Welcome back to This Week in Peace, our weekly summary of events in global peacebuilding.
This week, South Sudan’s president and rebels signed a crucial “commitment to peace”, while Taiwan’s new president called for peace as China responded with military drills as “punishment”, and French President Macron’s call for an Olympic Truce in Ukraine went unheeded.
Hope for progress in South Sudan
In talks hosted by Kenya, South Sudan’s government and opposition groups signed a “commitment to peace” which aims to end the ongoing conflict in the world’s youngest country. While the content of the agreement is unknown, it is an important step forward to build peace between the government and rebel groups who were not included in the 2018 agreement that ended a long and violent civil war. With the country facing an ongoing economic crisis partly due to the ongoing civil war in Sudan, its neighbor to the north, this public commitment will help to keep the country on a path towards peace and democracy. South Sudan is scheduled to hold its first democratic elections at the end of this year, and commitments such as this one will help to ensure a peaceful election and transition of power.
Taiwan’s new president calls for peace, China responds with “punishment”
This week, Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, was sworn in. Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party are seen as the forefront of a strengthening Taiwanese identity and movement towards formal independence. In response, China, which views Taiwan as part of its own territory and has consistently threatened war if the island declares independence, launched military drills around the island, intended as “severe punishment” for “separatist” actions. Lai called for peace in his inauguration, but the Chinese response demonstrates the high risk of conflict in the region – which would have drastic consequences for the global economy and end Taiwan’s democracy, while also potentially spiraling into a global conflict involving the United States.
This highlights one of the issues with imposing a single framework or viewpoint on global peace. China has been a strong rhetorical supporter of the Palestinian cause, and criticizes Western hypocrisy on the issue. At the same time, it is one of the chief enablers of Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine, while proposing peace plans that would favor Russia and threatening war on Taiwan. Meanwhile, many Western states, most notably the United States, which support the self-determination of Taiwan and Ukraine, enable Israeli actions which make a Palestinian state impossible, and condemn Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine while ignoring Israel’s in Gaza. In all three cases, peace and self-determination are needed to prevent further suffering and conflict.
No Olympic Truce in 2024 despite Macron’s hopes
As a tribute to a truce declared during the Ancient Greek Olympic Games, the United Nations adopts a resolution calling for global peace before each edition of the games. French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is hosting the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, called for a truce during the games alongside Chinese president Xi Jinping earlier this year, specifically in Ukraine. Both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the call, for different reasons. Zelensky believes that a pause would give Russia an advantage on the ground, while Putin blamed the International Olympic Committee’s decision to prevent Russian athletes from competing under the Russian flag or nationality – a policy implemented after repeated doping scandals and the invasion of Ukraine. While the Olympic truce has an ancient history, it has unfortunately rarely been implemented in practice. The 2014 Winter Games were even hosted by Russia when it invaded and occupied Crimea. The spirit of the Olympic Games and the aspirational truce are important, even though they frequently collide with harsh political realities. Even though calls for a global ceasefire are unlikely to result in broad success, they are important to keep peace on the global agenda.
