Cyber Security, Supply Chain Attacks, EU
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The New Space Era and The Rising Cyber-ASAT ...

The "New Space" era has transformed space into a critical domain for security, commerce, and digital infrastructure, but it has also introduced significant cybersecurity challenges. The digitalization of satellite systems has expanded the attack surface for cyber threats, making Anti-Satellite (ASAT) cyber operations a growing concern. This paper examines the intersection of cyberspace and space security, highlighting satellite vulnerabilities, supply chain risks, and global stability implications. It also explores the European Union’s strategic response, including the EUSSD, strengthened legislation, and inter-agency cooperation. Addressing cyber-ASAT threats will require international collaboration, strong cybersecurity policies, and proactive mitigation strategies to ensure space resilience.

The New Space Era and The Rising Cyber-ASAT Threats
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SOUTH KOREA’S 4B MOVEMENT: HOW PATRIARCHY UNDERMINES DEMOGRAPHIC SECURITY

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SOUTH KOREA’S 4B MOVEMENT: HOW PATRIARCHY UNDERMINES DEMOGRAPHIC SECURITY

Having the world’s lowest fertility rate, South Korea faces a complex demographic crisis amid an intense gender war, where marriage and childrearing have become politicized. As a response to the government’s pro-natalist policies aimed at reinforcing the country’s demographic security and an increasing economic precarity among young Koreans, radical feminists have taken a political stance against patriarchal and conservative expectations placed upon women in Korean society. Articulated around the 4B movement, they say no to sex, dating, marriage, and children, reinforcing a growing trend for Korea’s demographic future.

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A Bridge To Cross the Gulf: The Saudi-Iran Deal

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A Bridge To Cross the Gulf: The Saudi-Iran Deal

In March 2022, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced a shocking diplomatic agreement. Even more surprising was the revelation of Chinese brokering. Reflective of a quickly transforming Middle Eastern theatre, the agreement is indicative of several regional and international shifts. Whilst not a complete revision of the region’s fundamental power balance or imbalance, the announcement highlighted the increasingly multipolar outlook of Gulf leaders and a general trend to declining US regional influence. Despite not ensuring anything close to lasting peace between the two rivals, any cooling of relations will change the playing field dramatically. 

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The Meltdown: Nuclear Relations in the Arctic

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The Meltdown: Nuclear Relations in the Arctic

This article assesses the impact of multipolarity on nuclear relations in the Arctic. Due to climate change, geopolitical tension, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nuclear relations in the Arctic are unstable and present serious security risks that cannot be contended with through the use of classic deterrence theory. Melting polar ice means growing competition for Arctic territory and resources amongst North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, the Russian Federation, and China. This is occurring alongside the threat of nuclear warfare, which is considered by all actors to be a matter of deterrence despite it being beyond the bipolar rational choice modelling of deterrence theory.

Nicaragua: Democracy on the Brink

Nicaragua: Democracy on the Brink

After a long-lasting revolution started in 1961, decades of armed conflict and the complex establishment of democracy since the late 1980s, Nicaragua once again faces an uncertain future. The repression carried out by the ruling Ortega-Murillo family has grown exponentially since the 2018 protests, spreading to almost all sectors of society and reaching unprecedented proportions. Its last move was expelling and stripping the citizenship to more than 200 political prisoners.

Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East

Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East

Over the past ten years, governments of the Middle East have employed digital information and communication technologies as a tool to reinforce control over their citizens. Drawing inspiration from models provided by China, Russia and Israel, Middle Eastern governments have implemented policies and strategies aimed at censorship, digital deception and mass surveillance, worsening human rights records in the region.

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The Future of Brazil-China Relations

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The Future of Brazil-China Relations

This article explores the strategic partnership in trade and investment between China and Brazil. It explores the current challenges faced by Brazil’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors, both of which are severely impacted by relations with China. This article goes further to assess Brazil’s emerging position in the ongoing economic and technological race between China and the United States, shedding light on future developments in Brazil’s foreign policy and strategy.

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Where South Korea Stands Today: From Soft Power Success Story to Nuclear Ambition

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Where South Korea Stands Today: From Soft Power Success Story to Nuclear Ambition

Despite North Korea's constant threat, South Korea's prudent adherence to international law and alliance with the United States have restrained its nuclear ambitions. Given its impressive economic growth and cultural influence, recent discourse suggests that the country demonstrates its ambition by adopting more pervasive nuclear strategies.

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Gas, War and Europe (II): A Not-so-clear Future

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Gas, War and Europe (II): A Not-so-clear Future

The second part of the series “Gas, War and Europe” looks at the latest developments on the energy crisis triggered by the War in Ukraine, its current impact in Europe and the possible future scenarios. For this, the article delves into the institutional response given by the European Union (EU), the evolution of imports and energy suppliers as well as the challenges ahead.

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High Stakes at the Horizon: Türkiye General Elections 2023

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High Stakes at the Horizon: Türkiye General Elections 2023

Türkiye’s upcoming elections in June will be the most consequential in the country’s recent history. The country continues to suffer from pressures that threaten to tear apart the Turkish republic. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has continued to mould the political landscape around increasingly greater authoritarian leanings following the failed 2016 Coup. Furthermore, rampant inflation has decimated much of the country’s middle and working classes, even threatening currency collapse. The disastrous earthquake of 2023 and the government’s subsequent response has decimated one of the country’s most insecure regions, impacting the upcoming election. The outcome of the election will ultimately prove to be decisive in determining the future direction of one of NATO’s most critical members.

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Women's Bodies as a Battlefield: Gender-Based Violence in Honduras

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Women's Bodies as a Battlefield: Gender-Based Violence in Honduras

Honduras has been named on several occasions the worst place in the world to be a woman. High levels of gender-based violence persist in a climate of chronic generalised violence. The obvious threat of criminal groups, gangs, and corruption, belies the less perceptible threat of an embedded patriarchal and sexist culture. Women and young girls experience a wide range of violence in both private and public spaces that perpetuate their vulnerability and victimisation in a state that is unwilling and unable to protect them, driving many of them to flee the country.

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One year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine: How the country has changed

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One year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine: How the country has changed

On the 24th of February, the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is marked. The war has awakened the Ukrainian nation more assertively than it was after the start of Russian aggression in 2014. The Ukrainian Army is actively upgrading, taking advantage of NATO’s ammunition provision and training support. The country continues undertaking overdue reforms, particularly addressing corruption. Finally, Ukraine revives its national identity, uniting people from all over the country and resisting the enemy. This article analyses the main changes that have taken place in Ukraine since its Russia’s full-scale invasion.

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Russian Inroads in Africa: Responsible Power Projection or Regional Instability Preservation

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Russian Inroads in Africa: Responsible Power Projection or Regional Instability Preservation

The African continent has never received significant political attention from Russia’s government, Russian economic investments, or tight trade ties. The peculiarity of Russian-African relations is the specific role of private but indeed state-connected military actors in ensuring Russian presence on the continent. One of the illustrative examples of such a presence is the activity of Prigozhin’s “Company” network, which includes the military organization called “Wagner group”. 

Gas, War, and Europe: (I) The Announced Energy Crisis

Gas, War, and Europe: (I) The Announced Energy Crisis

This first part of the series “Gas, War, and Europe” aims to analyse the different factors that have shaped the longstanding dependency of the European Union (EU) on Russian gas, and how these have laid the foundations for the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine. For this, the spotlight is placed on the interdependence of economic, political, and infrastructural issues as the main factors capable of explaining the current situation.

Can Australia be the new “global critical minerals powerhouse” by 2030?

Can Australia be the new “global critical minerals powerhouse” by 2030?

Critical minerals are important as they are essential in the construction of sustainable energy technologies that will be necessary to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Australia is developing towards becoming an integral part of the international critical minerals supply chain. But to become one of the main suppliers of critical minerals Australia needs to attract investments and challenge China’s dominant position in the downstream of critical minerals.

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Putin "cannot remain in power" – Were Biden’s words a blunder or intentional?

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Putin "cannot remain in power" – Were Biden’s words a blunder or intentional?

On the 26th of March 2022, the President of the United States of America (USA), Joe Biden, visited Warsaw to rally North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries in support of Ukraine [1]. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, the Western world had started sanctioning the aggressor rather than getting involved militarily [2]. Biden addressed the US allies in a very long speech that contained words described as surprising by some and alarming by others. This article aims at providing an alternative view of the two main narratives that address Biden’s statement that Putin cannot remain in power.

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Antigypsyism: the taboo story of Europe

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Antigypsyism: the taboo story of Europe

The European Commission has finally put out its word on the decades-old phenomenon of antigypsyism. From physical attacks in the East to dormant systematic discrimination in the West, Roma people are the taboo story of Europe. Despite the recent efforts of the European institution for inclusion, anti-Roma sentiment is deeply rooted, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the problem.

The Malware Targeting Human Life and Weaponising Interdependency

The Malware Targeting Human Life and Weaponising Interdependency

Unprecedented internet connectivity in dangerous machinery and the essential function of society requires preventative cyber risk solutions. This article reviews the new Kinetic Cyber, the UK’s upcoming Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Bill and reflects upon International Humanitarian Law (IHL) relating to weapons of mass destruction.

The Kremlin’s Meta-narratives: The centralized sources of Russian information warfare

The Kremlin’s Meta-narratives: The centralized sources of Russian information warfare

The exploitation of the information space of targeted countries represents an advantageous tactic for the Kremlin that levels the battlefield below the threshold of an open confrontation. The means of Russian information warfare are carefully crafted narratives used as tools to destabilize the information space of targeted countries. The narratives created by Russia are either entirely false or diluted truths void of context. This article will argue that the narratives created and disseminated during Russian disinformation campaigns do not emerge independently of existing meta-narratives. The narratives used in disinformation campaigns will be viewed as tools used on an ad hoc basis connected to one of the Kremlin’s central meta-narratives.

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Terrorist use of the Metaverse: new opportunities and new challenges

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Terrorist use of the Metaverse: new opportunities and new challenges

Research shows that terrorists use the Internet to spread their propaganda, communicate, fund their organisations and attacks, train aspiring terrorists and plan and execute attacks off- and online. With the emergence of the metaverse – or Web3 – opportunities will unfold for terrorists online, and so will challenges to tackle these opportunities. Recruitment and attack planning possibilities will likely emerge and new targets might appear. A set of new laws, regulations and capabilities will therefore certainly be needed from stakeholders to ensure users’ safety and prevent the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes.


Political violence: three reasons education matters

Political violence: three reasons education matters

This article examines the phenomenon of political violence through the lens of education. It is based on a macro-analysis of political violence and discusses the importance of education for peace, democracy, and stability. It concludes that when studying the phenomenon of political violence, education matters because it instils citizenship values in the new generation, shapes the perception of social identities, and can cultivate a culture of peace or violence.