Category Regional

Asia Pacific, Security & Conflict

The Dual-Use Nature of Space Launch Vehicles and Ballistic Missiles and the Complexities

October 17, 2024

Space Launch Vehicles (SLVs) are gaining prominence, even among developing states, as a means of exerting greater influence and leverage in space. These technologies not only add to a state’s technological prowess, contributing to its power and prestige, but also…

Civil Society, Governance & Law, North America

To Defeat Populism, Bring Back the Fireside Chats

October 11, 2024

The world is facing a new generation of challenges that are of a different kind, degree, and dimension than those of the past. Many are borderless, including some that present existential risks to humanity. Many are interrelated, multiplying and magnifying…

Asia Pacific, International Development

Rethinking Urban Employment Guarantees in India

September 27, 2024

As India becomes more urbanized, there will be significantly higher demand for public services and welfare support in urban areas. There is a need to extend income and consumption support schemes, similar to the flagship rural employment scheme (MNREGA), into…

Africa, Civil Society, Security & Conflict

Assessing Twenty-Five Years of Democracy in Nigeria

September 3, 2024

Twenty-five years ago, the Federal Republic of Nigeria transitioned from military rule to a democratic system. During a colorful event in Abuja attended by leaders worldwide on May 29, 1999, the military transferred power to Olusegun Obasanjo, the democratically elected…

Europe, Policy & Politics, Security & Conflict

The Insecurities of Putin’s Russia

June 6, 2024

Professor Jef Huysmans at Queen Mary University of London describes insecurity as a politically and socially constructed phenomenon, and argues that insecurities arise from institutional and political reactions to a threat. In his interpretation, “a threat functions as an event…

Civil Society, Middle East, Photo Essays

Freefalling Afghanistan: A Pictorial Journey Through Two-and-a-Half Years of Taliban Rule

April 28, 2024

February 2020 Doha Accord holds the secret of the Taliban’s freedom and rule in Afghanistan. This picture was taken when the Taliban fighters were cruising through Kabul’s streets, triumphing over the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and celebrating…

Asia Pacific, Policy & Politics

China’s Strategic Ambiguity on Taiwan

April 21, 2024

In recent years, Beijing has escalated its bellicosity towards Taipei—not least when it launched a large-scale military blockade and imposed various economic sanctions after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in 2022. This trend of heightened Chinese…

Middle East, Security & Conflict

The Failings of Israeli and Palestinian Leadership

April 16, 2024

In the past months, the media has frantically shifted its attention to the perilous situation in the Middle East. The Israeli-Hamas war has shattered the brittle status quo between Israelis and Palestinians. The savagery committed by Hamas on October 7…

Regional, Security & Conflict

The Territorial Roots of Interstate Conflict

April 7, 2024

After a prolonged period of relative peace between states, the last fifteen years have seen an explosion of global interstate conflict, with conflict between military forces of sovereign nations spiking and continuing to rise.[1] Indeed, over the last eighteen months…

Europe, Governance & Law, Policy & Politics, Security & Conflict

International Law’s Role in a Strat-Dominated World—Part 2

March 18, 2024

In our previous article we observed that in a world dominated by realists, academics are more likely to focus on strategic studies and not international law.[1] We nevertheless found noteworthy the extent to which international law enters into strategic thought…

Europe, Governance & Law, Security & Conflict

Utilizing the European Convention on Human Rights to Transfer Frozen Russian Assets to Ukraine

March 13, 2024

There is growing concern that countries funding the defense of Ukraine may not continue to do so. This has led to a discussion whether it’s possible to provide Ukraine with some or all of more than $327 billion in Russian…

Asia Pacific, Economics, Policy & Politics

In Hindsight: Evaluating the Complex Legacy of China’s WTO Accession

March 8, 2024

In the 1980s, a growing amicability in US-China economic relations began to emerge despite ongoing political tensions. Policymakers in both countries concentrated their efforts on formalizing trade relations, with the declaration of China’s Most Favored Nation status in the 1990s…