This is the first of two guest blog posts by students who attended this years Peace Research course at the International Summer School 2015. “He reminds me of my grandfather!” The liveliest girl in our class had her back to the wall and was sobbing uncontrollably while PRIO’s old, too tall and too nice head… Read more »
Month: July 2015
Arctic fishing and Russian Maritime Doctrine
Many Arctic watchers were glad to hear about the agreement on prohibiting fishing in the newly-opening waters around the North Pole, signed a couple of weeks ago in Oslo by Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the USA. Indeed, it was a significant step in protecting migrating fish stocks – but Iceland declared strong reservations. It… Read more »
Contestations over National Identity and Diversity: An analysis of French and British media debates in the autumn 2014
How and when is national identity and nationhood debated, and what does this reveal about the boundaries of national identity? Drawing on analyses of opinion pieces from French and British newspapers, we examine how national identity is debated, contested and challenged in light of national and international news events during the autumn of 2014. This… Read more »
How Long can Putin Continue doing Nothing?
Putin has always preferred to postpone decisions until the last possible moment and to keep his lieutenants and international counterparts in the dark about his intentions. This summer, however, he is arguably wasting time and maneuvering himself into a corner, from which the only escape will be jumping into another spasm of hostilities in eastern… Read more »
14 March 1988: East Asia’s Last Interstate Battle
Since the Sino-Vietnamese war of 1979 – a period of 36 years – there has not been one single war between states in the whole of East Asia, a region comprising one third of mankind, and which was ravaged by some of the word’s worst wars from the 1840s to the 1970s. There have been… Read more »
The Important Debates – Four Years Later
Four years have passed since the biggest terror attacks on Norwegian soil during peacetime. Once again we are solemnly commemorating the dead and expressing our solidarity. The debate about the potential uses of the actual sites that were affected is also very much alive and continuing. But are there other debates that we also need… Read more »
The China Factor in Russian Support for the Iran Deal
The United States needed Russian support to conclude the Iranian nuclear deal. As U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged, “we would have not achieved this agreement had it not been for Russia’s willingness to stick with us.” But with U.S.-Russian relations at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, Russian support came as… Read more »
The Air Tragedy that Condemns Putin’s Russia
It was a year ago last Friday (July 17) that the Boeing 777 Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a missile over eastern Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 298 lives. The shock of that tragedy awakened Europe and the wider global community to the grave risk… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 29
Monday 13 July The civil war continues to stifle South Sudan’s oil economy. The Central Equatoria state government condemned the SPLA of “brutality” after clashes with fighters from the Mundri tribe near Juba, which left at least 8 people dead. The SPLA later denied allegations of attacks on unarmed civilians. A hand grenade explosion in… Read more »
How Can States and Non-State Actors Respond to Authoritarian Resurgence?
Two weeks ago, the Monkey Cage ran a piece by Matthew Baum and Phil Potter suggesting that the policy of “democracy-promotion” has gone out of style.[1] I think they’re right that in many circles democracy-promotion is politically passé and that, more broadly, democracy advocates are really having a tough couple of years. In the midst… Read more »