Belarus – The Beginning of a New Era?

With all the global upheaval that 2020 has brought with it, it is interesting to take a look east-ward, where right between Poland and Russia, the state of Belarus has now been in turmoil for more than 4 months. On the 9th of August 2020, President Alexander Lukashenko declared that he had once again won […]

Has COVID-19 made the United Nations more relevant than ever?

Amidst a global pandemic, where every world nation is struggling with ensuring the health and safety of all its citizens and is plagued by multitude of deaths, the world is in dire need for all its nations to come together and help each other survive. It would be handy to have an international institution that […]

Election Integrity

Over the past few years, much has been said, argued, litigated and broadcasted about the security of democratic choice, ranging from the effects of big data companies on people’s free will to vote and on the integrity of ballots. But what do we actually know about these issues? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, election security […]

A Radical Resurgence: a new Cold War emerging between the United States and China?

We’re used to hearing about the Cold War as something of pivotal importance, whether it’s in the history books, or a storyline for a 1980’s James Bond film. Much like the way with how historians like to analyse the French Revolution, the Cold War is an event with a determined beginning, and a definite end, […]

Sustainable Development in 2020

2020 has seen its fair share of hardships due to COVID-19’s negative effects. The pandemic has had a direct effect on the life, health and economy of people and countries around the world. It comes as no surprise that COVID-19 has inhibited the development of many prosperity-related SDGs. Nevertheless, the pandemic has had positive effects […]

Re-balancing the Relationship Between Africa and Europe

Divided by a little less than 15km at their closest tip, Europe and Africa have ties that extend beyond just their physical proximity – the history of the two continents has been linked for centuries; a joint past consisting of colonial violence, uprooted communities, the senseless plundering of natural resources, and other instances of exploitation […]

Positional vs Interest Bargaining – the Dilemma in Diplomacy

As the dust settled on the Camp David Accords on the 17th of September 1978, world leaders, international relations analysts and scholars wondered how such a gargantuan agreement between two diametrically opposed foreign policies, leaders and states, could be concluded with the help of US President Jimmy Carter. The Camp David Accords were a momentous […]

Military use in outer space: why Russia’s satellite weapon is problematic

Last month the United Kingdom and the United States of America accused the Russian Federation of firing a satellite weapon into outer space. At first glance, reading this headline on a news portal would cause you to raise an eyebrow, shrug and eventually sigh at the never-ending political bickering between these three states. Yet in […]

COVID-19 and its Impact on the International Maritime Community

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, all sectors of society have had to deal and adapt with the drastic changes this pandemic imposed on humankind. The maritime industry is no exception as it found itself at the very centre of this international crisis, directly dealing with the impact of border controls and restrictions, […]

A Precursor to Perestroika – Prague Spring

Following the second world war, a number of Central and Eastern European countries fell under the Soviet Sphere of Influence. One by one, and over the span of a few years, communist regimes established themselves in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and an iron curtain running from Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste […]