This week has been, without any doubt, incredibly important for the near future of the international community! It started with the Afghanistan Conference in The Hague, continued in London with the G20 Summit and now moves on to Strasbourg and Prague. But, are all those big words expressed by world leaders really true? The answer is probably mixed. Of course the show and dinner parties are still dominating these kind of events. But to say it was totally meaningless would be a lie. At the end, evening diplomacy with a glass of wine in the hand is sometimes more effective than the dialogues during the actual conferences.
First of all the Afghanistan conference succeeded in approaching both Iranian and US delegations to work together at some aspects. A very first approach to Iran, after decades of hostility, was made by Obama a week ago during a video message. This message was however received negatively by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Jamenei. Despite this Iranian diplomats seem to have accepted to take a first step towards reconciliation with the US. Hopefully this is only a first step in new and positive direction, which could cause not only some relief in Afghanistan, but also in a big part of the Middle East and last but not least in Iran itself. However this process is still in an early stage, we could start dreaming of Iran opening up and the international community lifting its sanctions. Lets not forget that these sanctions are of above all politically inspired and affect especially the poorest inhabitants, not its leaders.
Furthermore the US announced a reorientation of its policies towards Afghanistan. Apart from the increase of troops and the cooperations with Afghanistan's neighbors, also civil efforts would be enforced with the help of other NATO members. Of course it is difficult to say weather these changes will actually stabilize the country, but it looks as a move in the right direction.
The G-20 summit in London, was another important meeting held this week and was meant to tackle the problems of the current economical crisis. Also here it is difficult to say weather the measures taken could actually solve such a complex problem and mean more than a one or two days of optimism in Wall Street. Lets above all not focus on the billions, which after all where partly just a reaffirmation of earlier promises! The focus has to be instead at the causes of the problem: credits, hedge funds, ... So yes, it seems to me, that within the boundaries of the reasonable and the opportune re-regulation is necessary! If not we will soon have a re-encounter with this financial crisis.
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