On May 25, 2014, 388 million European Union citizens voted for more than 751 members of the European Parliament. On the agenda was the future of the “European project,” an unprecedented attempt to create a meta-national institution endowed with powers willingly relinquished by the member states and transferred to the said entity. The elections were thus a vote of confidence in the EU and a test of support by European citizens for the continued existence of the Union, and especially, the continued strengthening of its central...
What will US-Russia relations look like in the next few years? Where is Russia under President Putin headed? Is a military conflict over the Ukraine crisis a possibility? Are we facing a clash of blocs? Are we on the verge of a new era in international relations, or are we going back to Cold War patterns? What are the interrelations between national interests and global norms? These are just some of the questions asked by those following the Ukraine crisis that are addressed in this article.
The articles compiled in this volume grapple with questions and dilemmas that arise from a growing sense in recent years that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has reached a critical juncture, and that its continued role as the centerpiece of the nuclear nonproliferation regime is at risk. This is the result of a process that has unfolded gradually since the end of the Cold War, which also spelled the end of the bipolar global structure that, in the minds of many, helped keep nuclear proliferation in check.
The claim by US negotiator Wendy Sherman that “verification” is the key element in ensuring that the Iranian nuclear program is and remains completely peaceful has resonated in a string of US statements in the same vein, aimed to reassure skeptics that the United States will be able to detect and deal in a timely manner with an Iranian breakout to nuclear weapons. However, while verification is no doubt an essential component of any comprehensive deal with Iran, it should not be regarded as the linchpin of a successful agreement....
In a series of rather rapid moves, Russia, ignoring international criticism, annexed the Crimean Peninsula. In the immediate background to the annexation are more than three months of violent protests in Ukraine, which ended on February 21, 2014 with a coup and the flight of President Yanukovich, and with the establishment of a transitional government that will be in effect until elections in May. Rather than easing the turmoil in Ukraine, however, Russia’s annexation of Crimea has broadened the crisis, especially given the many...
As the only non-NATO littoral state in the Arctic, Russia’s policies have great relevance for the region’s security environment. A series of military deployments and announced upgrades to infrastructure and weapon systems since 2007 have led to speculations that Moscow seeks to remilitarize its Arctic sector in anticipation of a warmer climate in the region. Using strategy documents and policy pronouncements since 2008 as instruments of analysis, this paper considers Moscow’s security intentions
in a climatically changing Arctic. The...
An impromptu comment by Secretary of State Kerry at the Munich Security Conference on February 1, 2014 regarding “an increasing de-legitimization campaign” against Israel and “talk of boycotts and other kinds of things” ignited a firestorm of criticism in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response – “No pressure will cause me to concede the vital interests of the State of Israel, especially the security of Israel’s citizens” – was slightly more measured, but still begs two questions. One concerns the immediacy of the threat and the...
Israel and the EU recentlyreached a last minute compromise enabling Israel to join the EU’s research anddevelopment program, Horizon 2020. Nonetheless, the EU guidelines adoptedearlier this year relating to the settlements in the West Bank will likelycontinue to jeopardize Israel’s international economic interests. In anotherdevelopment regarding Israel’s international legitimacy, nearly three years after the Israeli takeover ofthe ship Mavi Marmara, the Comoros Islands, where the ship wasregistered, filed a complaint against Israel...
At the onset of the second round of talks in Geneva between Iran and the P5+1, the West is projecting optimism on the chances for a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program. Anyone whose aspiration is to solve this crisis peacefully hopes that the optimism is warranted, but optimism must not be allowed to turn into complacency. Indeed, close scrutiny of the situation indicates a possible alternative plan by Tehran to any abandonment of its nuclear program, based on a strategy to ensure that Iran will become a de facto...
While over the past weeks expectations of adeal with Iran have been running high in many quarters, the first round ofnuclear negotiations following the election of Hassan Rouhani has ended with noconcrete progress save the promise of another meeting early next month wherethe Iranian proposal will undergo further scrutiny. There were certainly somenew features that characterized these talks: they were conducted in English,the Iranian proposal was presented in a PowerPoint presentation and reportedlyincluded a serious and...
On July 22, 2013, the Council of the European Union decided to designate Hizbollah’s “military wing” as a terrorist organization. The EU decided to adopt the United Kingdom’s approach (shared by Australia and New Zealand), distinguishing between Hizbollah’s military and political wings, blacklisting the former while recognizing the latter. And while the EU’s labeling of Hizbollah’s military wing does not constitute a watershed event for either the EU or Hizbollah, for Nasrallah’s organization and for its Iranian partners,...
If the diplomatic steps taken by Israel fail, including some at the highest political level, the EU Commission will publish in its Official Journal “Guidelines on the Eligibility of Israeli Entities and their Activities in the Territories Occupied by Israel since June 1967 for Grants, Prizes and Financial Instruments Funded by the EU from 2014 Onwards.” At first glance this step may appear to have only marginal ramifications, but in the long run this is a precedent that may cause the Israeli economy serious damage, even...
