ON LIQUID ALLIANCES AND RIVALRIES

Alliances are nowadays less stable but rather handled pragmatically, which gives the impression of a certain political “liquidity” whilst rivalries remain rather stable.

Six years after the outbreak of the Syrian crisis and three years after the IS takeover in parts of Syria and Iraq there is still no sign of stable peace. Many formats for negotiations have failed and warring parties show no signs of exhaustion. Alliances and rivalries are increasingly liquid. Key players join forces on one issue and are at odds elsewhere. Hostilities are unlikely to cease even after the so-called “Islamic State” is defeated militarily. This said the international community shows signs of exhaustion in dealing with the crisis in a meaningful way. On Hegemonies and Alliances 3.0 will address the international community's role, responsibility and its potential to solve the crisis.

Welcome: Hannes Swoboda, Chairman of IIP, Board of BKF
ALCARO Ricardo, Istituto Affari Internazionali IAI Rome
ALLIN Dana IISS, Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Affairs
ÖZEL Soli, Kadir Has University, Istanbul
KHANFAR Wadah, Al-Sharq Forum, Istanbul
AMBERIN ZAMAN,expert on Turkey and the Kurds and a columnist for the Washington DC based online news portal Al-Monitor

Moderator: Gudrun HARRER

In Cooperation with the Directorate for Security Policy, Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports, the International Institute for Peace (IIP) the Austrian Association for the Middle East, the Institute for Global Studies, Rome-Brussels and the Al Sharq Forum Istanbul

Curated by: Walter Posch, Senior Fellow at Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management (IFK)