CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Imaginary Peace Treaties and the Cease-Fire Illusion

Bill Clinton mediates the handshake between Yitzak Rabin and Yassir Arafat outside the White House on September 13, 1993. Photo: White House Historical Association.

“A truce [between Lebanon and Israel] that has been in effect since April 17 has never been respected,” AFP reported. So what exactly is a cease-fire worth if the fighting continues? From Lebanon to Ukraine, cease-fires are announced with great fanfare and violated with remarkable speed. Yet politicians and commentators still speak as if a truce were the same thing as peace. Donald Trump is one of the worst violators of this confusion. Trump’s claims to have ‘ended’ eight wars follow a familiar pattern. A cease-fire becomes peace, a negotiation becomes a deal, and a temporary pause in fighting becomes the end of a war. Trump’s declarations belie the underlying reality that the conflicts he refers to remain unsettled—much like a schoolyard fight is declared “over” the moment the children are pulled apart.

Did Trump really “end” eight wars? Are the underlying conflicts actually over? Lebanon remains unstable. Iran and Israel continue to exchange threats and attacks. Russia and Ukraine are still at war. The Houthis still fire missiles. Gaza remains unresolved. Kashmir remains disputed. The Democratic Republic of Congo remains violent. These claims often amount to relabelling partial stabilization, normalization, or temporary pause as a final resolution. If these wars were truly “ended” by Trump, nobody seems to have informed the combatants, civilians killed in the fighting, or the millions suffering and displaced.

Cease-fires are among the most celebrated and least understood achievements in modern diplomacy. They generate headlines, press conferences, handshakes, and declarations of success. (See the famous September 13, 1993, photo of Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat White House handshake from the Oslo peace process.) Many cease-fires are violated almost immediately. Some collapse within days. Others survive on paper long after they have ceased to exist in reality. What is the value of the cease-fire? The New York Times headlined recently: “Israeli Strike Kills 3 Lebanese Soldiers, Days After Truce Was Signed.” While there may be benefits to agreements intended to halt fighting, the cease-fire glass appears not merely half-empty, but nearly drained. Too........

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