Monday Commentary

Monday commentary by Dr Dennis Sammut, Director of LINKS Europe and Managing Editor of commonspace.eu.

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Monday Commentary

Monday Commentary: As war in the Middle East rages on, it is necessary to keep sight of the big picture, and seek bold and ambitious solutions

23 March 2026

The war in the Middle East goes on. Most countries, governments and people think it was unnecessary and unjustified. The person who started it, and who has the power to stop it quickly, Donald Trump, has as much as admitted he had not thought the whole thing through properly. This war has already deformed the Middle East in ways we are just starting to understand. Its negative impact on the world, even if it stops tomorrow are going to be deep and long lasting. Some will despair. But governments, international organisations, and more broadly civil society, do not have this luxury. It is time to rethink, regroup, and develop a future strategy. For that it is necessary to look at the big picture. This is far from easy while the senseless war continues but it is necessary, and all those who can, in their different ways, need to contribute. On 19 March the EU had a summit of the leaders of the 27 member states in Brussels. It was a serious, somber affair, overshadowed by the war in the Middle East, and the political and economic fallout from it. Big decisions were taken. The European leaders also met with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres. Both the EU and the UN are large organisations, that often look dysfunctional. But for the future if the world, post the Trump war in the Middle East, both are vital The commitment of both to multilateralism at this precise moment, when the concept appears broken, is welcome. The world must recognize that the present crisis, is the biggest challenge since WWII. The solutions must be equal to the challenge. They must also be bold and ambitious. The EU working with the UN is one of the few, maybe only, actor that can make a difference. But this will require political will and determination. The Brussels EU meeting on 19 March gave a hint of that. But we are not there yet. ---- Monday Commentary will take a two-week Easter break, and will next be published on 13 April 2026. In the meantime however, commonspace.eu will continue to be updated daily. (Click the picture above to read the full Monday Commentary).

Dennis Sammut

Editor's choice

Monday Commentary

Monday Commentary: Armenians and Azerbaijanis are carving a new South Caucasus

16 February 2026

For many years, the international community was telling the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan to prepare their populations for peace. Instead, they prepared them for war, which eventually came in 2020, followed by a period of uncertainty. In the last year the two sides turned the page. In March 2025 they agreed the elements of a peace agreement. On 8 August, at a historic meeting in the White House, this agreement was initialed. Since then, the two sides have taken huge, unprecedented steps to achieve peace and reconciliation. On 13 February, twenty Azerbaijani civil society experts walked across the border with Armenia, presented their passports at an Armenian border checkpoint and entered Armenia, to be welcomed by 20 Armenian counterparts, with who they spent the next two days discussing future regional peace and co-operation. The symbolism and importance of this event is huge. Even if you accept that this was a tightly choreographed affair, managed by the two governments, its importance is unquestionable. There will now be a “return” event. The 20 Armenians involved in the process will go to Azerbaijan. The arrival of the large Azerbaijani group in Armenia was in the framework of the “Peace Bridge”, which started taking shape in October of last year. This has two characteristics, which make it special, relevant and ground breaking. The first is that the initiative not only has government backing, but has two important “patrons” – presidential adviser in Azerbaijan, Hikmet Haciyev; and Armenian National Security Council Secretary, Armen Grigoryan. These two men did most of the heavy lifting behind the scenes to get the peace process on the right track. So there is a bit of a haze between track 1 and track 2, but in this case it is all for the better. The second important element, is that this is an all-local initiative. There is no foreign funding; no external NGO, or any other outside involvement. This is hugely significant and important. One also needs to commend the transparency of the process. The names of those participating on both sides were published.There is no conflict anymore between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenians and Azerbaijanis, at official level, and at civil society level, are talking directly to each other without intermediaries. This is something to be celebrated. That part of our work is done, and we should be happy and satisfied. We contributed as much as anyone so that the sides could reach this point. Now its time to move on. (click image to read the full Monday Commentary)

Dennis Sammut