The SAIS Review of International Affairs
This is a shortened, significantly revised article based on the authors’ chapter “Shifting balances – the war and Russia’s neighbours,” published in the report “Russia’s War Against Ukraine and the West: The First Year”, edited by Maria Engqvist and Emil Wannheden, Stockholm: Swedish Defence Research Agency, June 2023, FOI-R—5479—SE. Introduction Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine […]
As the world faces a protracted war in Ukraine with no clear end in sight and a tense standoff in the Taiwan Strait with potential for catastrophic escalation, the time is ripe for a world historical perspective on these conflicts, which may provide help in formulating effective policy responses. It is important to start by […]
Evidently, for quite a long time, the protracted Palestinian refugee crisis has not only condemned millions of Palestinians to a life of indescribable suffering but also kept the Middle East destabilized and much more volatile than any other region across the world. The refugee crisis has directly or indirectly contributed to the outbreak of numerous […]
Introduction U.S. observers have long complained that Chinese firms steal intellectual property (IP) from American companies, universities, and research institutions.¹ Most of these complaints stress that the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) directs this theft. Other analysts focus on military applications of the theft. Both arguments are true, but presume that the […]
Introduction In December 2022, the European Union (EU) approved a green tax on carbon-intensive commodities called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It aims at reducing carbon leakage, a phenomenon in which manufacturers move carbon-intensive production to countries with laxer climate policies, resulting in decreased carbon emissions in one country but increased emissions in another. […]
David B. Kanin is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Since 1878 the Balkan region has come under successive great power security caps, each of which has turned out to be less permanent than advertised. The war in Ukraine underscores the fact that stability in the area, and […]
John Kraus is a Research Associate at the Institute for Defense Analyses. He earned his Master of Arts from SAIS in 2022 and was previously a commercial fishing deckhand for five years. Introduction On July 9, 1982, after three series of multilateral conferences spanning decades of rigorous negotiations, President Ronald Reagan formally announced that the United […]
Violent clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the infamous paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have plunged Sudan into crisis and renewed instability. In mid-April of 2023, brief gun battles in the streets of Khartoum and other strategic areas around the country quickly escalated. Reports indicate that both sides had been preparing for an […]
This article originally appeared on May 15, 2023, in the SAIS Europe Journal of Global Affairs. “Even the finest warrior is defeated when he goes against natural law. By his own hand he is doomed and all creatures are likely to despise him.” Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Verse 31 Introduction Public international lawyers imagine […]
Charles Dunst is the author of Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman. In a world where democracy is in decline and autocracy is on the rise, Dunst argues autocracy is not the solution despite being an attractive alternative for those disillusioned with current democratic institutions. The only way […]