It has become clear that the plan for establishing a super-ministry for the Arctic has been reduced to setting a government commission, which according to some lobbyists in the Duma, would put security first (Arctic-Info, February 11). Kommersant (February 6) reported that Dmitry Rogozin is approved as the head of this commission, and RIA-Novosti (6… Read more »
Month: February 2015
Ukraine takes Painful Hits – but Must Stay in the Fight
President Vladimir Putin loves to play the “divide-and-deceive” game, imagining that every split between the United States and Europe or inside the European Union is an opportunity to corrupt Western policies, opinions, and values. It was high time to turn this game against him, and last week he indeed found himself on the receiving end… Read more »
Diplomacy Delivers Another Pause for Struggling Ukraine and Sinking Russia
The week of February 2 registered an explosion in political intrigue around the war in eastern Ukraine, and some sort of pause in hostilities is likely to ensue. Undoubtedly, this is a positive development, but it would be an overstatement to describe the late-night talks in the Kremlin between President Vladimir Putin and the two… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 6
Monday 2 February At least five people were killed and seven others wounded when unknown gunmen attacked a village in Jalle payam in Jonglei’s Bor county. Abdalla Kuot, spokesperson for rebel fighters under the overall command of General Dau Aturjong, said the SPLA (IO) planned to intensify its recruitment efforts in and outside South Sudan… Read more »
Data Challenges in Conflict Research
Quality data is at the heart of quality research. The scholarly community depends on valid, reliable, and easily accessible data in order to empirically test our theories of social and political processes. Yet quantitative data is not “truth” in an absolute sense, but rather, is a numeric representation of complex phenomena. For conflict researchers, the… Read more »
Peacekeeping Works
An assessment of the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping operations The increase in the deployment of UN ‘blue helmets’ is a key driver of the gradual decline in the number and severity of armed conflicts worldwide since the mid-1990s. This brief summarizes a study that assesses the complete, long-term effectiveness of UN peacekeeping operations. It shows… Read more »
The Effect of Proposed US Arms Supplies to Ukraine
A report published on Monday by the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that calls for the US to supply Ukraine with arms has generated a lot of discussion on both sides of the Atlantic. Written by eight high ranking former US diplomats, defence and military personnel – Ivo… Read more »
Always an Immigrant, Never Norwegian
Immigrants have become integrated into Norwegian society with degrees of success that range between two possible extremes: strong attachment and total alienation. In debates about integration, ethnicity and country of origin are often claimed to be the key factors for determining whether or not integration will be successful. Other important factors are seen as secondary…. Read more »
Russia Makes Haste in Severing Ties with Europe
Russia has achieved much success last week in its rush toward self-isolation, and perhaps the most demonstrative step was made in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Sergei Naryshkin, the Chairman of the State Duma, came to Strasbourg as the head of the Russian delegation expecting to reach a compromise on the… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 5
Monday 26 January Foreign Policy article ‘Inside the White House Fight over the slaughter in South Sudan’ focuses on the threat of an arms embargo and the slow pace of American diplomacy on South Sudan. South Sudan fighting grinds on, one year after the Cessation of Hostilities agreement was signed. Tuesday 27 January The UN… Read more »