In Paul Cartledge’s history The Spartans, he shares a story toward the end of the age of Spartan prominence. For much of its history, Sparta had intentionally been a city without a wall: for an enemy to have reached the city of Sparta, the Spartans would have already fallen. The lack of defence encouraged Spartan …
Today, the Western Balkans seems like a region at peace. Tourists flock to the Croatian coast while more adventurous types travel further inland to the mountains, monasteries, and rakia-filled towns of Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bosnia. Left out of that list is the unresolved reminder of NATO’s final 20th century intervention: Kosovo-Serbia. Much of the news …
Read more “Confrontation and Conflict in the Western Balkans”
Last weekend, my phone buzzed with a message from a friend who is involved in diplomacy. It was a Facebook link to a British embassy event that was showcasing the soft power hegemony that is Paddington Bear and Tyrrell’s crisps. We have a running joke about Paddington and his influence on British diplomatic overtures; wherever …
As we prepare to bring you the next season on the podcast, it’s worth revisiting our season on Security, Strategy, and Defence. The series started with Professor Phillips O’Brien discussing his book The Strategists: How War Made Them and How They Made War and ended with Karolina Hird from the Institute for the Study of …
No one can deny that contemporary politics is vicious, volatile, and nasty. Israel has increased its genocidal and illegal attempt to take control of Gaza after briefly kidnapping activists like Greta Thunberg in international waters; US marines were brought in to manage riots prompted by ICE’s detainment strategies; and NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned that …
Author’s Note: I’d like to apologise for my recent hiatus. I have been running this website while searching for employment and recently, I have accepted an internship abroad which has kept me busy. I am looking to maintain and grow this project, but my commentary pieces will be written on a fortnightly basis and possibly …
Having started this season on Security, Strategy and Defence looking back to history and the Grand Strategists of World War II, we end the season looking to the daily updates from Ukraine that inform contemporary strategic thinking. Our guest this week is the Russia Team Deputy Lead and an Analyst for the Institute for the …
It has been more than three years since Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. In that time, different Prime Ministers, Presidents, and leaders have all tried to grapple with what that means for European security. But security for who? This week’s guest is Dr Jenny Mathers. She began her journey into academia by writing her doctorate thesis …
Earlier this week, Louis Theraux released his latest documentary, The Settlers. While the conflict in Palestine has not left public scrutiny, it had begun to retreat in the face of headlines about Donald Trump, European defence, and local council elections. Nonetheless, the public remains passionate about the issue. In a recent Question Time episode, one …
Read more “Settlement and Heartbreak: The British Response to Gaza”
Over the last week, I have been fortunate enough to enjoy and witness some great conversations with some very interesting people. All of them have, in some way, related security back to young people and made defence relevant to a generation that has largely been the witness to a failing politics. Despite the worrying cause …
Read more “Ukraine, Palestine, and NATO: Three Conversations on Youth and Security”