Post-Brexit security cooperation between the UK and Europe
In December 2021, Christopher Guest More was convicted, along with 3 others, of killing Brian Waters – more than 18 years after the murder. More left the country for Spain two days after the killing, later settling in Malta, where he was living under a false name. It was not until 2019 that he was […]
China’s strategic interest in the Arctic
Beijing has long considered the Arctic to be important to its strategic, economic, and environmental interests. In accordance with international legal treaties, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Spitsbergen Treaty, China has rights in the Arctic high seas such as scientific research, freedom of navigation and overflight, fishery, […]
Is China waging economic war on America?
In 2018, in an interview with Australian television channel ABC, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, was asked about the ongoing trade war between the United States and China. He interrupted the interviewer to say: This is not a trade war…we’re in an economic war with China, ok? Not a trade war. China’s been […]
A resurgent TTP in Pakistan
Last week, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced its withdrawal from a month long ceasefire agreement with the government, accusing Islamabad of reneging on its promise to release a number of TTP prisoners, while also accusing the government of conducting raids and arrests in TTP strongholds. Following the end of the ceasefire, the group promised a […]
Harmonizing Europe’s Military and Counter-Terrorism Capabilities
At the end of October this year, the Bison Counter 2021 kicked off. The European Defence Agency (EDA) supported multinational Counter-IED exercise hosted this year by the Italian Armed Forces in Sardinia, brings together teams from Europe and the US. Bison Counter is today the largest and most relevant EU exercise of the C-IED community. […]
Lukashenko and the weaponization of migrants
The migrant crisis at the Poland-Belarus border rumbles on with thousands still stranded on the Belarusian side. The crisis began in late August, when Belarus began offering tourist visas to asylum seekers from the Middle East, then shepherded them to the borders of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. In response, neighbouring countries began to fortify their […]
Will China invade Taiwan?
As tensions continue to escalate between China and Taiwan, the question of war is brought ever closer. At the beginning of last month, China sent a record number of military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defence zone, marking the largest ever incursion. While such incursions do frequently happen, the scale and volume of the latest military […]
Rifaat al-Assad’s return to Syria
Rifaat Al-Assad, the uncle of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, who left Syria after an alleged coup attempt in 1984, was allowed back into the country last month after his conviction for laundering embezzled funds in a French court was upheld. His return marked the end of a 37-year period spent in exile in Europe where […]
It’s Not Only Guns, Emotions Matter Too
According to Robert Cox, “theory is always for someone and for some purpose”.[1] Theories enable us to make sense of the world of international actors, states and non-state actors alike. Mainstream International Relations (IR) has predominantly relied on rational explanations and tangible evidence so as to understand the world around us. Yet, there has been […]
Hichilema: A New Dawn For Africa?
In August, Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in as the new president of Zambia after defeating the outgoing Edgar Lungu by almost one million votes in a bitterly contested election. Hichilema’s inauguration marks the third time that power has peacefully shifted to opposition parties in Zambia. He faces a number of competing priorities in his first […]