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Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, my dear readers and friends! This year I wish you to receive the gift that your heart needs the most, which is different for everyone. For me this gift is peace.
In January 2022, after the Christmas and New Year celebrations, my nephew from the United States, who was visiting us in London, asked me: “What will be the most important issue in international relations in the next ten years?” I didn’t hesitate for a second: “the problem of international security”. The war in Ukraine began four weeks after our conversation. Even then, I spent the Christmas and New Year’s holidays with a certain anxiety about the future.
Today, three years later, the world is a much less safe place. In addition to Ukraine and Russia, conflicts are plaguing the Middle East, Africa, and military tensions are rising on the Korean peninsula and around Taiwan.
War divides people, destroys families and friendships, and robs our future. At Christmas 2024, praying for peace is more relevant than ever.
According to the Global Peace Index 2024, the world is now at a crossroads with 56 conflicts ranging across the planet. This is the highest number since World War II. They have become…