Given how hard the task can be, conflict mediators should take the wins when they can get them. This is something the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump just learned firsthand.
Late last week, India and Pakistan appeared on the brink of all-out war. The two neighbors have fought numerous conflicts since gaining independence from the British Empire in 1947. The last major war between them was in 1999, but they have had a number of militarized and violent flareups in the decades since, including a similar border conflict in 2019. The flashpoint for all of them, as for this most recent crisis, was the disputed region of Kashmir, parts of which are controlled by both.
The precipitating event of the most recent crisis occurred in late April, when armed militants opposed to Indian rule killed 26 tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan, claiming that its government supports the militants and backed the attack; Pakistan’s government denied both charges. Nevertheless, India promised to retaliate for the attack and did so last Wednesday with a series of missile strikes against what New Delhi called sites of “terrorist infrastructure.”