Category: Articles
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Georgia’s Pivotal Elections are a Key Test for EU Foreign Policy
Since the Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia has for decades been considered one of the next states to turn towards Europe – its break from relations with Russia with the 2008 war and its desire to join the EU and NATO making it a bastion of hope for a liberal, European future. This romanticism has…
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A War Started by Politics can only be Ended by Politics – Shortened Version
Despite nearly eight years of deteriorating relations, catalysed by the Euromaidan revolution and ideological shift to the West in Ukraine, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a completely unanticipated event in the West’s geopolitical consciousness, and caught Western politicians deeply unprepared for its ramifications. In fact, some European countries were still holding onto cosy arrangements with…
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Another Winter: Finnish Foreign Policy in the NATO era
For an event seen as a disastrous consequence for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and a supposed ‘red line’ for the Kremlin, the ascension of Finland into NATO ended up being something of a non-event. One could even say that it was simply a matter of Finland confirming its natural allyship with its counterparts…
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Alive and Independent? Georgia’s Post-Soviet Identity Crisis
Spring 2023 in Georgia was welcomed by a swelling of unrest on the streets of Tbilisi, as mass protests formed in response to a bill proposed by the government which would designate Non-Governmental Organisations that receive funding from abroad as foreign agents. This law is widely perceived as an authoritarian tactic used by Russia and…
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Russian Foreign Policy is Broken
Published on 21st September 2022 Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has been a moment of dawning realisation for Europe. It has shattered the illusion of a largely comfortable peace in the post-Cold War landscape, and has shattered the myth that Russia no longer posed a threat to the collective security of the continent. Many have offered…
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On Ukraine, Russia is testing the West
Published on 12th February 2022 As fears over an invasion of Ukraine become palpable, Russia is wielding the threat of aggression as a stick, whilst dangling the prospect of negotiation as the carrot in a pivotal assessment of Western resolve. Europe is at an inflection point. After nearly three decades without war on a major…