In this post, Greg O’Meara examines the US policy toward European security and defence integration. He argues that this integration, and calls for ‘European strategic autonomy,’ are better understood as a response to American demands for greater European contributions to international security rather than intractable fractures in the Atlantic Alliance.
In the lead up to the US election last November, […]
In this post, Alex Penler explores the role of American diplomatic wives in historical U.S. global health and vaccine efforts. She argues that these initiatives are important manifestations of U.S. public diplomacy that can create strong ties between the United States and peoples around the world.
Over the past few weeks, as pharmaceutical companies produce increasing numbers of COVID-19 vaccines, […]
In this post, Tenny Kristiana explores the long-term relations between South Korea and China. She argues that Beijing’s increasing importance as an economic partner helps explain the economic and political upheaval in Seoul following China’s strong reaction to the South Korean decision to allow deployment of the THAAD missile defence system in 2016.
In 2016 Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test brought […]
In 2010 the Arab Spring and subsequent armed rebellions destabilised authoritarian regimes in the Middle-East and North Africa, causing the downfall of many long-standing dictators and oligarchs. Although Syria was engulfed by the movement and the Civil War that followed, unlike his counterparts, President Bashar al-Assad survived the onslaught and has since regained control of most of the nation. […]
The notion that Ukraine is not a country, but a historical part of Russia, appears to be deeply ingrained in the minds of Russian leadership. Competing interpretations of history have turned into a key ingredient of the deepening dispute between Russia and the West and a subject that Putin in particular appears to feel unusually passionate about. In this […]
US efforts to secure the vast oil resources of the Persian Gulf exacerbated the military incompetence of Imperial Iran and Saudi Arabia. In this article, by examining the military incompetence of Saudi Arabia in Yemen and Imperial Iran in Dhofar (Oman), Jack Sargent outlines the failure of the US to encourage meaningful reforms.
US engagement with the Persian Gulf in […]
In 1945, USA occupied Japan following the East Asian Empire’s unconditional surrender. This occupation was accompanied with political and social reforms. In this article, Tenny Kristiana examines the diplomatic negotiations between the two nations, and how domestic politics and the evolving international order impacted the creation of a democratic government in Japan.
Diplomacy on a global stage has an extended […]
Laos experienced some of the worst bombings of the Cold War era, and yet this legacy of violence often goes unrecognised in the international realm. In this article, Juliette O’Connor, explores this period of Laotian history and examines the trauma of unexploded ordnances that are still terrorising the nation today.
10 years of US air surveillance missions and bombings between […]
‘Today, we tell the despotic regime in Saudi Arabia that we will not be part of their military adventurism’, said Senator Bernie Sanders on 13 December 2018, as the Senate voted to end U.S military support for Saudi Arabia’s conflict in Yemen. Despite bipartisan support for this resolution, passing in both the Senate in March and the House just […]
Even a brief look through the latest scholarship will reveal that the Cold War, as period-defining topoi, is losing its traction and importance. On the one hand, this is because the Cold War historiography has expanded dramatically over the last decade or so. The number of publications has sky-rocketed and the field now covers a broader range of issues […]
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