Regions

The European Court of Justice: An Agent of Member States?

Dilek Morgul • Apr 28 2011 • Essays

When they created the ECJ, the intentions of member states were to create a court which did not underestimate national sovereignty or national interest. However, the ECJ transformed the EU legal system, eventually blocking member state control over the ECJ.

A critical evaluation of the Lisbon Treaty

Ivaylo Iaydjiev • Apr 18 2011 • Essays

The Treaty of Lisbon is not a major step in advancing the institutional interests of the EU, but some of the new institutional arrangements and the ambiguities central to its main provisions have the potential to shift the process of European integration from formal treaties towards informal evolution of competences.

US Foreign Policy in Europe beween the end of the Cold War and 9/11

James Sloan • Apr 17 2011 •

The American-Russian relationship is best described as going from Cold War to Cold Peace, as articulated by the then Russian President Yeltsin. The 1990s essentially brought about a period in which the US sought to manage the uncertainties that the new world order was presenting.

US Navy and Chinese Navy: Partners or Rivals?

Wang Yinghui • Apr 14 2011 • Essays

Because of the deep mutual mistrust from both sides, especially the US concern over China’s military build-up, friction and cooperation will coexist in the development of the China-US naval relationship. Only when political mutual trust reaches a high level, can the military relationship stride forward beyond the stop and go cycle of the last 30 years.

Ending the Odyssey: A Necessary if Imperfect Proposal for Restoring the Peace in Libya

David Weinczok • Apr 13 2011 • Essays

While the lessons of the Libyan crisis for international relations are many, the most important lesson is the need to change the way that humanitarian interventions are conducted, as the violence experienced by civilians since the foreign intervention has increased substantially.

Is Russia an Independent and Unpredictable Power?

Joshua R. J. Burge • Apr 11 2011 • Essays

Russia has made a concerted attempt to become an ‘independent regional power’ since the demise of Yeltsin, with limited results in Eastern Europe, but with greater success in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Russia’s behaviour has been entirely predictable. Nonetheless, as China looks set to challenge Russian power in Central Asia in the future, Russia’s response remains unclear.

Chairman Mao’s Masterplan

Marina Popcov • Apr 8 2011 • Essays

Within the antagonism between capitalist and communist ideas in the period of the cold war the Sino-US rapprochement appears as a very out of character phenomenon, culminating in the spectacular visit of president Richard Nixon in 1972, as the first president to enter Chinese Communist soil.

Are Americans From Mars and Europeans From Venus?

James Sloan • Apr 8 2011 • Essays

In his book ‘Paradise and Power’, Robert Kagan states that since the falling of Soviet Russia, the apparent cracks between American and European psyches have become more apparent. As such, questions have been raised as to whether US-EU ideals were ever on the same axis.

The Challenge of AIDS in African Society

Alvaro Mellado Dominguez • Mar 31 2011 • Essays

African societies are already suffering from poverty, inequality and weak social cohesion. Since its emergence, HIV/AIDS has added a multifaceted layer of new dimensions to the former. It impacts on the economy, education and the food security of the household, creating a paradigm in which poverty is a challenge in stopping the HIV/AIDS epidemic and HIV/AIDS is a challenge in stopping poverty.

Accounting for the Resilience of the Taliban

Charles R. Lister • Mar 30 2011 • Essays

Despite a considerable advantage in terms of manpower, weaponry, funding and logistics, the international military presence in Afghanistan has been unable to defeat the Taliban insurgency. In fact, it could perhaps be argued that the presence of foreign troops on Afghan soil has been the instrumental factor in allowing the Taliban to not only survive, but to expand and prosper.

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