The post-Cold War 'investment holiday' in state-on-state warfare capabilities has left shortfalls on both sides of the Atlantic, and critical questions remain to be resolved about to what extent emerging technology and operations in the grey zone can genuinely take the place of traditional 'heavy metal' systems and conventional warfighting.

With over 190 countries signed up, the wait for COVAX vaccinations is likely to be long, and the scheme will only provide doses for up to a fifth of receiving countries’ populations. On the borders of Europe, this process has been fraught with geopolitics, centring in large part around the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine, as the complementary and opposing examples of Belarus and Ukraine demonstrate.

Amid a host of promises including a declaration to re-join the Paris Climate Agreement, the Biden administration announced in early January that it would seek an extension to the treaty, and on the 26th Biden and Putin agreed via a telephone conversation to a five-year extension.

The Human Security Centre (HSC) welcomes the publication of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (IR).

As the years pass and younger generations grow up in a de-facto partitioned Cyprus, it will increasingly become less-likely that Cyprus will be unified in the future. While parties to the Cyprus issue prepare for their meeting with UNSG Guterres this April, they should also prepare for the likely reality that the “frozen conflict”-zone of Cyprus will remain in a state of political limbo, akin to Western Sahara and the Palestinian Territories.

Alexey Navalny’s arrest and sentencing brought the people of Russia to the streets, but it was anger at their current situation that kept them there. The ill-treatment you are likely to experience if you disagree with the government, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and years of declining living standards all combined to generate Russia’s largest-scale demonstrations in nearly a decade.

The military-strategic superiority requirement is creating increasing pressure and plunging states into an AI arms race, as was the case for nuclear weapons in the 20th century. As the military use of AI has become the focus of great power competition, governments around the globe are increasingly investing in research projects to enhance their armed forces’ combat capabilities by providing them with brand-new technological equipment, including autonomous weapons systems.

Located in West Africa, Guinea-Bissau, with its 1.8 million people, constitutes what has for many years been a fragile state located in between Senegal and Guinea. Beside the overshadowing problem of not being able to sustain a stable governing system, the country is struggling with networks of drug trafficking – a problem that is not new, but has proven hard to combat in the given security context.

With water scarcity in some highly populated regions projected to increase over the coming decades, some have argued that wars over access to and control of water may become some of the most common, most devastating conflicts of the 21st century.

Australia is a destination country for trafficked victims, particularly women from Southeast Asia, who are coerced into moving to Australia under the belief they will obtain better working conditions upon arrival. However, once in the country, these women are often forced into modern slavery in the sex industry to repay traffickers’ exaggerated fees.