February 12, 2022
Any follower of Moroccan foreign policy will recognise an unprecedented dynamism and momentum in recent years. The best catchphrase that illustrates this dynamism is the one by Morocco Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita: “maghrib alyawm lays hu maghrib al’ams – [today’s Morocco is not that of the past]”. This expression is argued not only to highlight […]
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Posted in Africa, Global Economy, Middle East, World
January 24, 2021
Image by Tyler Merber There are many terms being thrown around to describe the events in Washington DC on 6 January: sedition, insurrection, protest, riot, mob, even coup. The most historically accurate term is a putsch, with any number of examples of angry mobs being channelled to overthrow civilian authority. It may have started as […]
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Posted in Europe, France, Germany, Political Security, Security Issues, Terrorism, US, World
December 23, 2020
American recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over its Sahara and the normalisation of relations between Morocco and Israel could have lasting benefits for the cause of peace in North Africa and the Middle East. For North Africa, the Sahara dispute between Morocco and the Algerian backed Polisario has dragged on for 45 years, making it one […]
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Posted in Africa, Conflict, Culture, Economic Security, Economics, Global Economy, Israel, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, NATO, Political Security, Refugees, Religion, Security Issues, UN, US, World
November 3, 2020
In the tribute he wrote in 1954 for Robert Jackson, his friend and Supreme Court colleague, Justice Felix Frankfurter explained the profound effect that the experience of prosecuting the Nazi leadership at Nuremberg had on Jackson’s endeavour to understand the human condition. “An essentially good-natured, an even innocently unsophisticated temperament, was there made to realise […]
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Posted in US, World
October 9, 2020
How a new administration in Washington could spell change for Latin America, and why it probably won’t. Image by author: Children play in the sprawling refugee camp in Matamoros, Mexico, on the border with Brownsville, Texas. To say that COVID-19 has become the defining issue of the 2020 US presidential election, and elections around the […]
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Posted in Latin America, US, World
September 18, 2020
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines a pandemic as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people”. We know all too well the disease that has brought the world to a shocked standstill. But what we don’t see is the one that already […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, France, Humanitarian Intervention, Mexico, Turkey, World
September 17, 2020
Since the World Health Organisation declared a “global pandemic” on 11th March we’ve seen a broad spectrum of responses from different states in their attempts to handle the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). The success or failure of various states to deal with the pandemic has been well reported, with several leaders ranging from Germany’s Angela […]
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Posted in World
September 4, 2020
‘War is the continuation of politics by other means’. This well-known quote from 19th century Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz epitomises the Russian and Chinese role in the Syrian conflict, which is now in its tenth year. The conflict began in March 2011 after pro-democracy protests in Syria were brutally crushed by the Syrian […]
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Posted in China, Conflict, Middle East, Russia, Syria, UN, World
July 14, 2020
Stores, restaurants and other businesses are suffering as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Drug Gangs in Latin America are no exception. With many sources of revenue cut off, narco traffickers are forced to adapt in order to survive. Drug markets from Mexico to Honduras are changing and, along with them, so is the structure […]
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Posted in Drugs, Latin America, World
June 21, 2020
The deadly impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Iran has given a new focus to the ongoing debate about the purpose, effectiveness and relevance of US sanctions imposed on the country. Many leaders, political figures, and organisations have questioned the continuance of these sanctions. These include the UN Secretary General, the UN Special Rapporteurs on […]
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Posted in Iran, Middle East, US, World
April 20, 2020
“Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity, the colour of your skin or how much money you have in the bank.” The words of WHO official Dr Mike Ryan about Coronavirus (COVID-19) would seem to many of us common sense. What appears ‘common sense’ does not, however, always manifest in the […]
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Posted in Australia, China, Europe, European Union, Germany, Refugees, Security Issues, UN, US, World
September 8, 2019
I moved to London when I was 16, having spent my entire childhood living in Beijing. My parents met there studying Chinese and my father later got a job with the Spanish embassy. When I arrived in the UK in 2014 British national culture seemed like a breath of fresh air compared to the parochial […]
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Posted in Asia, China, Europe, World
April 28, 2019
Rapid economic growth and the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has allowed China to expand its regional influence. Within the South China Sea, China’s expansion has materialized in the form of a coercive maritime strategy. Aside from straddling the key sea lanes of communication used for trade, the South China Sea also contains […]
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Posted in Asia, Australia, China, Conflict, India, Security Issues, US, World
March 24, 2019
Climate change has the capacity to radically transform the international order. This is particularly true in South Asia, where fresh water resources from the Himalayas are dwindling rapidly. As tensions rise between India and Pakistan, it is vital to focus on the environmental and political factors at play, and to consider the potential implications of […]
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Posted in Asia, Food Security, India, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
February 16, 2019
Strong criticism of French president Emmanuel Macron by Italian leaders has created a diplomatic firestorm between the long-time European allies. The current tensions between the two neighbours is fresh evidence of how two competing political visions of Europe are clashing ahead of EU parliamentary elections. “I hope the French will be able to free themselves […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, France, World
February 6, 2019
New members of the United States Congress supporting a Green New Deal do so against a backdrop of increasing American isolation on climate change, driven by President Trump’s intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Despite impending American non-participation, which will formally take effect after November 4, 2020, the international community reached a milestone in […]
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Posted in Environmental Security, UN, World
January 25, 2019
There is every reason to believe that Russia will not come back into compliance with the INF Treaty, thus setting the stage for a US withdrawal from the landmark agreement. The demise of the INF Treaty would jeopardize ‘New START’, one of the last remaining pillars of the arms control regime. Although the agreement expires […]
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Posted in World
August 21, 2018
The opening shots in the “trade war” between Washington and Beijing have raised concerns around the whole world, causing a heated debate about the logic of the Trump Administration’s policy against China. While most analysis has focussed on the economic effects of the trade war, less discussed has been the dispute’s impact on other areas […]
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Posted in World
July 3, 2018
Over 10,000 people have died in the war in Yemen, which has entered its fourth year, and about 80 percent of the population is in need of humanitarian aid. Despite the gravity of the situation, Yemen’s conflict, which has been described as the “forgotten war” by Amnesty International, receives very little media coverage. Western news […]
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Posted in Global Politics Videos, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, UK News, US, World, Yemen
June 22, 2018
Last month, two more countries broke away from the fast dwindling assortment of diplomatic allies that officially recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state. The political volte-face in May by the Dominican Republic and Burkina Faso in favour of closer ties with Beijing follows a long trend of diplomatic shifts that leave Taiwan increasingly isolated on the […]
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Posted in Asia, China, Conflict, Political Security, Security Issues, World
May 23, 2018
The withdrawal of the Trump Administration from the Iran nuclear deal was a long time coming. Concluded in 2015 after months of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 countries (United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia, China and Germany), the agreement seemingly provided a win-win outcome both in terms of the international community’s desire to rein […]
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Posted in Economics, Global Economy, Iran, Middle East, US, World
April 27, 2018
Following two years of negotiations, a historic agreement that formally establishes the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) was signed on 21 March 2018 by representatives of 44 member states of the African Union in the Rwandan capital. Once adopted, greater market integration on the continent will follow. Global competition is fierce and African nations […]
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Posted in Africa, Economics, Global Economy, World
March 24, 2018
By U.S. Department of State from United States [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Authors: Dr Simon A. Waldman is a Mercator-IPC fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center and a visiting research fellow at King’s College London. Engin Onuk is an intern at the İstanbul Policy Center and a masters student in the International Relations Department in İstanbul […]
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Posted in Middle East, Syria, Turkey, World
January 11, 2018
University of Nottingham (Ningbo Campus) Assistant Professor Nicholas Ross Smith argues that while arming Ukraine may be the right thing to do, it naively underestimates the geopolitical reality of Eastern Europe and could result in a far worse outcome for both Ukraine and Europe. Donald Trump’s recent decision to approve the sale of more lethal arms […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, NATO, Russia, Ukraine Conflict, US, World
January 1, 2018
The decision of municipal authorities in the Croatian cities of Zagreb and Karlovac to remove former Yugoslav president Tito’s name from streets and squares has rekindled the debate over the ruler’s legacy. Here, Tony Fabijančić assesses attitudes for and against Tito, nostalgia for the former Yugoslavia (“Yugonostalgia”), and the ongoing political division between left and […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, World
December 19, 2017
Europe is currently facing a fundamental shift in its approach to armaments procurement: cooperation both between countries and manufacturers in the development and production of armaments is considered the only way forward in the coming decades. With Germany and France representing the vanguard of the European defense industry, the fate of their KANT project symbolizes […]
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Posted in Europe, France, Germany, Security Issues, Technology, World
November 29, 2017
Zimbabwe has finally toppled its longtime dictator, Robert Mugabe. So it’s time for the the international community to lift its sanctions on the country, right? Wrong. The new leader of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was one of Mugabe’s most notorious henchmen until he fell out of favor a few months ago. It would be premature to […]
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Posted in Africa, Global Economy, UN, World
September 20, 2017
I do not pretend to have a silver bullet solution to the problem of Islamic terrorism. A successful strategy against Islamic terrorist organisations would encompass a re-organisation of geopolitical alliances in the Middle East, effective military actions, and socio-economic changes (fairer distribution of resources, better education, etc.) in the majority of Muslim nations. On the […]
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Posted in Conflict, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Religion, Saudi Arabia, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
September 14, 2017
What comes next as British Government targets lawyers and closes investigative body? By Thomas Obel Hansen This Article is based on research conducted under a British Academy grant involving interviews with relevant stakeholders. A more comprehensive academic article addressing the same topics is scheduled for publication later this year. An examination opened by the International […]
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Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Terrorism, UK News, World
August 4, 2017
Image by David Tubau (Energético) One year on from the Brexit vote, Europe’s economy faces yet another monumental challenge in the shape of the Catalan independence referendum. There are doubts as to whether the referendum will go ahead; a referendum on independence was held in 2014, but after the Spanish constitutional court anhttp:\/\/global-politics.co.uked it, the […]
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Posted in Economic Security, Economics, European Union, Global Economy, World
May 22, 2017
With the recent nomination of his government, President Macron takes a chance to rejuvenate the idea of a European defence, an ambitious plan that collapsed when it failed to obtain the ratification in the French Parliament back in 1954. The European Defence Community emerged from the Pleven plan, proposed in 1950 by the French Prime […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, France, World
April 17, 2017
With an overwhelming majority of 408 votes against 254, the European Parliament recently approved the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada. This came only three weeks after Donald Trump’s formal withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – a deal involving 12 nations around the Pacific Ocean. As trade is silently shaking world politics […]
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Posted in Europe, Global Economy, US, World
September 22, 2016
This piece was originally published by the Centre for Global Constitutionalism The release of over 11.5 million documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian based law firm, has revealed the lengths to which individuals and companies will go to avoid their national tax obligations. When asked about the problem of tax avoidance, President Barack Obama acknowledged that those […]
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Posted in Economics, Global Economy, World
September 6, 2018
Since its freefall earlier this summer the Argentine peso continues to hold very little value, trading at about 39 pesos per U.S. dollar. Just four months ago, the peso was worth a much stronger 20 pesos per dollar, which is nearly a 50 percent depreciation in 120 days. The currency depreciation crisis mirrors crises occurring […]
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Posted in Economic Security, Economics, Global Economy, World
July 9, 2018
The United States has recently taken an aggressive approach to evening-out what US President Donald Trump sees as a major trade imbalance. At the risk of a possible trade war, the President has implemented tariffs against the EU and China on major goods such as steel and automobiles. But retaliatory tariffs are planned in response. […]
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Posted in Asia, China, Economics, Global Economy, Global Politics Videos, US