While many countries rushed to evacuate their national and local Afghan contacts, neighboring countries began to assess the significance of an Afghanistan under renewed Taliban leadership

With Russia taking up the chair at the Arctic Council and the Biden Administration seemingly favouring a far more cooperative posture in the High North than was seen under Trump, now is the opportunity for both states to make some inroads into improving overall bilateral ties by prioritising cooperation in the Arctic.

17 August, 2021 HSC Deputy Director Dr Rowan Allport has had a comment piece on Taiwan’s approach to deterrence published in The Diplomat. In it, he examines how the Taipei government is developing a capability via both its domestic industry ...

It may be possible that in the not-too distant future Switzerland will operate a helicopter fleet with a trio of models, one light, one medium and one heavy. Such a trio could theoretically cover any scenario the Swiss Armed Forces would be called upon to overcome. While the acquisition process will prove to be a challenge, acquiring heavy-lift helicopters would guarantee retaining the spectrum of capacities which will become more relevant and called upon in the future.

As with previous conflicts in Gaza, this latest exchange of hostilities saw Palestinian militant groups use civilian buildings for military purposes, with subsequent Israeli attacks targeting these same civilian structures to eliminate a military threat. However, Israel employs a strategy known as “Roof Knocking”, designed to limit the number of civilian casualties caused by their airstrikes.

What exactly do ‘emerging’ and ‘disruptive’ mean to the user? Within what context are these technologies emergent or disruptive? Which aspects of those labels are being emphasised as most central to the analysis? In what ways do the subjects under analysis fit the definition used, and in what ways do they not?

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.

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.

In the last months of 2020, Israel normalized its ties with four Arab countries. In the case of Morocco, the US issued a proclamation, recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, making it the first country in the world to do so. What consequences such recognition will have on what is essentially a conflict in limbo is unclear.

While there is no doubt that both national and international anti-piracy laws will lead to better conditions for the fight against piracy, it is evidently important to be aware of the opportunities that national laws have where international law cannot deliver.