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From Turkey to the Baltics, NATO faces up to Russia

Tue 13, Oct 2015

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO, has said the organisation is “ready and able to defend all allies, including Turkey against any threats”. This followed incursions into Turkish airspace by Russian planes. On the same day, UK defence secretary, Michael Fallon announced that around 100 British troops would be deployed to the Baltic region.

Colombia’s deal with the FARC could bring peace – or create a power vacuum

Wed 7, Oct 2015

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londoño – alias Timochenko, the leader of Latin America’s longest-running insurgency, the FARC – have signed a historic deal which sets out a process of transitional justice for Colombia. They have committed to signing the final peace agreement within six months.

Defecting jihadists help reveal why they signed up to Islamic State

They say disillusionment is the gap between expectation and reality. If the conclusions of a report just published by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence are anything to go by, it’s a gap that’s causing an increasing number of Islamic State fighters to defect.

Just how dangerous are the skies over Syria?

Tue 6, Oct 2015

Washington greeted reports of the Russian air force’s first wave of airstrikes on September 30 with fierce rhetoric. Moscow, said defence secretary Ash Carter, was “pouring gasoline on the fire” in Syria.

Telling ‘Noble and Good Men from the Rest’: UAVs and the Prisoner taken at Sphacteria

Tue 22, Sep 2015

The situation of soldiers coming under fire and attack from other soldiers incurring risk of injury or death has, to some degree, been considered to be something of a fair fight. As we look to the ongoing centenary of the Great War, we also look back to a period where that element of fairness characterised, for the most part, the war that was fought.

A humanitarian and diplomatic crisis unfolding on the Colombia-Venezuela border

Mon 14, Sep 2015

While Europe is absorbed by the refugee crisis, another furious border crisis is unfolding in South America, displacing and endangering thousands of people.

Helping researchers break into SBRI calls

Tue 1, Sep 2015

Last week I visited Whitehall for a meeting with the Home Office and InnovateUK, where we discussed the frustrations frequently expressed by academic researchers about one of the schemes used by Government to stimulate innovation: the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI).

ECPR Standing Group on Organised Crime

Mon 17, Aug 2015

Organised crime manifests itself in many forms and stretches across continents. It has a disruptive effect on the functioning of democratic institutions, distorts the free market economy and compromises the very fabric of the civil society at large.

Improving civil preparedness for a CBRN incident in Europe

Tue 11, Aug 2015

Although it is something we never hope to have to experience, it’s important that societies are as well prepared as they can be to respond to a major chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear (CBRN) incident.

How to embrace technology without dooming humanity to destruction

Thu 6, Aug 2015

The world today is facing some serious global challenges: creating sustainable development in the face of climate change, safeguarding rights and justice, and growing ethical markets, for a start.