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EU Sanctions

EU Sanctions on its Neighbourhood

This article follows the recent analysis of economic sanctions as a coercive tactic and their role in international relations. As part of this topic, the first case study ‘‘US Sanctions on China” examined how sanctions are used in traditional world politics, where governments or global leaders decide to impose sanctions based on their national agendas. It is now time to explore how sanctions are shaped in an intra-state, collective level.

For this analysis, the European Union is selected as the area of study. The reason behind this lies in the particularity or the unique role of the European Union in the global system, which will help us to better understand how sanctions work in the modern politics outside the national boundaries. An in-depth analysis of the reasons is given in the section below. Read more

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Rising Tension in the Arctic Circle

A revival of the Cold War era?

By the end of the Cold War, regional claims in the Arctic Circle had started to fall apart. First of all, the Western World did not have to compete anymore with the Soviet Union over military presence in geostrategic locations all over the world including the Far North. Another important parameter was the cold weather that was making vast areas of ice covering the North Pole difficult to reach, which had put off potential investment plans.

This period of idleness and the absence of military activity in the Arctic was yet to be interrupted by the latest global warmth. With the Arctic ice melting at a much more accelerating pace compared to the rest of the world, a previously inaccessible region is now becoming easier to reach and explore. According to NASA, the Arctic sea ice is dropping by nearly 13% per decade, reaching its lowest point in 2012.

As expected, more countries have started to reconsider their national strategy in the Far North; aiming to exert control over the Arctic natural resources including hydrocarbon reserves, fish and minerals.

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Oil leakage in Russian Arctic

An Arctic oil accident that will take years to clean up

Despite the recent freeze of the global economic activity due to the COVID-19 outbreak, climate change continues to accelerate at its own pace, reminding us the detrimental effects of decades’ pollution and greenhouse emissions that have led to the rise of the global temperatures.

One of the most serious consequences is the thawing of the Arctic permafrost, a permanent ice layer that covers large parts of the Arctic Circle; an area of major geo-economic importance both for the environmental sustainability in the north sphere as well as for the economic initiatives due to its significant fossil fuel reserves. Read more

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Russia back in the global arena

Putin’s popularity on the rise as populists take over Europe and the US

Global order as known within the last three decades is changing. With more global players emerging, the US hegemony comes to an end; soon, new rivalries and alliances will dominate. The current article discusses the systemic changes in the US-Russian relations after Trump’s election, the rise of populism and the spread of the Russian propaganda in the West. Read more

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