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As British Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepares to make a big decision next month on whether the UK will officially recognize the state of Palestine, the reality is that Europe’s voice in the Arab-Israeli conflict has rarely been weaker.

Eight decades on, relatively few people recall the historical significance of Aug. 15, 1945. Yet, the surrender of Japan on that day, ending the Second World War, was a pivotal moment in 20th-century history.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed hope that this year’s Osaka Expo will help restore global unity in a divided world. Yet, while that grand goal is unlikely to be fully realized, the big event is having a positive impact on international relations.

It was not many years ago that Narendra Modi’s reputation in Europe, and much of the rest of the world, was dogged by controversy surrounding his political past. However, the Indian prime minister is now widely feted internationally.

French-UK relations have often been in the political and economic “deep freeze” since Brexit. Yet the two G7 and G20 nations have reemerged in recent years as regional leaders, including building Europe’s relationship with US President Donald Trump’s administration.