By Ruşen Koç The recent assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Suleimani on Iraqi soil by American intervention sparked discussions on the legality of the attack. An attack on a diplomat, within the borders of another sovereign, put great strain on diplomatic relations in the Middle...
By Koen de Hek IntroductionChina has been the frontrunner in the race towards developing surveillance technology with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). The collection of massive amounts of biodata from ethnic minorities[1] in Xinjiang played a significant role in the achievement of this position. The Chinese government...
By Daniel Stuke The troubled Niger Delta has been one of the world’s powder kegs for decades. Following a brief spell of relative quiet during the first half of the past decade, civil strife has flared up once more in recent years. The conflict in the...
Historically, the Arctic has been a ‘low tension area’. The intergovernmental body that presides over the high north, the Arctic Council, only has the authority over certain ‘soft’ matters. These include, but are not limited to: the promotion of and cooperation with scientific research, search...
The growing strategic significance of GreenlandBy Emanuel Skoog Greenland is the world’s largest island, a cold and remotely located territory covered in ice, with only 56,000 inhabitants, making it the least densely populated country in the world. At a first glance, it may seem that the...
By Giles Longley-Cook If you are a popular liberation movement looking to gain international attention, 2019 generally will have been a good year for you. Were you hoping to translate this attention into tangible political gains however, you might well have been disappointed. The short-attention span of...
By Koen de Hek Historically, women have played a relatively small role in armies compared to men, mainly because they were often barred from entering armies in the first place. Even during the Second World War, when many women entered the army because of a shortage...
By Aileen Schuurmans Conflicts often seem to follow a similar pattern: men fight, women and children suffer, and peace is achieved through the external intervention of an armed peacekeeping mission. However, more goes on beneath the surface. We often perceive conflict through a male perspective, while...
By Emanuel Skoog A lot has been written about China’s role in Africa and the underlying factors pertaining to its activities on the continent. Far less discussed, is the role and spread of Russia’s current presence and plans for Africa. During the heyday of the Soviet...
By Jessica Sciarone In 2015, the world was shocked when many Western women, young and old, decided to give in to the siren’s call of the newly established caliphate, comprising of parts of Syria and Iraq. Traditionally, women have been regarded as nurturing, caring and peaceful,...