This work will look at the idea of regionalism and its link to security. It will argue that that Eurasia, in terms of security, consists of a regional security complex. However, looking at the current conditions in the sub-regions of Eurasia, recent experiences emphasize the weakness of regionalism. Regional security is more capable of identifying threats than constructing viable mechanisms and institutions to tackle them.

Since the end of the Cold War, the policies followed by Russia towards the United States and the European Union have defied simple analysis. In the decade and a half since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has at times appeared an ally and at times has been much more hostile.

This essay evaluates and compares the diplomatic relations of the United States and China during the Administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. Using interest-based negotiation as the theoretical framework, the essay discusses the divergent diplomatic strategies enacted by the two presidents.

This essay draws on the work of Partha Chatterjee to argue that a distinction might be drawn between political and cultural nationalism. Whilst political nationalism sought to challenge the notion of ‘colonial difference’ in the outer realm, cultural nationalism sought to maintain it (albeit reformed and reshaped) in the inner realm. This contradictory process continues to have important consequences for Africa today.

This essay examines the extent to which agency is the determining factor of a migrant’s situation at their point of departure and upon entering a new community. It suggests that whilst recognizing the individual is crucial, policy also needs to account for structural limitations which constrict choices.

In seeking to explain ‘tribalism’ and ‘state failure’ in Africa, academics often point towards the misalignment of the nation and the state: either the post-colonial state has failed to make the nation, or nations have descended into ‘tribalism’ in the process of carving out a state. What is common in these two presumptions, is that all African nations or states have the power to make their counterpart; by extension, the ‘failure ‘of such processes is rarely problematised beyond domestic politics and historical references to the impact of colonialism.

Between 1956 and 1965 the political climate of African countries experienced rapid change. Within just nine years 29 of the 53 African states had declared independence and two prevailing regime forms dominated the continent: the one-party state and military rule. Acknowledging this division, this essay will discuss the assertion that the one-party state bred corruption while military rule meant strong government.

Recent months have seen inter-ethnic conflict in Kenya, exclusivist attacks aimed at immigrant populations in South Africa and continuing controversy surrounding the future of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Cases such as these expose serious societal tensions within some contemporary African states, including those traditionally considered the continent’s ‘success stories’. In light of this, it’s pertinent to ask about the achievements and limitations of nation-building in Africa.

Quantitative forms of analysis have long been lacking in studies of African affairs. Bratton et al.’s, assertion that Africa as a whole is a vastly understudied continent, and that data is “scarce, spotty or entirely non-existent” was, until comparatively recently, fairly difficult to contend. This essay will hold up the recent achievements of quantitative analysis to the critiques presented by qualitative scholars.

Almost sixty years after it was first formed, NATO has changed a great deal from the organisation which once prepared to fight the Red Army in Germany’s Fulda Gap. This essay will argue that the alliance is now fighting fto define its future, in Afghanistan.