‘May you live in interesting times – in Ukraine’

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Almost six months ago I wrote about the prospects for reform in Ukraine following the decisive election of a new president and parliament, driven by the desire of the voting public for major reform and stabilization of a country still involved in an ongoing conflict.

Since then, the new government has frequently been tested by complex challenges at home and abroad, testing its endurance while already challenged with the immense task of reforming and restoring public trust ... Read entire post »

Peace-making and cheese-making in Georgia

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Exactly ten years had passed since I last worked in Georgia, when I returned for my deployment to the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM), in the country that has a special place in my heart. I arrived with so much curiosity and excitement, wondering how Georgia had developed and recovered after the war in 2008. The first thing that struck me was the condition of the cars, where were all the dilapidated Ladas and Volgas that used ... Read entire post »

Revising the UN guidelines for support to the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants: a high-hanging fruit

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One of my first tasks as a desk officer at FBA, working with disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants, was to assist in arranging a conference in Stockholm. As the conference approached, I understood that the goal – to unite the 25 UN agencies of the Inter-Agency Working Group on DDR and come to agreement on the way forward for the revision of the Integrated DDR Standards (IDDRS) – was more complicated than I ... Read entire post »