Global Outlook

Two unilaterally taken foreign and security policy decisions by the Biden administration within a few weeks made Europeans stand there at a loss. Since the departure of Donald Trump as President of the United States, has only the tone in transatlantic relations changed but not the substance of the "America first" policy?

The diplomatic tug-of-war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States over restoration of the Iran nuclear agreement (officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) seems almost perennial. The two sides have engaged in brinkmanship, seeking to score maximum benefit against one another.

The current Australian government is lagging far behind other developed countries on climate policies. It has been criticised domestically and internationally for its lack of commitment and efforts, not least from its neighbours in the Pacific. Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are particularly exposed and vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and they are at the forefront of international diplomatic initiatives on climate change.

So what next for Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS) after the systemic transition we currently appear to be undergoing? Peace and conflict studies, despite the positives noted in Part 1, failed to see much of this recent phase coming (with some honourable exceptions) when in the past it had been a lone voice in the desert in the run up to new wars.

Global tectonic plates are shifting, geopolitically and environmentally, as well as in epistemological terms. Conflict indicators and related data are flashing red across the spectrum. This is despite some dreadfully self-centred and Euro-centric, journalistic analyses that suggest violence has permanently declined.

After 20 years of American and NATO occupation, the Taliban takeover in Kabul might seem like a return to a pre-9/11 Afghanistan with a Pakistan-supported regime in power. Yet, 20 years on, fundamental differences present significant difficulties for all the powers in the region.