The Development of Cyber Norms at the United Nations Ends in Deadlock. Now What?
The prospects of developing norms of state behavior in cyberspace have been looking positively bleak recently. The Lazarus Group, which appears to have ties to North Korea, is suspected of being behind the WannaCry ransomware attacks that spread to 150 countries and hobbled the UK’s Nation…
Europe’s Gradualist Fallacy
Europe is at the mercy of a common currency that not only was unnecessary for European integration, but that is actually undermining the European Union itself. So what should be done about a currency without a state to back it – or about the 19 European states without a currency that they control? T…
Petya Or NotPetya: Why The Latest Ransomware Is Deadlier Than WannaCry
The world suffered another ransomware nightmare Tuesday, with pharmaceutical companies, Chernobyl radiation detection systems, the Kiev metro, an airport and banks all affected. One U.S. hospital also appears to be a victim. Worse is expected, thanks to some pernicious …
The Brexit Vote, One Year Later
On June 23, 2016, citizens in the United Kingdom voted 52 to 48 percent to leave the European Union, sending shockwaves around the world and raising concerns about a new type of populism on both sides of the Atlantic. The common explanation of Brexit presents it as a revolt by the los…
The size and location of Europe’s defence industry
There is growing debate about a common European military policy and defence spending. Such moves would have major economic implications. We look at the supply side and summarise some key facts about the European defence sector: its size, structure, and ability to meet a possibly increased demand fro…
Death of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi could see jihadis’ resistance crumble
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have been killed in a Russian air strike in Raqqa which took place following intelligence reports that the Isis chief was meeting with commanders to plan the last-ditch defence of the besieged capital of the “caliphate”. The defence ministry in Moscow confirmed that an …
Rolling Back Democracy
What must Angela Merkel be thinking? What must Xi Jinping be thinking? What must Vladimir Putin be thinking? In the wake of America’s withdrawal from both the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and the Paris Accord on climate change, to say nothing of Washington’s alienation of NATO all…
In our backyard: The Caribbean’s statelessness and refugee crisis
The migrant crisis in Europe has placed the issues of refugees and migration firmly on the global agenda, with estimates that over 1 million people entered Europe in 2015 as refugees or migrants. Fleeing war, generalized violence, or repressive governments, they mostly originate from Syria…
How Brazil’s political and economic crisis affects its military spending
SIPRI’s recently published data shows a decrease of 7.2% in Brazil’s military expenditure in 2016 compared to 2015. The reasons behind this cut are quite complicated, since the country is embroiled in a mix of a political and economic crises. This blog post briefly discusses some of the feature…
Big Oil Steps Up Support for Carbon Tax
Some of the world’s largest oil companies and the country’s biggest auto maker are joining a group pushing the U.S. government to tax carbon in an effort to slow climate change. General Motors Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC are among almost a dozen companies joining the Climate Leadership Council…