“A photo of yellow cake uranium, a solid form of uranium” by NRCgov is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Commentators fundamentally underappreciate the vulnerability of the West’s nuclear industry to Russia, and the sector may be about to become embroiled in the Russia-West economic conflict. The EU is debating sanctioning Russia’s nuclear sector, with the EU parliament passing a resolution by 489 votes to 36 urging European Union leaders to include sanctions on Russia’s nuclear industry in the 10th sanctions package, which is expected before the 24th of February. Tensions will escalate as President P ..read more

“Ukraine army cuts off main road to Sloviansk” by snamess is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has brought renewed focus to America’s ability to defend against the Kremlin’s narratives, which seek to justify its continued aggression. The State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), charged with coordinating the U.S.’ response to “disinformation warfare,” is a six-year-old department with a shifting mission, unstable staffing and a limited budget. Despite significant headwinds, the fledgling Center’s modest efforts to counter propaganda through strategi ..read more

Image Source: “Ukraine army cuts off main road to Sloviansk” by snamess is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Moscow has refused to call its actions in Ukraine a ‘war’, instead suggesting that it is simply conducting a ‘special military operation’. Such an unyielding position is inherently steeped in the international law of warfare. By refusing to issue an official Declaration of War against Kyiv, the Kremlin is cherry-picking jus ad bellum norms in order to paint its actions as a “[humanitarian] intervention by invitation”, feeding into its perception of Ukraine as an unviable state, whilst also s ..read more

Image Source: “Sarajevo sunset” by M1key.me is licensed under CC BY 2.0. While the focus of the West has been rightly on providing military and diplomatic support to Ukraine, NATO and the European Union cannot afford to take their eyes off the Western Balkans. It is crucial to see this moment of crisis as not only an attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but as a wider Russian test of the durability of the postwar European security order. As EU and Western Balkan leaders hold their summit in June, the regional stabilisation process in southeastern Europe has never bee ..read more

“Vincenzo Palermo, National Research Council, Italy” by scienceeurope is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Western states, such as the US, UK and Germany have engaged in intense discussions about how to sanction Putin’s Russia most effectively. In the name of the West’s isolation strategy, numerous sanctions have been imposed, including on Russia’s science sector. A closer look at Western sanctions against the Russian scientific community suggests that the West’s isolation strategy might entail unintended effects, such as undercutting any long-term hopes for a mo ..read more

International organizations like the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are in many ways the leaders of global climate mitigation efforts. With their professional knowledge, monitoring functions, and facilitating capabilities for collaboration, international organizations should receive as much data as possible regarding the international execution of climate policies from state actors. In turn, they should use the findings to bridge existing gaps between countries in order to instigate a more efficient and g ..read more

Energy security has been at the center of the geopolitical conversation in recent weeks, as the invasion of Ukraine has shed a light once more on Europe’s dependency on Russian oil and gas. The incident has left leaders scrambling for alternative energy supply, manifesting in part through the unveiling of the EU’s plan to end their reliance on Russian gas. Hydrogen as an energy carrier is a core pillar of this plan, with the European Commission calling for a quadrupling of hydrogen use by 2030.  While reinforced by recent events, the push to scale-up clean hydrogen energy has been underwa ..read more

“Mangaize refugee camp, Niger” by Oxfam International is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Africa’s Sahel region lies at the epicentre of a sprawling jihadist insurgency straddling the ‘ungoverned spaces’ south of the Sahara. As U.S, French and African forces struggle to contain the violence spreading like wildfire across the Sahelian scrublands, one key dimension of instability which remains overlooked is the role of transnational organised crime and illicit economic networks in fueling violent extremism across the region. In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his decision to drast ..read more

National Governments’ enormous power should be translated into effective actions in climate governance. That includes both maximizing its own capabilities to mitigate climate change, and playing a central role in collaboration with other actors in the ecosystem of climate mitigation action.   The nation-state is still the most powerful political sovereign entity in the world and owns unprecedented power: military power, political power, economic power, enforcement, legislation, and more. It is also the most powerful actor in terms of population mobilization into action, including in ..read more

Green crime has climbed the agenda of financial institutions, law enforcement, regulators and the technology sector following the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased presence of the climate crisis. The pandemic in particular shone a blinding light on the global wildlife trade and the impact its lack of regulation can have. Companies are increasingly focusing on markers of environmental related crime, however the pace remains slow and poses a threat to increased levels of sustainability fraud.  Green Crime: What Is It? Although possessing no agreed-upon definition, green crime encompasses ..read more