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  • Newsart for A Talking Cure for Syria

    A Talking Cure for Syria

    LONDON – The proposal by the United States and Russia to hold a diplomatic conference to end the carnage in Syria deserves a less skeptical …

  • Newsart for The Nuclear Illusion

    The Nuclear Illusion

    GENEVA – As delegates from 189 countries gather to prepare for the next Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, due in 201…

  • Newsart for The Human Thatcher

    The Human Thatcher

    LONDON – It is difficult to separate some of my personal memories of Margaret Thatcher – mundane but revealing – from the sweeping judgments…

  • Newsart for Valuing the United Nations

    Valuing the United Nations

    MELBOURNE – There is nothing like exposure to smart and idealistic young people to make jaded and world-weary policymakers and commentators …

  • Newsart for Keeping Calm on North Korea

    Keeping Calm on North Korea

    CANBERRA – North Korea’s latest nuclear test is bad news, both for Northeast Asia and for a world that needs to reduce its reliance on nucle…

  • Newsart for From Gaza to Where?

    From Gaza to Where?

    CANBERRA – The wisest words on the Second Gaza War may have come from an Israeli living in a kibbutz near the Gaza border. “If you want to d…

  • Newsart for Nuclear Disarmament Disarmed

    Nuclear Disarmament Disarmed

    SINGAPORE – US President Barack Obama’s foreign-policy landscape is littered with deflated balloons. Soaring speeches, high hopes, and great…

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Gareth Evans: History in Motion

Are hypocrisy and double standards a necessary part of diplomacy? When and how should military force be used to stop or prevent mass atrocities? Can a sustainable peace and balance of power be built in Asia? Is a nuclear arms race in the Middle East unavoidable?

History lies at the heart of many of the disputes that are sowing fear and conflict in today’s world: Russia’s bullying of its neighbors, fierce clashes over sovereignty from Kosovo to Taiwan, and explosive national and ethnic movements from Turkey to Tibet. Some of these historical quarrels are unfamiliar to outsiders, while others – morally complex and seemingly intractable – are inconvenient. Small wonder that only a few diplomats have the breadth of vision to tackle them.

Gareth Evans, Australia’s foreign minister for eight years and President & CEO of the International Crisis Group for another ten, has spent his career addressing such challenges. As foreign minister, Evans was among the first leaders to recognize Asia’s geopolitical shift, recasting Australia’s diplomacy and economic policy to deal with the region’s rising powers - China, India, and Indonesia. At the same time, he deepened Australia’s alliance with the United States; played a leading role in bringing peace to Cambodia and in the negotiations on the International Convention on Chemical Weapons; and was a founder of both the Asia/Pacific Economic Cooperation and ASEAN regional security forums.

Out of office, Gareth Evans has been just as active. Currently Chancellor of the Australian National University, and a professor of international relations at the University of Melbourne, he was  a principal architect of the new “responsibility to protect” doctrine adopted by the United Nations to ensure that the horrors of Rwanda and Bosnia were never repeated, and has been a leading international voice for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

From the Far East to the Middle East, from Brussels to Bali, Gareth Evans stands out as one of the most experienced and innovative statesmen of recent decades. Every month, History in Motion, written exclusively for Project Syndicate, brings his lucid brand of practical wisdom to bear on problems that others prefer to avoid.

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Gareth Evans

Gareth Evans, Australia’s foreign minister for eight years and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group, is currently Chancellor of the Australian National University and co-chair of the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect. As Foreign Minister, he was at the forefront of recasting Australia’s relationship with China, India, and Indonesia, while deepening its alliance with the US, and helped found the APEC and ASEAN security forums. He also played a leading role in bringing peace to Cambodia and negotiating the International Convention on Chemical Weapons, and is the principal framer of the United Nations’ “responsibility to protect” doctrine.

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