Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt
“Ending wars and creating lasting peace are rarely easy, and it usually requires an outright victory by one side (followed by a reasonable settlement that discourages the losers from trying to reverse the results) or mutual recognition that nothing is to be gained by continuing the fighting. In the latter case, both sides must accept that they are not going to get everything they want and focus instead on obtaining enough of what they need to be satisfied. In either case, however, a host of details need to be worked out …. Ideally, a peace agreement will also point the way to long-term reconciliation, a process that typically takes a long time. Evenhanded third-party mediators can facilitate all these steps and help guarantee that an agreement sticks. Trump is a poor peacemaker because he and his team ignore all these requirements.” (12/22/25)