Mariano Aguirre is a journalist and writer on international relations. He co-ordinates peace, security and human-rights matters at the Fundacion para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Dialogo Exterior (Fride), in Madrid. He is a fellow of the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam; former director of the Peace Research Center (CIP), Madrid; and former programme officer at the Ford Foundation in New York

Recent articles

The next Israeli-Palestinian conference can produce results only if there is strong political will to tackle the hardest issues, say Mariano Aguirre & Mark Taylor.

The privatisation of security in an era of disaggregated global war is breaking one of the basic pillars of the modern state: the monopoly of the use of force, argues Mariano Aguirre.

The predicament of the United Nations is the mismatch of large responsibilities and few powers to fulfil them. The solution is to be activist not fatalist, says Mariano Aguirre.

Bolivia's indigenous, nationalist, leftist leader Evo Morales has articulated an ambitious programme of economic and constitutional reform. The dysfunctional state and divided society he has inherited present him with huge challenges, report Mariano Aguirre and Isabel Moreno.

The United States's linkage of pre-emption and failed states reflects a shift of rhetoric that leaves untouched the freedom to wage endless war, says Mariano Aguirre.