Ukraine: Finding a Balance Between the EU and Russia
Ukraine is divided between pro-European and pro-Russian choices. The foreign policy choices that it makes over the coming months could have significance in terms of its relationship with the EU.
Between a Rock and a Cold Place? NATO and the Arctic
NATO has decided neither to retreat, nor to expand to fill the Arctic’s security governance vacuum. Instead, it will continue with its provision of collective security, and maintaining a ‘watching brief’.
Rent-a-Gob: Academics for Hire
Academics are constantly being asked to play white coated experts in the media, dispensing pearls of 20 second segmented wisdom about a particular issue. Whether or not what they say is intelligent is another matter.
Iran, the SCO and Major Geo-strategic Shifts in a Post-Ahmadinejad Era
The prospects for Iranian membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are likely to improve following the Iranian election. But, the move might be costly for Iran.
Review – Routledge Handbook of Civil-Military Relations
The Handbook fills a lacuna in the civil-military relations literature by offering up-to-date empirical analyses of civil-military relations in a variety of regime types around the world.
Beyond Chemical Weapons Control: Securing a Ceasefire and Broadening the Diplomatic Agenda on Syria
With diplomatic relations improving between the US and Russia, it is time to consider diplomacy-driven measures to achieve a UN Security Council Resolution that establishes a durable Syrian peace process.
War in Syria: The Proxy Element
While there is a strong element of a proxy war behind the fighting in Syria, the forces and interests involved are best understood in terms of inter-state relations going back more than a decade.
China and Russia: Common Themes in Counter-Terrorism
Xinjiang’s place within the global war on terrorism is interesting. China’s narrative on the issue has fascinating similarities with the Russian narrative on the conflict in Chechnya.
Opportunity and Peril in the North Korean Standoff
Most pundits have determined that Kim Jong Un has consolidated power and is now about to, irrationally, strike out against South Korea and her allies. But, what if this assumption is an error?
Review – Energy Dependency and Corruption in the Former Soviet Union
Margarita M. Balmaceda’s important book shows Ukraine’s struggle to free itself from Russia influence whilst highlighting that the benefits of energy dependency do not flow only to the hegemonic side.
