Strains in Sino-Indian Relations: The BRICS Achilles’ Heel?

This paper seeks to understand the extent to which the strains in the Sino-Indian relations are a potential stumbling block for the BRICS association composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The key finding of this analysis is the extent to which the Beijing-New Delhi relationship is durable precisely because India and China have gained proficiency for mutual trading and proclaiming cordial relations with one another while at the same time engaging in standoffs and territorial disputes. Seemingly unique in international affairs, a similar state of relations and foreign policy is however exhibited by China in relation to Japan, South Korea and the US; thus the cheek-by-jowl coexistence of trade and apparent strategic tensions in the China-India relationship can be viewed in these lenses, and in that sense is nothing unique and is in fact cause to project that the relationship is bound to be tension-fueled and perhaps escalate but not erupt while at the same time not undermining trade relations. Furthermore, shared regional responsibilities, nuclear deterrence, alliance structures and deep trade ties are there to further make the prospect of an outright conflict between the two growing powers that much more unlikely. To that degree, the BRICS association can be said to be relatively secure from unravelling on account of Sino-Indian strains.

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What Would Happen to Security in Europe if the European Union Broke Up?

The integrity of the European Union has been called into question after one of its leading members, the United Kingdom, voted to exist the community in a move known as 'Brexit'. What possible scenarios could result from this first step towards union dissolution? And how would European security be impacted if a full union break-up were to take place?

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[French] Les Chinois en Afrique : une étude géographique

 Sino-African relations date back to the early 1950s and the emergence of the People's Republic of China as an international actor, but, since 2000, China's presence in Africa has exploded. Beijing's involvement extends beyond trade to influence diverse sectors, such as infrastructure construction, national development funds, natural resource extraction, health, and a Chinese migration pattern that has now settled more than 1 million Chinese in Africa. [Please note that this article is in French]

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The Mirage of Sovereignty

While sovereignty movements in the Caribbean may be based on strong sentiments of solidarity, unavoidable external forces will significantly hamper success.  In defining the accomplishments of a political struggle, protestors must thus look beyond the failure to achieve impossible feats and instead emphasize the “‘unspectacular’ transformations that abound in the daily re-creations of ordinary life” (Bonilla 2015:172).  Simply put, activists must not be fooled by the mirage of sovereignty.

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A Strategy to Defeat the Islamic State

The United States must escalate its military campaign against ISIS proportionate to the group’s increasing capabilities, but that a full-scale intervention is neither advisable nor the most effective US strategy.

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The Relevance of NATO in the Modern World

The eventual collapse of the Soviet Union deprived NATO of its common purpose: no longer was there an imminent, existential threat to the capitalist countries of Western Europe. Many would argue that NATO, with its original rationale for existence made inapplicable years ago, is irrelevant in the modern era.

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Statehood and the Kurds

This piece seeks to address the feasibility of an establishment of a Kurdish state in the Middle East. The conclusions reached are that (1) the prospects for the creation of a Kurdistan are rather bleak and (2) the present state of the Kurdish population varies significantly from country to country.

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