By Nicolai N. Petro
Religious conflict in Ukraine has been much in the news of late, ever since President Petro Poroshenko very publicly embraced the ambitious idea of creating a single, unified Orthodox Christian church out of the country’s many Orthodox denominations. This idea, long dear to the hearts of Ukrainian nationalists, kept the issue on the front pages of the media in Ukraine, Russia, and other predominantly Orthodox countries for most of 2018.
Read MoreBy Loren Voss
There is a startling similarity across the globe in the language politicians and media organizations use to describe people fleeing for their lives. In response to a growing number of desperate and displaced people, the rhetoric coming from governments and newspapers is largely the same—these “others” threaten our beloved nation—letting them in would destroy its very foundation.
Read MoreBy Sir Roderic Lyne
As Putin enters his next six-year stretch (which will be punctuated, mid-term, by Duma elections in 2021), two related questions will arise. First, can Putin – a man who trusts few people — develop a successor from the next generation who is strong enough to control Russia’s baronies, and whom he can trust to protect him, his family, his associates, and their vast wealth? Second, what will Putin seek to achieve in possibly his last term in office?
Read MoreBy Aiden Warren and Alek Hillas
That landscape of war and how it is conducted is changing exponentially. For the first time in history, humankind is confronted with the prospect that autonomous robots may join the battlefield.
Read MoreBy Zeinab Khalil
The project of gender mainstreaming has gained much clout in global affairs, and particularly in women in development (WID) networks. This article analyzes gender mainstreaming, which was configured by European feminist policymakers and liberal developmentalist discourses, through the lens of postcolonial theory and feminist political economy.
Read MoreBy Behbod Negahban
Analysts commonly depict Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as the prime mover behind the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy. This paper will challenge this view, arguing that the IRGC both pressures and enables the Supreme Leader to adopt hard-line policies through its influence on three aspects of the regime.
Read MoreBy Nicki Softness
Historical analysis of Russia’s strategic military choices suggests that the state would prioritize the United States’ information technology (IT) and communications critical infrastructure as key cyber targets. In reaction to such an attack, the United States would have to choose from a spectrum of military and intelligence counter-responses, ranging from lower-level alternatives, to those with high potential for escalation.
Read MoreBy Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Antarctica has been a commercial and political battleground ever since its discovery, with silent competition for its resources still in full swing. If not carefully managed, the “Question of Antarctica,” as the United Nations has called it, could once again burst onto the international stage. Antarctica’s political and environmental future hangs in balance.
Read MoreBy Dira T. Fabrian
Article 35 of the ASEAN Charter, signed in 2008, states that “ASEAN shall promote its common ASEAN identity and a sense of belonging among its peoples in order to achieve its shared destiny, goals and values.” But what is a Southeast Asian identity, and how can it be promoted?
Read MoreBy Luis Ferreira Alvarez
Mercosur — a free trade and custom union formed in 1991 between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay (and later joined by Venezuela) — promotes the free movement of goods and people across the zone. Mercosur’s members have benefited from having integrated markets that expand their commerce. The South American bloc, like the European Union, can sign free trade agreements only as a bloc.
Read MoreBy Ariya Hagh and Peyman Majidzadeh
“Dear citizens! Attention please, attention please: Tehran is now free.” Such was the content of an anonymous message widely shared on the messaging app Telegram in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 elections in Iran.
Read MoreBy Michael Darden
On November 5, 2015, a tailing dam in the state of Minas Gerais (in the southeast of Brazil) ruptured. It released an estimated fifty million tons of iron ore waste into neighboring areas. It has quickly become the country’s worst environmental disaster. Seventeen people were killed and entire towns were submerged by the thick toxic sludge, which seeped into the Rio Doce river basin, traveled downstream, and has begun to spill into the Atlantic Ocean.
Read MoreBy Gita Murti
In the coming months, ASEAN watchers will witness whether the motto “One Vision, One Identity, One Community” will become a reality or remain a lofty aspiration.
Read MoreBy Sven-Eric Fikenscher
For the time being, JCPOA-related restrictions will keep Iran relatively far away from the nuclear weapons option, but Iran could undermine those restraints by cheating. U.S. policy vis-à-vis Iran should be informed by the likelihood that cheating takes place and should endeavor to decrease whatever incentive Iran might have to cheat.
Read MoreBy Faiqa Mahmood
Covert drone strikes in Pakistan target terrorists and militants belonging to al-Qaeda and its associated groups. Proponents of the current drone policy assert that the United States increasingly relies upon drones for one simple reason: they work. But do they?
Read MoreBy Luis Ferreira Alvarez
On April 21, 2015, an estimated half a million Brazilians took to the streets to call for President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment over the billions embezzled from Petrobras (Brazil’s semi-public energy company). Yet President Rousseff did not even have to leave office to lose her power. Four days earlier, Rousseff gave her vice president, Michel Temer, who is from a different political party, control over her political agenda with Congress, effectively leaving her a lame-duck president with four years remaining in her second term. To regain control, Rousseff will need to focus her efforts on two priorities: lifting a stagnant economy and mitigating the fallout from Petrobras’ massive corruption scandal.
Read MoreBy Stephanie L. Schmidt
Four years after independence, South Sudan is still struggling to establish a new political system. This article lays out a strategy for developing interventions to achieve substantive rule of law goals by analyzing the context, national capacities, and needs and desires of the population.
Read MoreUnderlying many of ASEAN’s initiatives is an emphasis on “ASEAN centrality”—the notion of ASEAN’s leading role in the regional architecture—a principle that has framed the way ASEAN has approached its external relations, in particular with the major powers, to ensure that its interests are protected and the regional stability preserved. Notwithstanding ASEAN’s best efforts, such an approach has not always resulted in success.
Read MoreBy Anders Fridén
Sweden should join NATO as soon as possible in order to provide a credible territorial defense, balance the security interests of Sweden and other regional actors, enhance the influence of the country within the European security context, and reap the benefits of coordinated defense and interoperability that participation in NATO would provide.
Read MoreBy Lauren Eades
Since December 2006 when then-president Felipe Calderón declared war on the cartels, over 100,000 Mexicans have been murdered, at least 30,000 have disappeared, and kidnappings have skyrocketed—with 132,000 kidnappings taking place in 2013 alone.
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