1946: A Year of Ideological Preconceptions
The view that the Truman administration took in the lead up to, and during, the critical year of 1946 consequently affected the government’s actions when dealing with the Soviet Union.
What makes a successful sanctions regime?
This essay explores the partial “success” of sanctions in Libya and their “failure” in the case of North Korea, before looking at the issue of integrative complexity and the current sanctions regime in Iran.
Assessing Japan’s and China’s strategic relationships with the USA
The Asia-Pacific’s emerging powers are translating their prosperity into military power. In such a context, the relationships between the two regional powers and the United States, are crucial.
The power politics of multi-lateral engagement
Super-powers can be selective in their multi-lateral engagements. That is their problem. Middle-ranking powers cannot, that it is theirs.
Parallels between the Bush Doctrine and Obama Administration Policy
The election of Barack Obama as president in 2009 was thought to be the symbolic end of the Bush doctrine and its associated neoconservative underpinnings. This essay however seeks to challenge this notion by examining the parallels between the Bush doctrine and the policies of the Obama administration.
The Abatement of Insurgency in Iraq and the Re-emergence of Insurgency in Afghanistan
Although Western publics are not casualty-phobic and presently pay little attention to body counts as the ultimate barometer for success, they are wary of supporting wars with low prospects for ultimate triumph, and casualty rates and patterns can help formulate more nuanced policy opinions.
Is the factor of economic decline sufficient to explain UK defence policy after 1945?
Economics have a profound influence on defence policy regardless of country. One merely needs to observe the debates on expenditure today for a look at how even a superpower like the United State’s armed forces is constrained by defence budgets. While the same holds true for the UK, it has been more noticeable since 1945 with Britain’s declining power and prestige.
Of Regional Complexes and Global Powers: The Power Capacity of the EU
The EU is already the hegemon within its geographic region but to be considered a credible actor in international affairs it needs to stabilize regimes in its neighbourhood more rapidly and successfully than competitors like China and India can manage in their own regions.
The Israel Lobby and the U.S. National Interest
Mearsheimer and Walt’s illustration of the Israel lobby has led to a wide debate on the the domestic influences on foreign policy. Their thesis exaggerates the ability of interest groups to divert foreign policy, and their notion of national interest can be criticised as not in line with those who make foreign policy.
International Intervention in Croatia during the Yugoslav Wars
This essay examines the international intervention in Croatia, arguing that while Western powers did achieve some minor victories, international diplomacy failed to accomplish its main objectives and in several cases even exacerbated the violence and disintegration in Croatia.
