There was never sufficient political will for an independent European security identity to be pursued in the early years of the Cold War. European states actively put their trust in the United States to act as guarantor for the continent.
The RMA has given COIN practitioners advantages in military “clearing” operations, but has failed to markedly improve them, leaving the insurgent with advantages.
Situated at a crossroad between Russia and the European Union, Ukraine was never able to cohesively decide and act with a foreign policy that was not chaotic or unsynchronized. Applying neutrality in practice to the case of Ukraine implies a serious step in foreign policy, for the country itself as well as for the region. Passing and implementing the needed legislation would imply finally taking a decisive step towards a much needed coherent foreign policy.
Lebow’s assertion that human beings can reach spiritual satisfaction through ever increasing levels of material consumption is not supported by empirical evidence. Recent psychological research sharply contradicts his hypothesis. According to James, a twenty-five year old American is between three and ten times more likely to be suffering from depression today than in 1950.
Ultimately Carr’s realist critique of utopianism is convincing because of the limitations of realism which he himself recognises and reconciles with his conception of utopia. The strength of realism lies in exposing the weakness of utopian thought. It is also noteworthy that realism and utopianism per se can be interpreted differently and the interplay between the two suggests that each has no absolute position.
The demobilisation of combatants during or after conflict is a crucial step towards achieving sustainable peace. This essay draws on the case of Colombia to illustrate the difficulties that this task poses.
This paper will focus on the question whether the emergence of democracy in Colombia can be explained based on the assumptions of the ‘sequentialist’ or ‘preconditionist’ theories as suggested, amongst many others, by Fareed Zakaria or Edward Mansfield and Jack Snyder, or if, by contrast, the views of ‘gradualists’ or ‘universalists’ such as Sheri Berman or Thomas Carothers are more indicated to explain and analyze Colombia’s democratic past, present and future.
This paper will examine the development of NATO throughout the post-Cold War era within the framework of the ‘neo-neo’ debate. Following a brief outline of the two theories, the activities of the alliance will be considered thematically, with conclusions drawn as to the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective in offering explanatory accounts.
This essay argues that whilst the destructive power of the atom bomb is significant, its contribution to stability in the latter half of the twentieth century is not. Indeed, it seems more likely that the contribution of nuclear weapons was to make a “long peace” seem less inevitable than it in fact was.
This essay seeks to refine Organski’s Power Transition Theory by decoupling the dominant state from the world system it embodies.
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