Display options:

The Melting Poles: Between Challenges And Opportunities

  • Anis H. Bajrektarevic
Abstract: The Arctic and Antarctica have traditionally been treated as footnotes in larger international relations. Recently however, the polar caps have entered the priority lists of a multitude of international actors and captured the attention of the international community at large. Despite popular...

Read More ...

Unpacking Pandora’s Box: Defining Transnational Crime and Outlining Emerging Criminal Trends

  • Yuliya Zabyelina
Transnational crime has been accepted as a working concept in most related disciplines. Yet, regardless of its wide recognition by academicand policy making communities, the term has remained amorphous. In order to provide greater precision, this article engages in a bold effort to conceptualise transnational...

Read More ...

Iran’s Nuclear Policy: Russia’s Perspective

  • Thowhidul Islam
Abstract: Despite Iran’s claim that its nuclear intentions are based strictly on developing the technology for peaceful purposes, the regime is constantly criticised – notably by the US and EU – and has come under immense pressure, resulting in debilitating international sanctions to prod the regime...

Read More ...

National Minorities and Diasporas in Lithuania

  • Hanna Vasilevich
Having evolved from a Soviet republic to an EU member-state, Lithuania is viewed as an established democracy. Officially Lithuania is considered a ‘success story’ in handling minority issues. This work analyses the scope of national minority rights in Lithuania and is based on the country’s domestic...

Read More ...

ESDP Operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A Realist Analysis

  • Adrien Jahier
Whereas most interpretations of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) operations are either normative or functionalist, this article argues that what motivated the European Union member-states to launch military operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is nothing less than a classic struggle...

Read More ...

EU-Russian Economic Integration: Gridlocked by the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement?

  • Irina Valko
EU-Russian economic integration and the growing institutionalisation of bilateral relations is, partially, the way out of global recession. Dueto political obstacles the pace of economic integration is rather slow. Unable to overcome the ‘lowest common denominator’ attitude towards each other, the EU...

Read More ...

The Polish Missile Defence Decision: Reviewing the ‘Scrapping’ of the Bush-Era Missile Defence Plan

  • Daria W. Dylla
Although the decisions of the Polish government to deploy the US missile defence base in 2008 and 2010 was regarded by many commentators as taken against the domestic majority opinion, this article presents some arguments to support the assumption that those decisions were compatible both with the improvement...

Read More ...

From Preference Formation at Home to Preference Promotion Abroad: The Role of Czech Intrastate Actors

  • Senka Neuman-Stanivukovic
  • Marek Neuman
Building on the governance turn in EU studies, this work examines the emergence of polycentric interest structures among new member states and looks at the extent EU governance structures contribute to decentralisation and deconcentration of power with the state eventually losing its traditional monopoly...

Read More ...

American Political Power: Hegemony on its Heels?

  • Balka Kwasniewski
International relations epochs seldom have abrupt beginnings and conclusions. Rather, changes to the norms, values and boundaries of international relations often occur in a painstakingly slow and ambiguous process. As the saying goes, Rome was neither built nor destroyed in a day. The post-Cold War...

Read More ...

Is Peace-Building Common Sense?

  • Richard Lappin
Peace, it is often claimed, is common sense. Whilst many of us feel a normative bond to this claim, the continuation of violence would suggest that the fostering of sustainable peace remains an elusive goal. Perhaps it is time to re-examine this most fundamental of claims if we are to accept the true...

Read More ...

Adoption of Socially Responsible Investment Practices in the Chinese Investment Sector: A Cost-Benefit Approach

  • Svenja Stropahl
  • Niklas Keller
In 2003, ten of the world’s largest private banks, in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation, voluntarily committed themselves to adopting social and environmental investment-standards. Since then, 54 institutions from 21 states, active in over a 100 countries have adopted these...

Read More ...

Uzbekistan: An Important Regional and International Actor

  • Nigorakhon Turakhanova
As an Uzbek national I often encounter questions regarding the current situation, and regional and international significance of Uzbekistan. Precious little information and knowledge is readily available, and many people seem to confuse other regional conflicts, for example in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan...

Read More ...

History under the Threat of Politics

  • David Erkomaishvili
There is a church in the centre of Prague, near Karlovo Namesti. One who is unfamiliar with its history may simply pass it by. As many buildings in Prague, it is charming; retaining its own history and specificity. Nevertheless, there is a unique story attached to this particular church. On the south...

Read More ...

The Peace Process in Northern Ireland: A Real Breakthrough?

  • Michal Mravinac
Although ‘friendship’ was not on offer, March 26th 2007 witnessed a historical moment when leaders of the two main parties representing rival factions of society in Northern Ireland sat down at the same table. Who would ever have imagined Ian Paisley, a hawkish protestant cleric heading the...

Read More ...

US Missile Defence in Central Europe: A Comment

  • Petr Kucera
Three different missile defence systems are currently operational or under construction within the European theatre. These are: 1) NATO Missile Defence, 2) NATO Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence and, 3) an American Missile Defence initiative (achieved bilaterally). Recently, the American system...

Read More ...

Small Scale Successes and Hope in the Horn of Africa

  • David Rabinowitz
In November 2006, I traveled to Ethiopia to join an international medical mission organized by ‘Operation Smile;’ a twenty-five year old, non-profit organization, based in Norfolk, Virginia, which provides free cleft palette and cleft lip surgery to the economically disadvantaged worldwide....

Read More ...

Towards Supranational Governance in EU Counter-Terrorism? – The Role of the Commission and the Council Secretariat

  • Christian Kaunert
Since the events of 11 September 2001 (9/11), it has been argued by some scholars that security has become the dominant force in the European Union’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). As a result, there has been an active debate on the ‘securitization’ of the new threats, such as refugees...

Read More ...

The Use and Effectiveness of Migration Controls as a Counter-Terrorism Instrument in the European Union

  • Sarah Leonard
Since the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, the issue of the linkages between security concerns, in particular terrorism, and asylum and migration policies in the European Union (EU) has received an increasing amount of scholarly attention (see Guild, 2003a; Guild, 2003b; Baldaccini and Guild,...

Read More ...

Perceptions of the Terrorist Threat among EU Member States

  • Oldrich Bures
The European Union’s (EU) efforts in the fight against terrorism have already been analysed in a number of scholarly articles and edited volumes. While differing substantially in their scope, depth and focus, most analyses have identified important gaps and shortcomings of the nascent EU Counterterrorism...

Read More ...

Bringing Effectiveness into the Debate: A Guideline to Evaluating the Success of EU Targeted Sanctions

  • Francesco Giumelli
The relevance of international sanctions has increased since the end of the Cold War as states and international organisations have resorted to this foreign policy tool more frequently than in the past. The European Union (EU) has contributed to this trend by using sanctions in more than twenty different...

Read More ...

Assessing the Effectiveness of EU Sanctions Policy

  • Radka Drulakova
  • Jan Martin Rolenc
  • Zuzana Travnickova
  • Stepanka Zemanova
While the European Communities (ECs) has applied autonomous sanctions for many years, their character has significantly changed since the 1990s. Such changes may be the result of the transformation of the ECs into the European Union (EU), and to the creation of its second pillar; the Common Foreign and...

Read More ...

Western Values and Strategic Interests? Evaluating Potential Georgian Membership in NATO

  • Stephen Herzog
Since the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008, the Republic of Georgia’s potential membership in NATO has been a hotly contested issue. Unfortunately, the arguments on both sides of the debate often rely on catchphrases such as “vibrant democracy” and “corrupt authoritarianism” without referencing...

Read More ...

Moving Together Toward an Uncertain Future: US-European Counterterrorism Vision, Responses & Cooperation Post-9/11

  • Bryan Groves
The lead-up to the Iraq War, and its conduct, highlighted significant differences in transatlantic perspectives, capabilities, and methods. While terrorism has generally been America’s central fixation since 9/11 (until the recent economic recession), Europe sees terrorism as only one of several important...

Read More ...

Europe and the United States in the “Asian” 21st Century: The Political, Economic and Security Context

  • Milos Balaban
While, at the western end of Eurasia, most European states are taking part in a great experiment; broadening and deepening their political, economic and security integration within the EU, at the eastern end of Eurasia, an experiment of no less importance is underway. China, the world’s most populous...

Read More ...

What We Talk About When We Talk About Democracy Assistance: The Problem of Definition in Post-Conflict Approaches

  • Richard Lappin
Since the early 1990s, one of the most striking characteristics to emerge in post-conflict peacebuilding has been the prime position assumed by democratisation; an approach we can term post-conflict democracy assistance. This focus has hinged on an unerring belief that democratic governance, provided...

Read More ...

Questioning the Dominance of Military Means: The Bush Administration’s Fight against Terrorism

  • Jan Ludvik
This work is devoted to investigating the variety of approaches that the US presidential administration of George W. Bush deployed to counter terrorism following 9/11. This topic deserves special attention because Bush’s approach to fighting terrorism is often misconceived as primarily or even only,...

Read More ...

Evaluating Sub-State Participation in the History of International Health Co-operation

  • Nikita Chiu
The Treaty of Westphalia is often referred to as the point of departure in the history of international relations. It was in 1648 that the modern state system was established and the concept of national sovereignty born. Today, these two concepts remain essential elements that govern interstate relations....

Read More ...

Iraqi Insurgent Media: The War of Images and Idea

  • Daniel Kimmage
  • Kathleen Ridolfo
Presented primarily in Arabic on an array of websites unknown to most Americans and Europeans, Iraqi insurgent media hover at the margins of mainstream reports in the form of a "claim of responsibility on an insurgent website" or a "video posted to a jihadist forum." Such marginal references fail to...

Read More ...

The Role of Diasporas in Foreign Policy: The Case of Canada

  • Marketa Geislerova
Diasporas engage in a range of trans-national activities for political purposes. Forcefully dispersed or conflict-generated diasporas are more prone to be politically engaged than diasporas whose members have moved for economic reasons or in order to improve their standards of living. While some of these...

Read More ...

Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Post-Conflict States: Challenges of Local Ownership

  • Atsushi Yasutomi
  • Jan Carmans
While the term Security Sector Reform has been widely used in the post-conflict peace-building context, further clarification is needed to reveal a larger significance. The OECD's Guidelines on Security System and Governance Reform defines security sector reform as; [it] includes all the actors, their...

Read More ...