Security Archives

Ukraine conflict: how China could follow Russia’s playbook to increase its own powers

Robert M. Dover, University of Hull Amid the restructuring of the global order that has been accelerated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the evolving position of China had been lost in the fog of war. The heads of the UK’s security service (MI5) and US Federal Bureau of Investigation sought to disperse this fog with a rare joint press conference …

Africa’s relations with the EU: a reset is possible if Europe changes its attitude

Some African and European leaders at the last AU-EU summit in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, November 2017. Philippe Wojazer/AFP via Getty Images Niall Duggan, University College Cork; Luis Mah, Universidade de Lisboa , and Toni Haastrup, University of Stirling Summits between the African Union and European Union are essential to setting the big picture agenda of contemporary Africa-EU relations. They also …

Patriotic songs and self-criticism: why China is ‘re-educating’ Muslims in mass detention camps

Michael Clarke, Australian National University China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies their existence. But extensive reporting by international media and human rights groups indicates that upwards of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs – a Muslim-minority ethnic group – have been detained in sprawling “re-education” centres in the far-western Xinjiang region of China. The camps are not only massive, with some …

Why Blair really went to war

Owen D. Thomas, University of Exeter As Sir John Chilcot’s Iraq Inquiry findings are published, we should resist what’s become the easy refrain: “Blair Lied. Thousands Died.” If we actually want to learn from what happened, we should recognise that Tony Blair has been remarkably consistent in his view that the removal of the regime was necessary, whether or not …

Dèby’s death threatens security in the Sahel: Nigeria has a key role to play

Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari (left) and late Chadian president Idriss Deby during a 2019 summit of Sahel-Saharan States. Brahim Adji/AFP via Getty Images Folahanmi Aina, King’s College London The death of Chad’s President Idriss Dèby has inevitably alarmed foreign and national security policymakers in Nigeria, the West African region and as far as France. The 68-year-old Dèby was killed on …

Education is both the victim and the best weapon in Central Sahel conflict

A child who fled from Central African Republic attending a class at a refugee camp in Chad. Getty Images Craig Bailie, Stellenbosch University South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, captured the value of education when he said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This is why quality education is one …