Spetsnaz: An Interview With Mark Galeotti
This interview was originally conducted for the Remote Control project. Dr Mark Galeotti is a specialist on Russian security affairs, intelligence, organised crime and similar murky topics. He is a […]
Tag Archives: Russia
Russia’s Military Revival: Why Now and Towards What End?
The revival of Russian military power poses certain challenges to NATO and the West. Russia’s military developments are best understood as a continuation of longer-term factors in the country’s history. […]
Interview – Sascha Dov Bachmann
This interview was conducted by the Remote Control project. Sascha Dov Bachmann, Assessor Jur, LLM (Stel) LLD (UJ), is an Associate Professor in International Law (Bournemouth University, UK), Extraordinary Associate […]
Russia’s Strike Against Special Forces and the UK’s ‘No Comment’ Policy
Author’s Note: This article is expanded from a piece originally published on Defence Report on August 3rd. Russia’s recent bombing of a Syrian base used by UK and US Special […]
Sino-Russian Border Security
Contrary to the claims of analysts and pundits, the China-Russia relationship is not as friendly as it seems and there is mistrust between Beijing and Moscow. But changes to Sino-Russian […]
Sustainable Security in the Arctic
In 2008, media outlets declared that a new Cold War was unfolding in the Arctic. This story was centred on a small, titanium Russian flag, fixed to the seabed below […]
Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons: Five Reasons for the P5 to participate in Vienna
The ‘humanitarian dimension’ initiative highlighting the consequences of nuclear weapons has evolved and consolidated itself in the non-proliferation regime since 2010. The five nuclear weapons states (NWS or P5) under the NPT – China, France, Russia, UK and US – boycotted the first two international conferences on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. A third conference will be held in Vienna on 8-9 December 2014. This article gives five reasons why the P5 should consider participating.
Iraq: Days of Danger
An unlikely alliance of four states – Iran, Syria, the United States and Russia – is coalescing to oppose the ISIS advance in Iraq. Is military intervention in Iraq imminent?
Building the Case for Nuclear Disarmament: The 2014 NPT PrepCom
The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, highlighted by a wide-ranging, cross-grouping, multi-aim initiative which continues to consolidate itself in the non-proliferation regime, has come to the fore in the 3rd Prepatory Committe for the 2015 NPT Review Conference. Frustrated with the lack of progress towards NPT Article VI commitments to complete nuclear disarmament, the initiative has invigorated attention to the urgency of nuclear disarmament and a need for a change in the status quo. NPT member states and civil society continue to engage actively in publicizing the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons as an impetus to progress towards nuclear disarmament.
The ‘High Politics’ of Sustainable Security
If events like those in Ukraine have taught us anything it is that, despite the predictions of many, the potential for conflict between the major powers is still one of the defining characteristics of world politics. Crisis diplomacy and inter-state rivalry is back on the global agenda. But if policymakers, analysts and civil society actors are to try and come up with ways of reversing the trend towards an increasingly competitive, militarised and crisis-driven inter-state order, then thinking carefully through the implications of a sustainable security approach to great power politics would appear to be a most useful starting point.