The Misguided Search for the Political

Book Review

Nick J. Sciullo

The Misguided Search for the Political

In The Misguided Search for the Political, Lois McNay argues that radical democracy suffers from a reliance on abstractions that echo the criticism radical democrats make of traditional liberal democrats.  While radical democracy is often theorized as a critique of the immaterial focus of liberal democracy, it too suffers from the inability to adequately account for the materiality of inequality.  McNay’s book is provocative, readable, and a worthwhile addition to the libraries of political…

Muslims in Putin’s Russia: Discourse on Identity, Politics, and Security

Book Review

Renat Bekkin

Muslims in Putin’s Russia: Discourse on Identity, Politics, and Security

The times when readers in the West learned about Islam in Russia from the books of Sovietologist Alexander Bennigsen, who for objective reasons could not have access to many important sources, have passed away. Over the last couple of decades, many studies giving an idea of the forms of existence of Islam and the life of Russian Muslims in 19-20 centuries have appeared. These are the works written by R. Geraci [Geraci 2001], E. Campbell [Campbell 2015], R. Crews [Crews 2009] and other authors.…

The Arab Spring Five Years Later: Toward Greater Inclusiveness (Volume 1)

Book Review

Nikola Zukalová

The Arab Spring Five Years Later: Toward Greater Inclusiveness (Volume 1)

Since the so-called Arab Spring began in 2011, the selection of Arab countries (re: Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan, Morocco) and their international partners concentrated mostly on political and identity issues, neglecting the importance of economics, which indirectly triggered the current fluctuating situations in these countries. Following the 2011 uprisings the democratisation of Arab countries did not go as anticipated. Instead, a new phase of instability began, raising serious regional and…

Editor's Desk

Mitchell Belfer

The European Parliament’s Resolutionary War

With Europe tying itself in knots over the twin problems of Brexit and the cresting wave of populism, EU foreign affairs are undoubtedly playing second fiddle to internal matters at preset. The danger of such a state of affairs is that important gains made in democratizing foreign policy are squandered. And that the vacuum is filled by an assortment of narrow interests that do not necessarily reflect wider European values or strategic interests. Concerns over a democratic deficit in foreign…

Issue 12:2

Vinay Kaura

China's South Asia Policy under Xi Jinping: India's Strategic Concerns

China has always been interested in enlarging its economic and political influence in South Asian geopolitics. Several factors are responsible for China’s long-lasting interest in the region. China’s policy towards South Asia has been a combination of unique bilateral relationships, characterised by economic opportunities, territorial disputes, security challenges, containing Indian power and resisting American influence. China is containing India’s influence and power by strengthening…

Issue 12:2

Kingsley Emeka Ezemenaka, Chijioke Egwu Ekumaoko

Contextualising the Fulani-Herdsmen Conflict in Nigeria

This article examines President Muhammadu Buhari's role in the long-running conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria. Having attained the rank of fourth-deadliest terrorist group in the world, the attacks of Fulani herdsmen on Nigerian farmers and vice versa are gaining international coverage, but commanding too little internal investigation. Using qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches, this article reveals that the conflict between the farmers and Fulani…

Issue 12:2

Vladimir Remmer

Lessons from Occupy Diraz: The Role of Velayati Twelver Activism in the Bahraini Occupy Space Movement.

A social movement exists in space. The relation between a social movement and space offers unique perspective into that social movement itself. Several dimensions of that relation can be observed in Occupy Diraz. It occupied a space that symbolised the movement's grievances; by occupying a space continuously, day and night, it shaded the light to a chasm that separated Shiite and Sunni members of society and offered a pole of attraction to those who identified with grievances and interests of…

Issue 12:2

Jiří Jelínek

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office as a New Form of Institutional Judicial Cooperation among EU Member States

This article will discuss Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This project is a significant demonstration of the unification of European criminal law and the redirection from the traditional judicial cooperation among individual EU member states on the path toward a unified and controlled investigation of criminal offences against the financial interests of the EU throughout the whole European Union. Initially,…

Issue 12:2

Tomáš Kaválek, Miroslav Mareš

PKK’s Friends and Foes in the Middle East since 1999

This article illustrates the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) relationship with regional actors since 1999. The PKK maintains relations with Iran, Syria, Russia, Iraq, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the US. On the other hand, the PKK has strained relations with Turkey, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq, and rebel groups in Syria. At the same time, PKK’s affiliate in Syria has received military support from the US and European support since October 2015. It is argued that the…

Issue 12:2

Lesіa Dorosh, Olha Ivasechko

The UN Security Council Permanent Members’ Veto Right Reform in the Context of Conflict in Ukraine“

It is reviewed activities of the United Nations Security Council as a guarantor of international peace and security with powers to influence infringers of the international law. It is stated that at the beginning of the 21st century, the UN Security Council was powerless to perform its functions and duties to safeguard international peace and security, as well as to resolve a number of large-scale armed conflicts. Therefore, the need to find mechanisms of the UN Security Council reform in order…

Issue 12:2

James Peterson

American Foreign Policy Strategies Toward the Asia-Pacific: Political Patterns and Future Expectations

American foreign policy has vacillated between Asia and Europe for over a century.  During World War I, the involvement was entirely in Europe, and President Wilson’s focus in his Fourteen Points was on incorporation of East and Central Europe into a democratic framework.  There was a twin focus on Europe and Asia during World War II, but the event that precipitated American entry into the war was an attack from Japan on Pearl Harbor.  During the second half of the 1940s, the focus was entirely…

2018 - Volume 12, Issue 2

American Foreign Policy Strategies Toward the Asia-Pacific:…

American foreign policy has vacillated between Asia and Europe for over a century.  During World War I, the involvement was entirely in Europe, and President Wilson’s focus in his Fourteen Points was on incorporation of East and Central Europe into a democratic framework.  There was a twin focus on…

The UN Security Council Permanent Members’ Veto Right Reform in…

It is reviewed activities of the United Nations Security Council as a guarantor of international peace and security with powers to influence infringers of the international law. It is stated that at the beginning of the 21st century, the UN Security Council was powerless to perform its functions…

PKK’s Friends and Foes in the Middle East since 1999

This article illustrates the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) relationship with regional actors since 1999. The PKK maintains relations with Iran, Syria, Russia, Iraq, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the US. On the other hand, the PKK has strained relations with Turkey, the Kurdistan…

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office as a New Form of…

This article will discuss Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This project is a significant demonstration of the unification of European criminal law and the redirection from the traditional judicial cooperation among…

Lessons from Occupy Diraz: The Role of Velayati Twelver Activism…

A social movement exists in space. The relation between a social movement and space offers unique perspective into that social movement itself. Several dimensions of that relation can be observed in Occupy Diraz. It occupied a space that symbolised the movement's grievances; by occupying a space…

Contextualising the Fulani-Herdsmen Conflict in Nigeria

This article examines President Muhammadu Buhari's role in the long-running conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria. Having attained the rank of fourth-deadliest terrorist group in the world, the attacks of Fulani herdsmen on Nigerian farmers and vice versa are gaining international…