Arnemia: Europe’s next peacebuilding triumph?

by | Mar 7, 2008


As regular readers will be aware, my fellow Global Dashboard columnist Richard Gowan is never happier than when Europe is burnishing its peacebuilding credentials, whether on Iraq, Chad or elsewhere.  So we can all share in Richard’s joy when he learns that the Council of Europe has appointed former UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to lead a mission to rescue Armenia from its current instability. Prescott, it will be recalled, has in the past proved his mettle on conflict management in Kovosa and the Balklands, so we’re expecting great things.

Gowan replies: Alex is correct to guess at my excitement at this new twist.  I don’t know a huge amount about Armenia, but it seems to be a land of medieval vendettas, casual violence and incomprehensible oaths.  So sending Mr Prescott is an act of genius.

Author

  • Alex Evans

    Alex Evans is founder of Larger Us, which explores how we can use psychology to reduce political tribalism and polarisation, a senior fellow at New York University, and author of The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren’t Enough? (Penguin, 2017). He is a former Campaign Director of the 50 million member global citizen’s movement Avaaz, special adviser to two UK Cabinet Ministers, climate expert in the UN Secretary-General’s office, and was Research Director for the Business Commission on Sustainable Development. Alex lives with his wife and two children in Yorkshire.


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