Recent Posts

Realpolitik Defines India–Russia Bilateral Ties

Recent talks in New Delhi between the two countries’ leaders highlight the pragmatic nature of India’s dealings with Russia. The significance of the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu to New Delhi on 6 December should be seen in relation …

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The West Surrenders its Strategic Ambiguity in the Black Sea

In the face of Russian threats, Western allies must urgently fashion a credible deterrence policy for the Black Sea, or risk their strategically important ties with regional partners. Russia’s massive military build-up around Ukraine is causing alarm in the transatlantic community, reflecting the fear that the Kremlin may decide to …

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Russia and Ukraine: ‘One People’ as Putin Claims?

As Russia’s military threats to Ukraine intensify, it is worth dissecting President Putin’s use of historical props to justify the claim that Russia and Ukraine are one nation. In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin published an extraordinary essay denying Ukraine’s independent history, an argument amplified in a later Q&A. Former …

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Ad-Hoc European Military Cooperation Outside Europe

This Occasional Paper examines the emergence of European-led ad-hoc military coalitions, why these forms of cooperation have emerged and what value they add to the existing European security architecture. Europe’s security architecture is dominated by NATO and the EU. They are, respectively, the primary hard and soft security providers to …

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Moscow’s Proposed US-Russia Treaty – Analysis

Russia proposed a new security treaty between Washington and Moscow on December 17th. The Kremlin contends it will de-escalate tensions surrounding Ukraine, if the U.S. agrees to the terms of the “Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Security Guarantees”. An examination of the draft …

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The Price of Nostalgia

America’s Self-Defeating Economic Retreat Anew consensus has emerged in American politics: that the United States has recklessly pursued international economic openness at the expense of workers and the result has been economic inequality, social pain, and political strife. Both Democrats and Republicans are now advocating “a trade policy for the …

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