Introduction Free trade has become more and more the reality around the world in today’s era of globalization. It has been the driving force behind unparalleled economic growth in many countries. However, in many arenas…
Intervention in internal conflicts is a nasty business, often with many unforeseen consequences. Such intervention is frequently unsuccessful. Such intervention often fails because intervening troops have an inadequate mandate, their forces are not sufficiently armed,…
The former Soviet republic Belarus has yet to achieve meaningful democratization. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described it as “the last remaining true dictatorship in Europe” (CNN 2005). Since President Alexander Lukashenko took power in…
Not all jihadists are created equal. Some have proven far more capable of adapting their strategies to fit the situation on the ground than others. Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas,…
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an example of a conflict without much hope for resolution. The Holy Land has been the site of vicious ethnic conflict for thousands of years, and the Israeli-Palestinian impasse is but…
Russias party system was extremely fragmented in the 1990s, with electoral volatility at an all time high and large numbers of politicians who achieved victory without party affiliation (Gel’man 2008, 913-914). As Russia’s system of…
Dmitri Rogozin, the Russian envoy to NATO, speaking of a NATO defense plan for the Baltic states, recently asked, “Against who else could such a defense be intended? Against Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, against polar…
THAILAND: AN INDEPENDENT STATE? Thailand (formerly Siam) is unique among Southeast Asian states because it was able to avoid being directly colonized by a Western power. This is a source of great national pride for…
In his work “Capitalism and Democracy,” Gabriel Almond explained that Schumpeter, an academic writing during World War II, “projected a future of declining capitalism, and rising socialism.”1 A look at recent events in America (including…
Thailand has had a turbulent history. The only country in Southeast Asia to avoid European colonization, Thailand has proven to be subject to many of the same problems of its less fortunate neighbors: frequent military…