Positional vs Interest Bargaining – the Dilemma in Diplomacy

As the dust settled on the Camp David Accords on the 17th of September 1978, world leaders, international relations analysts and scholars wondered how such a gargantuan agreement between two diametrically opposed foreign policies, leaders and states, could be concluded with the help of US President Jimmy Carter.  The Camp David Accords were a momentous …

Military use in outer space: why Russia’s satellite weapon is problematic

Last month the United Kingdom and the United States of America accused the Russian Federation of firing a satellite weapon into outer space. At first glance, reading this headline on a news portal would cause you to raise an eyebrow, shrug and eventually sigh at the never-ending political bickering between these three states. Yet in …

COVID-19 and its Impact on the International Maritime Community

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, all sectors of society have had to deal and adapt with the drastic changes this pandemic imposed on humankind. The maritime industry is no exception as it found itself at the very centre of this international crisis, directly dealing with the impact of border controls and restrictions, …

A Precursor to Perestroika – Prague Spring

Following the second world war, a number of Central and Eastern European countries fell under the Soviet Sphere of Influence. One by one, and over the span of a few years, communist regimes established themselves in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and an iron curtain running from Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste …

Anti-SLAPP laws; what are they & why we need them

SLAPP suits (Strategic lawsuits/litigation against public participation) are in fashion as the latest tool of choice used to drain the limited resources of activists and journalists and financially intimidate them into silence. There is a fine line between the right to free speech the right to reputation There is a genuine case to be made …

Hong Kong Protests: 1 country, 2 systems?

Since 1997, The city of Hong Kong has enjoyed greater autonomy than the rest of mainland China due to its status as a Special Administrative Region (SAR). Through its status as a former British colony, and the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Hong Kong enjoys its own de facto constitution through Hong Kong Basic Law, a homogenous …