Europe

For the past more than two decades, Bulgaria has sought to have the best of both worlds – and succeeded. When new President Rumen Radev says that good ties with both the West and Russia are not incompatible, the recent history of his country indicates he is right.

Milo Djukanovic created a Montenegro that looks to the West while being governed as in the East; and even with international integration to boast, his political game will only become increasingly difficult for him to play.

Facing a $1 trillion bill to recapitalise its nuclear triad, the US should now seek to assess the purpose for which it is sustaining its nuclear force not just in the context of symbolism, but for the practical value it can provide to the defence of its interests.

On 6 October, the European Union launched its European Border and Coast Guard. But the force is not the solution that will end the migration crisis – it is merely the first step in a long-lasting and highly complex process.

For a brief period after SDSR 2015, it looked like the British Army might be about to enjoy a mini-renaissance. But in a even if it proves possible to drastically improve the mass, readiness and combat support of the deployable force, the planned reforms may do little to solve the deeper problems the Army faces.

In light of its modern history under communist isolationism, it has made admirable progress over less than three decades towards Euro-Atlantic integration. Given the persistent geopolitical importance that the Balkans exerts, Albania’s critical role in the region cannot be overlooked.

Having come a long way internationally in its eight short years of independence, the country now needs to do the same domestically – and show both the international community and its own people that it is ready for the difficult road ahead.

On 3 October 2013 a boat carrying over 500 migrants from Eritrea and Somalia sunk off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, leading to the deaths of over 350 people; a few days later, a second incident occurred adding at least another 34 lives to the death toll. Following the tragedy of Lampedusa, the EU and its member states pledged that an end must come to migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, with the EU Parliament calling the incidents a turning point towards a new policy guided by ‘solidarity and responsibility’.[1] One year on, the pledge echoes hollow as new reports of incidents across the Mediterranean surface weekly.

The 2014 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Wales was billed as arguably the most important for the alliance following the Cold War. Against a backdrop of tension in Ukraine and unrelenting chaos in the Middle East, the stakes are both immediate and long-term.

On July 24th two parliamentary factions left the “European choice” coalition in the Ukrainian parliament.[1] This coalition was formed in February as a result of the Maidan protests. On August 25th, after a month of the coalition breakup, president Poroshenko exercised his constitutional right to dissolve parliament and call for elections, which are likely to be held on October 26th.