Category Security & Conflict

Asia Pacific, Security & Conflict

From Balochistan to Beyond: How Iran emerged as a Senior Partner to Pakistan

November 6, 2024

As news of Iran centers on the Gaza conflict’s spillover, and news regarding Pakistan revolves around its ongoing strikes against TTP militants on their Afghan border, the tit-for-tat strikes on January 16, 2024, and brief tension between Iran & Pakistan…

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…

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…

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…

Energy & Environment, Regional, Security & Conflict

Water, Energy, Food, and Terrorism: Towards a Nexus Approach

February 21, 2024

Water, energy, and food are highly interdependent resources fundamental to both the sustainment of life and the modern global economy. While our understanding of their interdependence is hardly new, it was only in 2011 that scholars, practitioners, and policymakers first…

Civil Society, Middle East, Security & Conflict

Sifting Facts from Fiction: The Underpinnings of the Taliban’s ‘Islamic Emirate’

February 15, 2024

Even after the Taliban have assumed power in Afghanistan twice, their ideology remains poorly understood, evident from the misconceptions surrounding it. Some believe this ideology is reflective of Islam while others attempt to find its basis in the Pashtun culture.…

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

Don’t Call It Farmer-Herder Conflict

February 9, 2024

As violent conflict rises across West Africa, the phrase “farmer-herder conflict” has taken hold from the local to international levels. Farmer-herder conflict is an umbrella term for a range of interactions, typically describing resource competition between pastoralist herders and sedentary…

Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Security & Conflict

WHAT IS ‘STRATEGIC COMPETITION’ AND ARE WE STILL IN IT?

February 2, 2024

The last two (Trump and Biden) US national security strategies have claimed that the United States is in ‘strategic competition’ (a.k.a., ‘Great Power Competition’) with the autocracies of Russia and the People’s Republic of China. What does the term mean?…