PROFESSOR ALEXANDER MOTYL´S INTERVIEW OF DR. JIRI VALENTA
 
MOTYL: Jiri, you’re one of the world’s most experienced and knowledgeable observers of Russia. How would you characterize the downing of Malaysian flight MH17 and the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine?
 
VALENTA: The ongoing war in Ukraine has involved a…

Whereas the first two world wars broke out and were fought mainly in Europe, the third world war, if it is not avoided, will most probably erupt in the Asia-Pacific region. Quite a few scholars and political leaders have found striking similarities between what took place in Europe before the first world war and what we are now witnessing in Asia. The…

The period before this crisis in America and in the Western World was considered to be the “Second Gilded Age.” Simply put, people were making a ton of money. In the financial sector, bonuses were robust, and that is putting it lightly. It was routine for one's bonus to be larger than their salaries. Loan requirements were relaxed. At…

With the American football season opening soon the National Football League (NFL), a source for sports diplomats and famous for the violent “hitting” that fans love, is taking a hard hit.
 
The NFL has sent sports ambassadors to war zones for decades to serve as role models to boost the morale of U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan…

During the sixth BRICS summit last week in Fortaleza, Brazil, the five BRICS countries agreed, as expected, to form both a development bank (named the New Development Bank) and a Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA). The agreements aim to minimize the role of traditional Bretton Woods institutions in the BRICS countries, and to lessen BRICS…

As a Malaysian and global citizen, when I watched TV on the morning after that MH17 crashed, I was shocked, horrified and deeply upset - so many innocent people dead, and two Malaysian Airlines planes gone in 4 month. Why was this happening? Malaysian Airlines had a very good track-record for safety, reliability and good service.  Then I heard…

 
                                    
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The percentage of Americans who have heard of Yemen is undoubtedly small. Still fewer could locate it on a map. Still fewer have even an inkling of its current political issues. Reality shows that civil unrest and insurrection has been happening in the north of that country since 2004, meaning there has basically been war in Yemen as long as…

Part Two:
What are the consequences for the buildup of the Black Sea Fleet?
 
Having examined the plans for the economic development of Crimea and the construction of infrastructures in the peninsula in our previous paper, we now raise issues related to the impact of Russia’s seizure of Crimea for the modernization of the Black Sea…

Russia and the European Union (EU) are currently engaged in a geopolitical struggle for control of the post-Soviet space.  While Russia is the current regional hegemon, the European Union and NATO have been trying to gain influence in what Russia refers to as its “near abroad.”  Russia has retaliated by influencing the states in…

“What happened is a turning point and I do hope that the EU finally will stand up to what is going on,” wrote a Dutch friend who prefers to remain anonymous. “Trade is important as well as energy security, but in the end it is not the most important. I hope this was a wakeup call and Europe will finally work to become independent…

Kazushige Kobayashi is a doctoral student in International Relations at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Switzerland, and a research fellow with the Europe-Asia Programme at the Balkan Security Agenda in Serbia. He holds Bachelor of Economics from Tohoku University in Japan, Master in International…