Much of the analyses of German reactions to the Arab Spring uprisings have focused on Germany’s contentious decision relating to Libya. By siding with the critics of military intervention in abstaining from UNSC 1973, Germany vexed its allies and arguably displayed an astonishing lack of geostrategic foresight and moral rectitude.

Hardly a week goes by without an African investors’ conference or growth summit. 

There is a rich history of far-right political parties in Europe. Long-standing parties such as the French Front National (FN), mostly marginalized since World War II, have enjoyed a resurgence since the 1980’s. Under the very recent leadership of Marine Le Pen, the FN has undergone a rejuvenation of its communication strategy and gained two seats in the National Assembly, the first time that the FN won any seats since the end of the proportional representation system in 1988. There are also many newer far-right parties in Europe, such as the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV). The PVV, formed in 2006 by Geert Wilders, has become the third most popular party in the Netherlands and was until recently a member of the governing minority coalition.

Strong states often fail to deter vastly weaker competitors. This paper explores some reasons of this failure and identifies factors that can increase the prospects that deterrence will succeed in these situations.

As tensions persist between China and Japan in the East China Sea, it is interesting to note that one of the most symbolic actions of the previous crisis has yet to make an appearance this time around. 

In a competitive energy system, generation investment choices are let to investors. It is then the responsibility of the market actors to invest and ensure peak, medium and base load generation, based on market perspectives and trends. If through actors" investments the stability of the system cannot be ensured (because, for example, peak generation is not sufficient to satisfy demand), some measures have to be taken. These can have economic and system integrity impacts on neighboring systems, especially if they are connected. This is precisely what is happening in the European electricity market.

The relationship between Germany and Russia, according to official portrayals in Berlin, is one of ‘strategic partnership’ supplemented by ‘modernisation partnership’. The closeness and at times demonstrative cordiality of the relations have given rise to suspicion about Germany being an advocate of Russian interests in Europe for the benefit of its economy but at the expense of Europe’s trans-Atlantic links.