Idoia VillanuevaOct, 2022When we talk about geopolitical reordering, we refer to the collapse of the international order that emerged after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Although the international institutional structure dates back to the end of WWII—think of the United Nations, the World Bank and the IMF—it was the end of the Cold War that brought the unipolar hegemony of the United States and its neoliberal economic model. This hegemony has been supported for decades by a combination of what...
Alfonso Zegbe
A geopolitical European Union to what end?
Axel Ruppert“We have now arguably gone further down that path in the past weeks than we did in the previous decade” said Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy one month after Russia started its unprovoked and unjustifiable war in Ukraine [1][1] Josep Borrell (2022): Europe in the Interregnum: our geopolitical awakening after Ukraine. Available at:...
Abolishing Geopolitics and Building a World Without State Violence
Ray AchesonThank you to Nela Porobić for reviewing this article. As Russia’s illegal and brutal war in Ukraine continues to rage, there is some sense of shift in international politics. Some see it as the bloody opening to a “multipolar” world order, in which several “great powers” are staking out spheres of influence and centres of power, to be distributed among the few instead of just the one. Others appear to see it as the logical “end” of the US empire, finally languishing after decades of...
The Geopolitics of Migratory Horror
Jacques RamírezTo Roma Being born is that small geographic accident over which the individual holds no power. However, determines the amenities or obstacles we face in moving around the world. Our lives are determined by different emotional topographies, as the current world is by a set of mobilities, which are radically different for the inhabitants of the global North and South. It is not the same being born in Tamaulipas (Mexico) than it is to do so in Toulouse (France) and, nevertheless,...
Movement and (in)security: from the politics of surveillance to the politics of compassion
María LoisMigration, understood as displacement and the movement of people or groups on a temporary or permanent basis, would seem to be part and parcel of the history of humanity, or rather, of the global history of humanity. We are taught that human beings moved around, even in prehistoric times, and that they moved in search of a better life, whatever the meaning of “better” may have been. It could have meant greater access to food or more favourable living conditions, it could have been...
Multipolar dispute: between old mistakes and new uncertainties
Marta Cazorla | Irene LópezAfter the 2020 pandemic, which exponentially increased the level of uncertainty that we westerners were accustomed to living with, 2022 surprised us with yet another unexpected phenomenon, an occurrence that security-focussed think tanks believed to be a thing of the past: international war. War “like we used to have”, with tanks and armies, bombed out cities and—to the delight of those harbouring nostalgia for the 20th century—the looming threat of nuclear war. A...
International relations and the energy crisis: what has changed since war broke out in ukraine?
Rafael FernándezFifty years ago the Yom Kippur War marked the beginning of a new stage in the history of international energy relations. With more than a hint of déjà vu, we are living in times reminiscent of those critical years: an embargo on Russian oil; Russia’s subsequent response of reducing and then interrupting Europe’s gas supply; the price hikes on both forms of fuel; inflation shock; stagflation; energy saving measures, energy security returning to the forefront of national...
War Effort and Kitchen-Sink Geopolitics
Irene Zugasti“War-Effort” is one of the most twisted pieces of wartime language which, though it has been a while since we have heard it used in Europe, has withstood the test of time It means, essentially, that the State can call on its people to make sacrifices and mobilise their resources—their bodies, time, work, and even their lives—in the name of victory and national interest. This concept is devious because effort is, in and of itself, a dangerous idea, pertaining as it often does to...
(The only way to) Stop Wars and Save the World
David VineWhile millions have suffered due to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, some have profited. Oil companies and major weapons manufacturers have been among those to benefit most. As the main suppliers of the Ukrainian military, the United States’ arms makers, in particular, have profited mightily. Beyond arms sent to Ukraine, U.S. weapons manufacturers and their allies in and around the U.S. Congress have taken advantage of the war to boost total U.S. military spending—having nothing to...
A Tale of Two Utopias: Musk and Bezos in Outer Space
Mary-Jane RubensteinI. Meet the astropreneurs I first realized something was up when Elon Musk launched a car into orbit. It was January of 2018 and SpaceX was looking to test its Falcon Heavy rocket, woo the U.S. military, and make sure everyone was watching. So rather than display the Falcon’s carrying capacity with, say, slabs of concrete or steel, Musk decided to strap a blazing red Tesla Roadster to its back. A perfectly good, even exquisite, car. One hundred thousand dollars’ worth of...