Nationalism is alive and well. While its focus has changed from interstate (e.g., France or Germany) to intrastate, as in Flanders or Wales, the idea is thriving. Language has always been an essential element of nationalism, providing a distinctive feature and source of pride for a collective people. The ability to communicate with one another is essential to building bridges between strangers and forging the idea of a “nation,” which instills the idea of unity among a people that have never met. This is why efforts at nation-building, employed by the core or dominant state, place a premium on homogenizing language as linguistic differences can isolate the periphery from the core and form a basis for nationalism to take root. Read More

The pace of post-Soviet development has been painfully slow in some countries, nowhere more so than in Russia itself. While Russia’s economy failed in the 1990s, many considered political reforms to still be ‘transition,’ but with the re-emergence of Russia as a world power, many people are now wondering why Russia still does not appear fully democratic. In truth, Russia is not a democracy, not even an “illiberal” one. The lack of political and civil rights, control of the army and security apparatus by the Kremlin, the corporatism and corruption of the Oligarchs and government and the exclusion of opposition parties from elections and political participation all indicate a system which is fundamentally undemocratic. Read More

The Russian energy sector is characterized by a lack of upstream exploration and development in oil and gas. Outside investment and market penetration problems for foreign companies decrease gains from newer technology and reduce production.

Weak and ageing infrastructure prevents Russia from fully realizing potentialrevenue from productionand transportation of its oil and gas reserves to European countries. Russia would benefit from sharp increases in infrastructure investment and has many avenues toward turning an old, inefficient and unreliable distribution network and refining sector into a world leader in capabilities and responsiveness to demand. Read More

Over the last century, the international legal community has expanded by creating many treaties, agreements and inter-governmental organizations. With increased collaboration and relations, countries have incorporated various dispute resolution mechanisms to enforce this new law and procedure. These devices include regional tribunals, such as the European Court of Human Rights; dispute-specific tribunals, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; thematic tribunals, such as the International Criminal Court; treaty specific tribunals, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU); and generalized tribunals, such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

International legal community advocates grapple with how the judgments and declarations by these tribunals can be enforced effectively and how to encourage states to comply with the decisions. This paper will focus on two of these bodies, the WTO DSU and the ICJ, examining their different methods of enforcement, the consequences resulting from a violation and the advantages and disadvantages of each tribunal. Read More

Islam is currently viewed critically, both by those who seek to reexamine and reapply it to the modern world and those who seek to debunk and discredit it as antiquated. These critiques closely examine the context upon which Islam burst into the world and how this specific context has affected its conception, maturation, and current existence in the modern world.

Context plays an undeniable role in the codification of any ideology. Emphasis on the context of the revelation of the Qur’an indisputably requires a prominent place in the dialogue on Islam and modernity. Equally important, is the context of the writers and philosophers currently attempting to understand Islam and justify its principles and practices with modernity. Islam is dynamic and, considering its current manifestations, must include both the setting of revelation and the setting of each subsequent evaluation. Read More

In March 1963, President Kennedy issued his dire prediction that within 10 years time, as many as twenty-one additional countries would have nuclear weapons. Forty-five years later, however, there are only 9 nuclear weapons states.

As a country that has been involved in numerous wars since 1952 – first against their colonial repressors and then against their regional neighbors – Egypt was seen as a primary candidate for proliferation, especially after revelations about Israel’s nuclear program came to light in the early 1960’s. Yet, despite intermittent efforts to build a nuclear weapons capacity, Egypt has repeatedly shown nuclear restraint. Its failure to build the bomb remains a puzzle for proliferation experts and International Relations scholars. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: first, it seeks to place Egypt’s nuclear past within the context of Sagan’s models for why states build nuclear weapons; and second, it addresses the likely course of Egypt’s future nuclear ambitions. Ultimately, it finds that while traditional security arguments and norms hold a small degree of explanatory power, Egypt’s nuclear restraint (or future ambition) is best explained when viewed through the lens of domestic politics. Read More

The world of intelligence is a dark, shadowy realm that often eludes even astute outside observers. However, open source channels provide a window into this universe, which allows for the cost-benefit analysis of having a national intelligence community.

The utilization of intelligence communities can certainly provide tremendous benefits to a regime, but it comes with significant drawbacks in the form of risks for both national and international affairs. Mitigating these risks is possible, but only to a limited extent. Read More

A study of Egypt’s record on human rights reveals inconsistencies and contradictions. The country has officially demonstrated a commitment to human rights as far back as 1948, when Egypt strongly supported the U.N. General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.¹ Egypt has acceded to major international human rights conventions² and has articles in its constitution³ that, on their surface, support human rights. Egypt also has laws, national institutions, parliamentary committees, ministry offices, an undersecretary of state for protection of human rights and international humanitarian social issues, and more than 40 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)⁴ that address human rights. As a result, in some areas, Egypt’s human rights record has improved over the past decades. Read More

There is a growing movement aimed at curtailing the use of cluster munitions, viewed by many as indiscriminate weapons for their record of disproportionately harming non-combatants. Due to both serious design flaws and deliberate misuse by belligerents, these weapons pose a grave threat to civilians as they are capable of killing and maiming innocents long after hostilities have ceased. While both non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and state bodies have made a strong legal case in favor of a moratorium on the production and use of cluster bombs, a moral argument against their use has been noticeably absent from the debate. However, based upon the available evidence, it should be argued in terms of a just war (JW) tradition that these weapons are an example of arms mala in se, or inherently nefarious armaments. Read More