The events of recent years are less representative of a shift in Russian strategy than they are of the fragmentation of the international order. The end of the Cold War brought with it a Western-led attempt to render the liberal international order synonymous with international order writ large. The return of great power rivalry indicates that...Read More

Despite periodic instances of tension and disagreement, Ottawa has leaned heavily on its relationship with Washington to anchor its foreign policy throughout the postwar era. The bipolar Soviet-American standoff provided Canada with an opportunity to entrench itself within the US-led Western bloc for security purposes. The Cold War’s unipolar aftermath further deepened the logic of...Read More

Beijing’s ambitions shouldn’t be treated as an existential threat to the United States. A central distinction in realist international relations thought is that between vital and secondary national interests. Vital interests are threats to a state’s survival, and can take the form either of conquest and subjugation from outside, or the promotion of internal subversion...Read More

After the long stand-off against communism, victory seemed as total as it was sudden. But the west has since fractured and is now losing prestige and influence—does the reversal expose a moral defeat? As the US prepares to plunge into a new cold war with China in which its chances do not look good, it’s...Read More

When imagining a list of the central norms enshrined in the contemporary international order, the most elementary principles usually come to mind: sovereign equality, the territorial integrity of states, national self-determination, multilateralism, rules-based interaction, and respect for international law. Theoretical approaches such as the English School of international relations go so far as to label...Read More

The current health crisis has exacerbated the rivalry between great powers. But it has also given Europe a few more opportunities to engage with Russia. In a world increasingly framed by great power rivalry, deepening ties between Moscow and Beijing have been one of the most salient features of global politics in recent years. Yet...Read More

The UK government has five months to go before the UK-EU transition period expires. We are being told how, from January 1st, 2021, the UK will be entering a new era of global opportunities. The recently launched government campaign slogan is “UK’s new start – let’s get going”. In this new era Britain will prosper...Read More

We appear to have entered a new Cold War between the US and China. There are a number of fronts across a widening battlefield. One of them concerns the issue of the provision of 5G equipment to countries, including the UK, by Huawei. The UK government appeared to have taken the decision, advised by its...Read More

GPI’s Overview statement of mid-2019 noted the trends of de-globalisation, the failings of neoliberalism to underpin an equitable global order, and the build-up of pressure in relation to the climate emergency and resource depletion. These trends confirmed GPI’s original analysis of a world dividing up into regional blocs as rising new powers in Asia favoured...Read More

The Chinese government’s announcement of a controversial new national security law for Hong Kong has encountered distinctively restrained responses from policymakers and officials in Brussels and other European Union (EU) capitals in contrast to combative countermeasures coming out of Washington DC and London.  As a result of US President Donald Trump’s numerous threats of withdrawals...Read More