COVID-19 has heightened tensions between China and the United States, placing Europe as the middleman. The EU has the tough challenge of managing its complex ties with Beijing and Washington so that the rule-based global order is not further jeopardized. However, to avoid getting stuck between the two powers, the EU should approach this war on its own by keeping …

Sixteen years have passed since the election of the first female Chancellor in Germany’s history, Merkel proved to be one of the longest-serving democratically-elected European leaders ever existed marking her decision to not seek re-election in 2021, it is the end of an era and it leaves everyone wondering what is going to happen next, as her strongest feature in …

It is commonly believed that in recent years North Korea has adopted a unique strategy and position in the field of international relations, acting irrationally and demonstrating an unreliable profile to the international community. The fact that North Korea possesses at least 30 warheads in its nuclear arsenal, along with its behaviour, causes disturbing thoughts regarding the expected decisions and …

France lost a contract approximately worth $68 billion to provide twelve conventionally-powered submarines to Australia following the signing of a military pact between the US, the UK and Australia. After the announcement on September 15, quickly voices in mainstream media on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean raised their outrage and concerns over this – as many conceived it – …

The confirmation of Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, of recent discussions with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Baghdad (Iraq) last August (Al Jazeera, 2021) could be envisaged as a decades-long awaited catalyst for a directional change in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. This would represent a major turning point not only for the diplomatic …

The European Union has for years been pursuing greater cooperation in the field of defence in order to maintain its security and its position in the world.  Yet, the idea of a European army is a particularly contentious one with strong advocates for and against. Ultimately, a distinct European army is still not a reality due to the lack of a common strategic culture and the political will …

China has once more risen its degree of control over Hong Kong confirming that it does not intend to lower its grip on the autonomous regions thereby cutting the hopes that the latter will ever become an independent fully-fledged democratic state. This week nine pro-democracy activists who took part in last year’s banned Commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre …

The Persian Gulf Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman share similarities in terms of economic development patterns, state governing models and social lifestyles (Martin, 1984). One of the main common characteristics of these countries are the oil-driven economies, autocratic monarchical rule and religion based politics (Barnes and Jaffe, 2006). Strategically, Abu …

  One of the original achievements of European integration was to create a Union of states characterized by the absence of conflicts both between the member states and with third-party states, which have shaped European history for many decades. Ever since its rise the Ottoman Empire has been one of these third-party actors. This makes it clear that the only …

Following a 30-year period of “non-aligned” foreign policy after its independence, Ukraine’s commitment to a transatlantic orientation in its strategic culture, including the pursuit of NATO membership, was dramatically reinforced as a result of the 2014 crisis (Glebov, 2017). According to the vast majority of foreign policy experts, joining NATO would help Ukraine achieve three major foreign and security policy …