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Ukraine at War: Resilience and Normative Agency
Abstract
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has transformed all aspects of life in the country, including societal attitudes, national politics and Ukraine’s agency on the international arena. The article seeks to discuss and conceptualise how practices of resilience create discursive...
Polarity in the Context of U.S.-China Competition: Reassessing Analytical Criteria
Issue:
2023 - Volume 17, Issue 3
Abstract
How can polarity be used as a pertinent conceptual asset to inform the description of the distribution of military capabilities amongst the most powerful states in the international system today, especially in consideration of U.S.-China competition? Using the military power approach to...
Two Dimensions of Existence of the ‘Slum’ in the Global City: A Comparative Case Study of Informal Settlements in Nairobi and Mumbai
Issue:
2023 - Volume 17, Issue 1
Abstract
The cities of the Global South have been predominantly approached as dual cities being embedded within the formal/informal dichotomy. This article provides an analysis of the power dynamics of formal and informal, using an example of public space in two informal settlements: Kibera in Nairobi,...
Energy Security in Security Studies: A Systematic Review of Twenty Years of Literature
Issue:
2023 - Volume 17, Issue 3
Abstract
Energy security has clear relationships with national security – historically, semantically, and practically. This exploratory study offers a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 43 academic articles focused on energy issues, published in five international security studies...
Iran’s Nuclear Policy: A Cognitive Study on Defiance and Compliance
Issue:
2023 - Volume 17, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper argues that the divides in Iran’s nuclear behaviour between the three periods of 2005-2012, 2012-2016 and 2016-2021 are reflections of the varying modes of Iran’s cognising the value of the nuclear program versus its costs. The predominant belief in the first period that Iran is...
Recuperar la Patria: Xenophobic Sentiments in Costa Rica in the Context of the Nicaraguan Refugee Crisis 2018
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 4
Abstract
This case study explores xenophobic sentiments and actions in Costa Rica during the refugee crisis from April to December 2018, caused by the internal political crisis in Nicaragua. By looking at Costa Rica’s long histories of migration it is evident that xenophobic sentiments against Nicaraguans...
Double Marginalisation of the Communist Party: Ukraine’s Decommunisation and the Russian-Backed Rebellion in Donbas
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 4
Abstract
The article explains why the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) became marginalised during the insurgency in Donbas despite its ideological closeness to the rebel cause. The KPU was a popular pro-rebel party during the rebellion, but sharing the rebels’ ideological background doesn't automatically...
Conflict Dynamics as a Narrative Process: The Evolution of Competing Conflict Narratives between Russia and Ukraine and the Narratives of the International Human Rights Bodies between 2014 and 2022
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
Drawing on the studies on narrative processes underlying conflict escalation, this article examines the constitution and evolution of conflicting narratives between Russia and Ukraine as expressed in their foreign policy discourse and key political pronouncements between 2014 and 2022. Furthermore,...
Did Germany Contribute to Deterrence Failure against Russia in Early 2022?
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
With signs of Russia’s aggressive intentions mounting since Fall 2021, Ukraine and NATO allies criticised Germany for not sufficiently contributing to Western efforts at deterring a Russian invasion. The article evaluates this claim by applying deterrence theory and using congruence analysis...
Constructive Role Ambiguity and How Russia Couldn’t ‘Get Away’ with Its 2022 Ukrainian Invasion
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
Since 2008, the Russian government conducted two invasions of sovereign territory in Eastern Europe prior to the current crisis in Ukraine. In 2008 Russian troops invaded Georgia, dramatically beginning a process of slowly dismantling the sovereignty of a self-identified European state. In...
Russian Private Military and Ukraine: Hybrid Surrogate Warfare and Russian State Policy by Other Means
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
This article investigates the Russian government's reliance on commercial soldiers in the hybrid war efforts against Ukraine until the invasion in February 2022. Russian private military companies (PMCs), such as RUSCORP and the Wagner group, have already been active in Syria and Africa over...
Can 'Realists' and 'Hawks' Agree? Half-measures and Compromises on the Road to Invasion of Ukraine
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
The debate on the failure of the efforts to avert the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is dominated by two narratives presented as mutually exclusive. On the one hand, 'hawks' chastise the West for failing to forcefully confront Russian adventurism earlier. On the other...
Looking for Stepan Bandera: The Myth of Ukrainian Nationalism and the Russian ‘Special Operation’
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
The so-called ‘denazification’ of Ukraine and the need to free the country from the radical nationalists was used by the Russian government as a central argument to justify the military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the discussion of radical right-wing nationalist groups allegedly...
Negotiating the Common Agricultural Policy: A Critical Appraisal of Franco-German Intra-Alliance Rivalry
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 4
Abstract
Any exploration of the power dynamics that underly the Franco-German tandem can surely benefit from the insights that the creation of the Common Agriculture Policy provides. The purpose of this article is to ascertain which government achieved its objectives more fully during the negotiations...
Disposal, Destruction and Disarmament: Comparative Analysis of US Chemical Weapon and Weapons Plutonium Stockpile Reductions
Issue:
2023 - Volume 17, Issue 1
Abstract
The elimination of stockpiled weaponry constitutes a key step in arms control and disarmament processes, lending permanence and irreversibility to arms reductions. Yet it has proven challenging in practice. The destruction of advanced weapon components, like lethal chemical agents and the fissile...
Russian Foot on the Central African Republic’s Soil: An Example of a Tactical Alliance
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
The article evaluates cooperation between the Central African Republic and the Russian Federation from the perspective of forming a tactical alliance. The article conceptualises the term tactical alliance and the aims of both partners, and analyses how these aims were fulfilled under the umbrella...
Japan-France Relationship under Abe: An Analysis of Security Trends for the Indo-Pacific Region
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan and France have experienced a special relationship led by strong cultural and economic ties. The present paper analyses their relationship during the second administration of the former prime minister of Japan, Abe Shinzō. The paper focuses on their respective...
Theorising Systemic Appeasement in International Politics
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 2
Abstract
The current state of the relations between Russia and the ‘West’ presents curious similarities with the ’30s appeasement of Germany. These include the change in the international order, the (late) emergence of a system-challenger after an ‘intermediary’ period that followed the change,...
Military Defection During the Collapse of the Soviet Union
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 2
Abstract
How did armed forces behave in response to dissent, political instability and territorial disintegration during the collapse of the Soviet Union? To date, substantial attention has been cast on the 1991 August coup attempt, yet our understanding of other potential instances of defection remains...
Past-Oriented Foreign Policy: Japanese State-Identity and South Korea Discourse 2009-2012
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 2
Abstract
Upon its 2009 General Elections victory, the Democratic Party of Japan defined the Republic of Korea as the core of its Asia-focused foreign policy. Despite initial enthusiasm, the resurgence of controversies like the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute and the Comfort Women issue pulled bilateral relations...
Canadian Discourse and Emotions on Terrorism: How Canadian Prime Ministers Speak about Terrorism since 9/11
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper analyses the character of the discourse and emotions invoked in speeches delivered by prime ministers of Canada from the 9/11 terrorist attacks up until now. There is increased recognition in academic literature of the need to study emotions, because people are not rational beings...
Strange Bedfellows: Relations between International Nongovernmental Organisations and Military Actors in Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism in Northeast Nigeria
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 1
Abstract
Previous studies have examined the impact of the relationship between international nongovernmental organisations and the military on peacekeeping operations and humanitarian programming. However, how relations between international nongovernmental organisations and military actors affect preventing/countering...
Embracing the Maverick: The Evolution of President Donald Trump’s Management of Foreign Policy-Making
Issue:
2022 - Volume 16, Issue 1
Abstract
Research on the American presidency reveals that all presidential advisory systems follow a similar pattern of change over time from standard, formal interagency structures to informal structures in which decisions are made outside the traditional interagency processes. We employ a longitudinal...
Examining the Role of Trust and Ideological Disparities in India-EU Negotiations: The Case of the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA)
Issue:
2021 - Volume 15, Issue 4
Abstract
Negotiations between India and the EU for a Broad-Based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) have proven to be a complex and protracted affair. Despite both parties realising the importance of a trade agreement, neither of them intend to provide any concessions to the other party....
Explaining the Absence of a Regional Hegemon in the Central African Sub-region
Issue:
2021 - Volume 15, Issue 4
Abstract
The end of the Cold War saw a shift in power dynamics globally, changing the security dynamics of many regions globally including those in Africa. With the security void left by these great powers in Africa, regional hegemons have played significant roles in promoting regional peace and...
Conceptualising the Arctic as a Zone of Conflict
Issue:
2021 - Volume 15, Issue 4
Abstract
The Arctic has been conceptualised as a zone of geopolitical competition, an international zone of peace and the dreamlike realm for extractive industries. While states such as Russia and the United States have commenced a militarisation and nuclearisation of the Arctic, other Arctic states...
Refugee-Related Political Violence in Asia and Africa
Issue:
2021 - Volume 15, Issue 3
Abstract
This work focuses on the analysis of one of the most discussed phenomenon of recent years, the reception of refugees. The authors of this work examine refugee-related political violence, a phenomenon that has not been explored in the last twenty years. The aim is to describe the occurrence...
Global Maritime Fulcrum: Indonesia’s Middle Power Strategy Between Belt And Road Initiatives (BRI) and Free-Open Indo Pacific (FOIP)
Issue:
2021 - Volume 15, Issue 3
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to correlate Indonesia’s global maritime fulcrum (GMF) as Indonesia’s middle power strategy to its response to the two geopolitical strategies of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) of the Quad (the United States,...
Indivisible Security and Collective Security Concepts: Implications for Russia’s Relations with the West
Issue:
2021 - Volume 15, Issue 3
Abstract
The indivisible security principle was first set out in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and since then has been included in numerous international treaties and national strategic documents. However, the concept remains ambiguous and has not received due attention. The collective security concept...
Revisiting the Causes of Russian Foreign Policy Changes: Western Recognition and Russia's Ontological Security-Seeking
Issue:
2021 - Volume 15, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between international practices of recognition and state quest for ontological security, on the one hand, and Russia's most recent identity makeover as well as increasingly aggressive foreign policy, on the other. I argue that in order to understand Russia's...