Commentary by Danaë LAZARI The effect of Brexit on the island of Ireland was an issue which received relatively little attention in both campaigns in the run up to the EU referendum. Nevertheless it is an issue with substantial significance. Northern Ireland is likely to be hardest hit by Brexit, and this has severe political and … More Brexit and Northern Ireland
Commentary by Kirsten WILLIAMS Background to the conflict Nagorno-Karabakh, a 1,700 square-mile region which theoretically lies in Azerbaijan, has been contested for hundreds of years. Controlled at various points by Armenians, Persians, Turkic groups and Russians, Nagorno-Karabakh has a long and rocky history. The area is largely populated by Armenian Christians, but became an ‘autonomous … More Nagorno-Karabakh: A Local Conflict with Global Implications
Analysis by Alex IRELAND Tunisia is now often hailed as the only success story from the wave of protests that swept the Arab world beginning in late 2010. This indeed has much justification, for out of the countries that experienced major political change, three have descended into war (Libya, Syria and Yemen), and one (Egypt) … More Tunisia: The Revolution Five Years On
Commentary by Louis VIS (Traduction Française) ‘Europe will be forged in crises, and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises.’ (Jean Monnet 1988) Nearly thirty years have passed since Jean Monnet wrote those very words in his Mémoires, yet they still accurately represent the European Union (EU). Indeed, whilst the EU is … More Crises in Europe
Analysis by Alex IRELAND From the outside, Islamic State (IS) can seem a monolithic organisation expertly exporting terror attacks to the Western world. However, this impression is far from accurate. In fact, IS is mostly focused on holding and expanding territory in the Middle East, and places far greater emphasis on potential recruits to immigrate … More Islamic State’s Terror in the West: Who Directs It?
Analysis by Kirsten WILLIAMS The crisis consuming Burundi hit a new peak last week as around 100 people were killed within four days, some of them with their hands tied behind their backs. While foreign powers, including the U.S. and EU, urge their citizens and workers to leave, the economy is tanking. Is the country teetering … More Burundi in Crisis
Analysis by Alex IRELAND Although many who commit acts of terror in Europe claim Islam as their motivation (though many others do not, as I will address later), it is important to distinguish between the violent ideology to which they were radicalised, and what made them susceptible to radicalisation in the first place. A focus … More What Causes Domestic Radicalisation in the West?
Commentary by Kirsten WILLIAMS The collapse of the Soviet Union – and its carefully regulated criminal underworld with it – wrought social and economic chaos on the Soviet republics. Grinding poverty and unprecedented unemployment spurred on the rapid expansion of organised crime, both by supplying a new workforce and by creating a new clientele for … More Organised Crime, Nuclear Materials and Terrorism – Is Europe at Risk?
Analysis by Kirsten WILLIAMS On the 17th September, the interim president of Burkina Faso was overthrown by a controversial military unit known as the Regiment of Presidential Security (RPS), just weeks before an election was scheduled to take place. The president, Michel Kafando, and his prime minister Isaac Zida were arrested. General Gilbert Diendéré installed himself … More What Happened in Burkina Faso?
Analysis by Alex IRELAND Iraq is currently one of the most unstable and violent countries in the world, split between three rival ethnic and religious groups – the Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shi’a Arabs. Presently, the north-east is ruled separately by Kurds as the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region (with consent from central government) and Sunni … More Behind the Ethnic and Sectarian Tensions in Iraq
Analysis by Alex IRELAND In part I, this article gave an overview of the history of the Islamic State (IS) group. This second half will move on to analysing the reasons for its success, beginning with the immediate causes. In Syria, funded by the group’s wealth from previous Iraqi plunder, it was the combined experience of IS’s … More What Caused the Rise of IS? Part II: The Root Causes
Analysis by Alex IRELAND The spectacular advance across Syria and Iraq of the group named Islamic State (IS) took many Western observers by surprise. From being just one of a collection of rebel militias battling Assad’s forces in the Syrian civil war, and before that the almost wiped-out Islamic State of Iraq group, IS now controls territory inhabited by millions of people. However, the popular understanding of how IS has … More What Caused the Rise of IS? Part I: A History of IS
Commentaire par Louis VIS ‘L’Europe se fera dans les crises et elle sera la somme des solutions apportées à ces crises.’ (Jean Monnet 1988) Trente ans après ces mots de Jean Monnet dans ses Mémoires, cette phrase semble toujours d’une extrême actualité concernant l’Union Européenne (UE). Alors que l’UE sort peu à peu et difficilement de la … More L’Europe en Crise
Young Europeans Network 