few months.  The violence remains at a relatively low, but steady, level.  Some analysts believe that this stretch of violence represents the third intifada (uprising) in Israeli-Palestinian relations (the first two were in 1987 and 2000).  Other analysts believe that the conflict remains manageable.  Whether it qualifies as a full-fledged uprising is beside the point.  The essential point is that the tension in the Palestinian population is palpable and has no where to go.  The Palestinians do not trust their own leadership (President Abbas has unilaterally extended his term of office since 2009 without authority), the Israelis, or the US.

There have been marches and protests all across the globe today in support of the COP-21 climate talks which start in Paris.   Marchers in France were banned from assembling because of security concerns, but they used great creativity and left 10,000 pairs of shoes at the Place de la Republique instead.  We already have commitments by some countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.  According to The Guardian:

The EU will cut its emissions by 40%, compared with 1990 levels, by 2030. The US will cut its emissions by 26% to 28%, compared with 2005 levels, by 2025. China will agree that its emissions will peak by 2030.

Nations responsible for more than 90% of global emissions have now come up with their targets – known in the UN jargon as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions or INDCs .

Unfortunately, with these commitments, the world still falls short of its goal: “Analysis of the INDCS, endorsed by the UN, has suggested that these pledges are enough to hold the world to about 2.7C or 3C of warming.”

Niall Ferguson, a commentator with whom I mostly disagree, has written a biography of Henry Kissinger, a statesperson whose policies I abhorred.  Interestingly, however, the theme of the biography is something with which I agree:  that the study of history is indispensable to good diplomacy.   Apparently, we all agree with Thucydides: “The present, while never repeating the past exactly, must inevitably resemble it. Hence, so must the future.”