Why was BMD so attractive to the Bush administration?
The Bush administration’s support for missile-defence was motivated by a desire to maintain freedom of action, and thus unipolar hegemony, vis-à-vis ostensibly un-deterrable rogue states. However, it is evident that BMD is strategically flawed, technically disputed and has the potential to destabilise existing arms dynamics.
Britain, Free Trade, and the Irish Potato Famine
Britain would have moved towards Free Trade in 1846-1860 even if the Irish Potato Famine had not occurred, due to the inability of the protectionist system to benefit the British economy in any significant way encouraged many to consider the alternative approach, namely free trade.
On Hamas: A fresh analysis of an old ‘problem’
The dominant Western rhetoric enforces the portrayal of Hamas as a static organisation, its violent and ‘fanatical’ behaviour rendering it as innately characteristic while contradictory evidence is marginalised as irrelevant. This myopic approach has failed to understand Hamas, and for peace ever to be achieved this paradigm must be broken.
Accounting for Hitler’s decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941
Within his work on Operation Barbarossa, Koch states that ‘the origins of the German invasion of Russia’ remain importantly ‘at the centre of historical debate’. A potential reason for this is the highly contentious roots of the decision to invade Russia in 1941; what exactly motivated Hitler to initiate an invasion that would inevitably result in Germany having to fight a war on two unsustainable fronts?
The Unique Character of the European Union
The EU is a modern political phenomenon that has risen out of the social, historical and economic context of the 20th century. It is a political system which is unique in comparison to all others. Although it has traits that bear resemblance to the political systems of federal states as well as intergovernmental organisations, it remains one of a kind.
Is the EU reaching the limits of enlargement?
In recent years support for eastward enlargement has lost momentum in both public and policy realms – opening up a debate over the concept of Europe itself . The question of Turkish accession in particular, has proved to be a crystallising point for many of the fundamental issues concerning widening in the 21st century.
The History, Politics and Ideology of Hamas
Hamas ultimately wishes for the end of Israel and the liberation of Palestine, but it thinks almost exclusively in short term goals and is open to the possibility of entering into negotiations. The dominant view in Israel seeks to stop Hamas getting any more of a foothold in Palestine than it already does, doubting the sincerity of its elements of moderation.
Chinese Involvement In Somalia: Policy Change or Status Quo?
During the 2000’s, the role of China in international organizations has undergone a significant shift. Chinese involvement in Somalia is a sign that that the non-interventionist approaches adopted by China since the end of the Cold War is now clashing with its increased interests in other areas of the world, particularly in Africa.
An Optimistic Memo on the Chinese Noopolitik: 2001-2011
Oscillating between isolationist, export substitution, and an all-out embrace of globalization’s manifold levers, being both Dragon and Phoenix, in spite of having suffered subordination to politically assertive empires from 1850 to 1950 and having notoriously “missed” the Industrial Revolution, China is resuming its otherwise ancient status of world innovator and economic superpower.
The Ongoing Relationship Between France and its Former African Colonies
France has attempted to maintain a hegemonic foothold in Francophone Africa to serve its interests and maintain a last bastion of prestige associated with past mastery. Do these relations retain an essentially colonialist character?
