Democracy exists if and when a community organizes its self-governance around the full participation, on an equal basis, of all the members of the community. Its other, autocracy, exists when a community organizes (or allows) its governance by an individual or subgroup of that community, a ruler. Universal suffrage is …

A stylized sun rose in the Pentagon’s NATO Hallway as the flag of the Republic of North Macedonia joined that of 29 other NATO allies. North Macedonia’s Defense Minister Radmila Shekerinska and Laura K. Cooper, the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, unveiled the red and yellow …

The relevance of BRICS appears to be in danger after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban taking over with the support of Pakistan and China. Russia and China may be the first to recognize this government of branded militants. Over the years, skepticism has been expressed about the …

The dramatic return of the Taliban to Kabul has consequences beyond the borders of Afghanistan. The Taliban are not the most popular group in Afghanistan but they certainly are the most feared, with enough force at their disposal to impose their dogmatic version of Islam over the country. It is …

Why were the Islamists thrashed in the last parliamentary elections in Morocco? The literal decimation of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) to 12 seats from the 125 they had in the previous parliament was a major blow and surprised everyone including the pro-state, pro-monarchy and pro-establishment parties. It was …

This guidance paper aims to advise VASPs on best-practice compliance when dealing with proliferation financing risk, and directs compliance officers towards relevant publications that may assist in their work. Since at least 2014, North Korea has shown increasing cybercrime expertise and interest, more recently expanding into VAs. Throughout 2020 and …

Much is still uncertain about the new AUKUS ‘enhanced trilateral security partnership’. The deal for at least eight nuclear submarines to be built in Australia is described as a ‘first initiative’ but the partnership’s aims, and whether there will be a governing treaty, are not yet clear. Nor is the …

In January 2021, eight months ago, when rumours about the possibility of appointment of Christian Schmidt as the High Representative in Bosnia occurred for the first time, I published the text under the title ‘Has Germany Lost Its NATO Compass?’. In this text I announced that Schmidt was appointed to …

United States President Joe Biden signed an executive order that allows the US government to impose sanctions against those responsible for a range of serious human rights abuses in northern Ethiopia. The order establishes a sanctions regime that allows the US government to deny visas to and freeze the assets …

President Joe Biden’s decision to form a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain to counter China is angering France and the European Union. They’re feeling left out and seeing it as a return to the Trump era. The security initiative, unveiled this week, appears to have brought Biden’s summer …