An island of cooperation

The truth is we’re back to square one. The hope that Guterres’s visit might prove decisive has gone home to New York empty-handed. Or rather, shelved for another day.

Of course, if we fancy fooling ourselves, we can spin it more positively. We can keep picking apart the Secretary-General’s every word and celebrate the fact that he got the green light from the guarantor powers, meaning Turkey, to convene a five-party conference at some vague future date. Or that he kept the negotiating acquis...