Geopolitics straight to the point ! No blabla or doublespeaking… Just the facts and enriching explanations about their causes and consequences !
Geopolitics accessible to all ! Full context and definitions are provided such that no one gets lost !
Geopolitics beyond what school and the media have told you ! Let’s unravel your preconceived ideas and expand your knowledge !
Summary of short political and philosophical op-eds written by the French philosopher, journalist and professor Alain (1868-1951). Themes addressed include: political leadership, corruption and democracy.
Summary of Simone Weil's note on the abolition of all political parties. She regards them as makers of collective passions, impediments to critical thinking, and power-hungry machines. She presents her ideal vision of what the political scene should look like.
Faced with unravelling operational capacities and diplomatic setbacks, Iran may pursue nuclear deterrence and deepen its integration with the Global South
Despite an economic and diplomatic relation historically and ideologically rooted, China and North Korea each pursue their own foreign interests, at times to the detriment of the other.
Although the Nobel Peace Prize is intended as an instrument for peace and fraternity, some awards have been politically contentious. The prize is also criticised as a Western diplomatic tool.
Summary of Hannah Arendt's essay written in 1967. She gives a compelling description of the relationship between lying and power in totalitarian regimes. Her work resonates with current challenges posed by the post-truth era.
The Sino-Russian relation is too often mistaken for a strategic alliance. However, its asymetry stands as its main vulnerability. Will it turn "friends without limits" into foes?
Perpetrator, victim or both at the same time? This question is a core difficulty faced by societies in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East when dealing with people affected by terrorism. In order to tackle Read more…
Your 5-MINUTE WEEKLY DOSE OF GEOPOLITICS. This week : UN peace operations have long been criticised for their inefficiency, their new comprehensive format based on peace-building is however not free from criticisms.
Your 5-MINUTE WEEKLY DOSE OF GEOPOLITICS. This week : NATO has a strong foothold in the Baltic but seems powerless faced with Russia's hybrid threats.
Your 5-MINUTE WEEKLY DOSE OF GEOPOLITICS. This week : Germany has realised the importance to ramp up national and European defence capabilities, but has it really the means and will to do it?
Your 5-MINUTE WEEKLY DOSE OF GEOPOLITICS. This week : India competes more and more with China, but remains far from outshining its neighbour and thus prefers avoiding antagonising it.
Your 5-MINUTE WEEKLY DOSE OF GEOPOLITICS. This week : the arms race in spaces continues geopolitical tensions in a new environment and there is no adequate legal framework to prevent the advent of guerrilla warfare in space.
Summary of Hannah Arendt's essay written in 1972. She takes the episode of the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam war to reflect upon the subject of lying in politics.
Your 5-MINUTE WEEKLY DOSE OF GEOPOLITICS. This week : aggressive behaviours in the Arctic for its strategic resources may not lead to a direct confrontation yet. Multilateral diplomatic frameworks do exist, but they may not be enough.
What are the advantages and drawbacks of each strategy? Is one more efficient than the other? When should one be favoured over the other?
Comment améliorer la gouvernance en Afrique? Par le haut, en renforçant les institutions étatiques déjà (trop) fortes? La voie populaire, par le bas, est-elle alors à privilégier?
Is a Western-dominated world order really a guarantee for peace? How has the shift from power rivalry to power inequality changed warfare? What is "weakness politics"? Does peace still exist?
What sparked the Colour revolutions? Did they bring democracy and the rule of law? What role did the US play? How did it impact relations with Russia?
How did Boko Haram get control of Lake Chad? How does Boko Haram differ from the Islamic State? What is the connection between terrorism and criminality? What hinders Nigerian counter-terrorist efforts?
How likely is it that the Taliban regime will collapse in 3 to 5 years? Will internal divisions, rebel groups, popular unrest and foreign pressure make it fall?
How was political, economic and cultural domination organised? What were the different modes of colonial administration? How was the colonial system challenged both in the metropole and in the colonies?
How were racial hierarchies justified and implemented? Why was there also a hierarchy among colonised populations? How did colonial conquests fuel imperial rivalries?
What are the shortcomings of the EU’s intelligence apparatus? Is a European Intelligence Agency the solution? How to foster cooperation between member States?
What were the causes & consequences of the various wars? How do Israeli-Palestinian tensions impact the broader regional context? How do the PLO and the Hamas differ? Why have attempts to pacify Israeli-Palestinian relations fail?
What are the Geneva and La Haye conventions? What are the three components of the Law of Armed Conflicts? Are human rights law and humanitarian law the same? What are the 5 core principles of the LOAC?
What are the two tenets on which rests the concept of nation? Are nations eternal? Are they linked to notions of race, language, religion, interest or geography?
Twelve centuries of Russian history to discover how Russia has built its identity under the Mongols, Ivan the Terrible, the Romanov, the Soviet Union and now Vladimir Putin.
How can globalisation and Western modernity be both desired and rejected? What are the humiliating ways in which the West sustains its global domination? How does humiliation fuel national narratives? How have wars changed in a way that humiliation has become systematic?
Is it a "win-win" relation? Does China help Africa develop? Does it use "debt-trap diplomacy"? How does China play the big brother? What challenges will it face?
Liberal actors see Africa as a proxy landscape for their power rivalry with illiberal countries. However, they forget that African States have their own agency and that it's not a simple zero-sum game, a vacuum is not always spatial.
What is Russia's strategy in Africa? How does it use the Wagner group? What's happening in CAR, Mali, Sudan and SAF? What can limit Russia's influence?
Who is at the basis of the DRC's educational system? How do Chad's rural populations settle property-related disputes? Why do Guinean hunters perform law enforcement missions? Why is a NGO fighting terrorism in Benin's national parks?
Delve into Bill Clinton’s pragmatic Wilsonianism, George W. Bush’s “America First”, Barack Obama’s smart power, Donald Trump’s unilateralism and Joe Biden’s Cold War mentality…
What was Ethiopia's position during the Cold War? What is the history of the relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea? What sparked the Tigray War in 2020?
Short history, main thinkers and recent developments related to Russia's influence in Africa.
Who are the Fula and why do some fight with jihadists? Why is the ethno-religious lens an inadequate tool? How has poor governance fueled the security crisis?
Do past rivalries impact their relations? Why is Turkey annoying NATO? How complementary are their economies? How compartmentalised are their interests?
Presentation of Uganda's History, culture, politics, economy, security situation and so much more !
What are the various African terrorist groups? How different are al-Qaeda and Daesh's targets, strategies and images? How will the threat evolve in Africa?
How did Islamist groups exploit state weaknesses? Why did piracy develop there? Why do Kenya and Ethiopia get involved in Somalia's security issues?
What caused the 2017 famine in South-Sudan? What are the root causes of the genocide in Darfur? How was Omar al-Bashir deposed by the 2019 revolution?
How did ethnic tensions culminate in a genocide between Hutus and Tutsis? What role did colonisation play? Who is Paul Kagamé the current Rwandan President ?
How does Turkey leverage its soft and hard powers to gain influence in Africa? Which narrative does it develop? What challenges does it face?
How come the DRC has so much natural resource but is still poor? What has been the influence of Rwanda over the DRC over the past decades? What is the M23?
Why do the Seleka and anti-Balaka fight each other? What is Russia doing in CAR? Is the civil war still on? How are the UN and the EU trying to stop it?
Why did Stalin give Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan? What was the evolution of the conflict since 1992? What role does Russia play there?
How was the Iranian regime before/after 1979 ? Who was the Ayatollah Khomeini ? How did the US-Iran relationship evolve ? What is the Iranian nuclear deal ?
Why and how did France intervene? What were its motivations? Does the recent French withdrawal from Mali represent a defeat? What role are Russians playing?
Background information since WW1, summaries of the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, and explanations on how crimes were judged in the aftermath of the wars.
How does passive representation lead to active representation? How does it work in bureaucracies? Are quotas really useful in politics?
How can public opinion impact public policies? When can it do so? Is it the most important public policy determinant?
What is the history of the EU? Why didn't the UK adopt the euro? How do EU institutions work? What challenges does the EU face?
Why does corruption persist? Is it a principal-agent or a collective action problem? Are there solutions to eradicate it? Can corruption actually be beneficial?
What role did states play in the emergence of markets? How and why does capitalism push for state non-intervention? Are states necessary for markets' survival?
When and how can they improve public policies? Is their discretion always a good thing? How to hold them accountable? Can technology help them improve policies?
Why does public opinion matter in democracy? What are the drawbacks of basing decisions on public opinion? When does public opinion really matter?
Qu'est ce que le lien armée-nation? Comment s'est-il manifesté depuis 1789? Quel rôle joue la réserve? Quelles politiques pour renforcer le lien armée-nation?
How are policy failures constructed? What role do the media play? How do political promises mislead citizens? What are the shortcomings of our bureaucracies?
Has the US achieved its "Pivot to Asia" ? How does China expand its influence ? Is the ASEAN a united bloc ? Will it align itself with one side or the other?
Will Joe Biden make everything return to normal ? Is he returning to multilateralism ? Multilateralism to counter China ? Can Biden bring together the US ?
What is neoliberalism? How did we adopt this model? Are we witnessing its end? What role did covid-19 play? What would replace neoliberalism?
What military and diplomatic strategies did the US adopt? What mistakes did they make? Who is in good terms with the Taliban? How will they govern?
Why and how did the US intervene in Afghanistan? How was Osama bin Laden killed? What role did Pakistan play? Why did the US leave in 2021?
What happened during the Soviet-Afghan war and the ensuing civil wars? What was Pakistan's role? Who are the mujahideen? Who are the Taliban?
What definition for narcoterrorism? How do South-American cartels and West-African terrorist groups collaborate? How governments fight both drug and terrorism ?
What is the meaning of naval power? What are the advantages of naval power compared to land and air forces? Why a navy is economically and logistically vital ?
Is the nuclear non-proliferation treaty efficient ? Do nuclear weapons prevent conflicts? What's the point of nuclear weapons today? What are the risks of uncontrolled nuclear proliferation?
What are the ideological, political, social and economic basis of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)? Is Daesh a caliphate ? Is it a state proper ?
What is economic development ? How is it linked to democracy for Lipset, Robinson and Acemoglu ? Should governments promote democracy to foster growth ?
How did Mao Zedong establish a communist regime in 1949? What role did China play during the Cold War? Why is it a capitalist power now ? How is it governed?
What is a cold war? Are there current ideological differences ? Do tensions go beyond simple rhetoric fights and diplomatic tensions? What about China ?
Maps and definitions of the different religious communities in the Middle East ! Let's understand their relations with one another and how it underpins some conflicts !