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Visit the new website here or by copying gssr.georgetown.edu into your browser search. Articles from January 2022 onwards can be found on the new website. Articles older than January 2022 are stored here for archival purposes. GSSR aims to migrate the entire content to the new website at some point in the future. Contact gssr@georgetown.edu with any questions or queries.
FSLN’s Grandeur and Decadence
Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega during one of his rallies. Photo Credit: Confidencial (a Nicaraguan newspaper founded by the FSLN’s former newspaper director) The Sandinista National Liberation Front or El Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) is a political and social movement, founded in 1962 by Carlos Fonseca. In 1979, FSLN efforts overthrew former President Anastasio Somoza, ending…
Turkey at the Crossroads: Shaping Strategic Balance in an Era of Complex Interdependence
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gives a speech on economic policy amid the rapid depreciation of the Turkish lira. Photo Credit: Anadolu Ajansi Turkey is always at a crossroads. Today so is the world. The consequences of Turkey’s response to current crises leading up to national elections due to occur by June 2023 will determine…
Georgetown Event: 2021 Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards
Photo Credit: Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security On December 6, 2021, the Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) held a ceremony to recognize the five recipients of the 2021 Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security. Ambassador Melanne Verveer, the executive director of GIWPS, began…
An Unlikely Pair: The Link Between the Uyghur Genocide and 9/11
Two people wearing masks showing colors of the Uighur heartland’s flag with a hand painted with the Chinese Communist Party’s colors over it. Photo Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson As the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, and other countries condemn China’s violence, internment, sterilization, and so-called re-education against its Uyghur population for the crime that it is—genocide—China’s actions…
The Unintended Consequences of AUKUS in the Indo-Pacific
French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace at a meeting earlier this year. Photo Credit: Reuters AUKUS was one of Washington’s best-kept secrets. When the deal between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States was announced in mid-September it caught analysts and politicians off guard. The deal included defense technology…
The US does not have an Africa strategy, but China does
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army attends the opening ceremony of China’s military base in Djibouti — its first overseas naval base — in August 2017. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images Washington’s interests on the African continent are poorly defined. This lack of strategic attention is illustrated by the Pentagon’s publication of regional strategies for Europe and…
Haitian Asylum Seekers Look for Refuge, U.S. Responds with Deportation
United States Border Patrol agents on horseback try to stop Haitian migrants from entering an encampment on the banks of the Río Grande near the Acuña Del Río International Bridge in Del Río, Texas on Sept. 19. Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images While the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations…
Global Jihad: A Brief History with Dr. Glenn E. Robinson
On Wednesday, November 10th, the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) at Georgetown University hosted Dr. Glenn E. Robinson to discuss his new book, Global Jihad: A Brief History. Robinson is a Professor of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School, where he has taught classes on the history of political violence…
Transcending Rhetoric: The Wisdom of European “Strategic Autonomy”
“Now we are opening a new era where we have to put ourselves in a situation to clearly prepare, endorse our European defense. But I want to insist on the fact that we need the strong cooperation of the US.” — French President Emmanuel Macron[i] At the latest G-20 Summit, American President Biden and French…
It’s the Politics, Stupid: US Public and Elite Opinion on Defending Taiwan
U.S., Japanese and Australian forces conduct trilateral military drilling exercises in the South China Sea. Photo Credit: U.S. Navy Analyzing the political trends makes one thing clear: if the United States chooses not to forcefully defend Taiwan, public or elite opinion won’t be the culprits standing in the way. The Status Quo: Strategic Ambiguity Joe…
SSP Event: State Fragility, Violent Conflict, and the GFA
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Alex Hurtado and Gunnery Sgt. Damian Henry, a heavy equipment operator, and the engineer chief with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Southern Command, deployed in support of Joint Task Force Matthew, offload supplies for locals affected by Hurricane Matthew at Jeremie, Haiti, Oct. 9, 2016. The Marines delivered bags…
To Succeed at “Strategic Competition,” Invest in Strategic Communications
Photo Credit: Mel Gurtov, “Testing Time for US-China Relations,” China-United States Exchange Foundation, May 4, 2020. “Just as water’s flow avoids the high ground and rushes to the low, so, too, the victor avoids the enemy’s strong points and strikes where he is weak”— Sun Tzu[i] Recently, the White House reframed its relationship with China…
Why The Biden Administration Should Take a Tougher Stance Towards Yemen
A Houthi rebel stands near the damaged presidential palace in Sana’a after Saudi airstrikes in December 2017. Photo Credit: DW News In February 2021, President Biden pledged to push for an end to the Yemeni Civil War; he also vowed to end offensive support for the Saudi Arabia-led bombing campaign in Yemen.[i] The U.S.…
Iraq’s 2021 Parliamentary Elections: A Glimmer of Hope for the End of Sectarianism
Shi’ite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is emerging as a kingmaker in the bitter contest to form a new governing coalition and select a new Prime Minister. Photo Credit: NYT. “No to America, and no to Iran. Iraq is for Iraqis” – So an unnamed protestor told a CNN reporter in January 2020, just one of hundreds…
Are Almonds the National Security Threat of the Moment?
An Abandoned Almond Orchard in Newman, California. Photo Credit: Terry Chea/AP It is not a coincidence that both the Southwest and California, agricultural centers of the U.S., are increasingly water stressed. Though megadroughts are now a characteristic of the region, California alone produces more than 90 percent of some U.S. agricultural products, including broccoli, almonds,…
Boko Haram: Terrorist Endemic
Boko Haram, a terrorist organization that emerged in northern Nigeria in 2002, continues to pose a significant threat to Nigeria and the broader region, carrying out deadly attacks and engaging in criminal activity. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Boko Haram insurgency has displaced nearly 2.4 million people in the Lake…
SSP Event: U.S. Intelligence Failures
On Tuesday, October 26th, the Georgetown Center for Security Studies (CSS) welcomed adjunct professor Rohin Sharma to host an event entitled “U.S. Intelligence Failures” as part of the CCS’s fall series, “Security Past and Present.” This event analyzed and connected historical intelligence failures, such as Pearl Harbor and 9/11, with the recent Capitol Hill events.…
The Rise of Ransomware
Post on Groove ransomware data leak site calling for attacks on the United States. 2021 may be recorded as the year of the rise of ransomware. Combating the cyber-crime operation—which encrypts data, crippling computer systems, and requests cryptocurrency in exchange for decryption—has become central to international efforts to secure critical infrastructure and protect victims against…
Women: Terrorism’s Secret Weapon
Photo Credit: The Institute for Security Studies Recent studies of women’s roles in jihadi terrorism debunk the widely held belief that women are either passive victims or fanatical jihadi brides. Women participate – both willingly and unwillingly – in terrorist activities for a variety of reasons.[1] Women’s participation in jihadi terrorism is not binary, it…
The Economic Factors of al-Shabaab’s Insurgency
Data from ACLED on attacks perpetrated by jihadists in Mozambique. Photo Credit: The Economist In October 2017, a group of Islamist rebels locally known as al-Shabaab (no affiliation with al-Shabaab in Somalia) sought to spread radical Islam and gain territory in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. [i] The situation deteriorates as both internal…
Thunder over the Falklands: Asian Arms in Latin America
Pakistan Air Force JF-17’s armed with air to air and air to ground munitions. Photo Credit: Pakistan Air Force Last month, local Argentine newspapers leaked news that the Argentinian government intended to purchase 12 Pakistan-Chinese manufactured JF-17[i] Block III ‘Thunder’ fighter aircraft and supporting equipment. This is not new. Argentina’s plan to purchase Chinese fighters…
The Need for a Properly Resourced Pacific Deterrence Initiative
US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (left), amphibious assault ships USS Boxer and associated ships conducting operations on October 6, 2019 in the South China Sea. Photo Credit: AFP/ US Navy The foundation of US conventional deterrence in the Indo-Pacific is crumbling. Through its ambitious military modernization program, the global balance of power is shifting…
Growth of Space and Lunar Stations: Promise Amidst Geopolitical Risk
June 2021: Chinese astronauts prepare for a mission to China’s space station. Photo Credit: New York Times The April launch of the core module of China’s new space station has marked the start of a new era of sustained human presence in space.[i] Over the next decade, countries and corporations are planning to deploy a…
Bodies, Bullets, and Blood: How Masculinity Influences Mass Killers
Photo Credit: John Locher/AP Images. For decades, the number of mass shootings in the U.S. has steadily increased. From 1966 to 1975, the U.S. experienced a total of 12 mass shootings; during the time frame of 2006 to 2016, the U.S. has witnessed 183 mass shootings.[i] Many argue that easy access to firearms is to…
Enter the Generals: The Rising Influence of the Military in the Mexican State
Mexican troops take part in Independence Day Parades in León, Mexico, in September of 2013. Source: © Tomas Castelazo http://www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 Unlike much of Latin America, Mexico did not experience a military dictatorship during the latter part of the twentieth century. Rather, the military forces of Mexico found themselves caught up with the…
Building Resilience in the Sahel in an Era of Forced Displacement
Arid soils in Mauritania, 2012. Photo Credit: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam On Thursday, April 8, the Population Institute partnered with the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program, Maternal Health Initiative, and Africa Program to host an event on the growing regional environmental security risks in the Sahel. During the event entitled “Building Resilience in the Sahel…
Saudi Pursuit of Soft Power Through Soccer: Saudi Arabia aims to match what UAE and Qatar have achieved
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman attends the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Photo Credit: TASS via Getty Images The January announcement of Saudi normalization of relations with Qatar will likely help Saudi Arabia’s efforts to acquire an elite soccer team, which would allow Riyadh to enhance its tarnished global image.[i] Saudi Arabia’s neighbors, the UAE…
Analyzing Five Alleged IRA Reddit Accounts
Word cloud showing five alleged IRA accounts’ most-discussed topics topics on Reddit. This graph was generated using a frequency analysis of selected comments and submission from Reddit. This piece was authored by an anonymous SSP student Background The Russian Federation’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election has been the subject of much media fanfare,…
ISIS’s Female Morality Police
Photo Credit: NBC News Forty lashes was the standard punishment for women who wore high heels or headscarves with designs on them in areas of Raqqa and Mosul.[1] These lashes were doled out by the Hisbah division of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which focused on strictly enforcing Sharia Law in ISIS conquered…
The U.S. Military’s Greatest Contemporary Adversary: COVID-19
Photo Credit: NavyTimes By sidelining an aircraft carrier, the Covid-19 pandemic has accomplished something that neither China nor Russia ever has.[i] In March of 2020, the USS Theodore Roosevelt made an emergency port call in Guam[ii] due to roughly 25% of its almost 5,000 sailors onboard testing positive for Covid-19.[iii] The outbreak led to the…
Racism is Systemic in Artificial Intelligence Systems, Too
Artificial intelligence systems have the capability to exploit existing systemic inequalities due to the ease for bias to seep in. Photo Credit: Geralt/Pixabay When many people think of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, they think of robots or self-driving cars. AI often elicits a sense of amazement, of wonder, of possibility for the future. But just…
The Dragon Descends Southwards: Chinese Foreign Policy in Latin America Warrants a U.S. Response
Former Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper Visits U.S. Southern Command Headquarters in Doral, FL in January 2020. Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Defense, Army Staff Sgt. Nicole Mejia This piece is co-authored by Center for Strategic and International Studies Americas Program Senior Fellow, Dr. Ryan C. Berg, and SSP student, Allison Schwartz. In his…
Smart Devices: A Necessary Evil for Military Operations?
Photo Credit: Military Embedded Systems At the beginning of the twenty-first century, camera phones were a new commodity – and their effects on battlefield operations were largely unknown. Two decades later, their rapid development and newfound capabilities pose a litany of security concerns for our deployed servicemembers, such as geotagging that enables kinetic targeting and…
India Modified
BJP supporters attend an election campaign rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the State Assembly polls at Dwarka in New Delhi, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Photo Credit: PTI Photo. Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New Indiaby K.S. KomireddiHurst & Company, 259 pp., $27.72 K.S. Komireddi’s Malevolent Republic: A Short History of…
The Role of the Media in Normalizing Women’s Political Violence
Photo Credit: Getty Images In March 2011, Vogue ran a now infamous article on Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad titled “A Rose in the Desert.” The author, Joan Juliet Buck, extolled the glamour of the al-Assad family despite the well-known authoritarian nature of Bashar’s regime. As the Syrian state responded violently to the Arab Spring…
Naval Warfare Studies Institute: Innovation through Collaboration
Vice Admiral Ann E. Rondeau (Ret.) signing the charter for The Wayne P. Hughes Jr. Naval Warfare Studies Institute (NWSI) on December 11, 2020. Photo Credit: Naval Warfare Studies Institute, Naval Postgraduate School. https://nps.edu/web/nwsi. The Department of Defense is seeking new, innovative ways to maintain a military advantage over its adversaries and perceived threats. On March 10, 2020,…
NATO: Where It Has Been, and Where It Should Go
US troops, part of a NATO mission to enhance Poland’s defense, before an official welcoming ceremony in Orzysz, Poland, 12 April 2017. Photo Credit: AP With the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO cheered it had “won” the war with its longtime rival, leaving in its wake uncertainty for an organization that stood with clear…
A Page in the Colonial Ledger: Nigeria, Britain, and the Ghosts of Colonialism
Photo Credit: Hurst & Company What Britain did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Ruleby Max SiollunHurst & Company, 390 pp., $29.95 Since the apparent global ascent of the far-right in popular support and electoral success (the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and of course the election of Donald…
Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Act and Deteriorating Rule of Law
Photo Credit: Rappler.com The Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 championed by President Rodrigo Duterte is destined for failure. The law, which is meant to take a hardline stance combatting insurgencies in the Philippines, is yet another example of the deteriorating rule of law under the Duterte Administration and the nation’s failure to learn from the…
Does the Future of Artificial Intelligence Favor Authoritarianism?
Photo Credit: Seeedstudio.com In our networked world, artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies can be copied and pasted with minimal modification until they become geopolitical forces. On April 8, 2021, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its Global Trends 2040 report, noting more centrally than ever that AI is not only an…
Assessing the Impact of Chinese Arms in Africa
A Chinese manufactured armored personnel carrier on the streets of Zimbabwe. Photo Credit: Voice of America China’s Growing Exports Africa has emerged as an increasingly important region amidst discussions of renewed great power competition between the United States and China. Weapons sales constitute a critical, yet often underexplored, component of this competition in Africa. Since…
Chinese Authoritarianism Spreads as Xi Jinping Grows More Confident
China has been more aggressive in promoting its form of authoritarianism. How should the United States respond? Photo credit: Christian Lue/Unsplash China met with the United States for the first time during the Biden administration on March 18 in Anchorage, Alaska. By all accounts, it was set to be a normal affair between the two…
Muslim Militia Working for Inter-faith Peace and Harmony in Indonesia
Photo Credit: Ansor Jabar Online, May 12, 2017 On Wednesday, March 17th, the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service hosted an event entitled: Muslim Militia Working for Inter-faith Peace and Harmony in Indonesia. The event was moderated by John L. Esposito, Founder of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, and included a conversation with Dr.…
Gendering Security: Making Public Places Safe
Photo Credit: Kateryna Kyslyak / EyeEm Earlier this year, on March 8, women were celebrated all around the world for International Women’s Day. It has become a tradition that, on this day, speeches are spoken about the tremendous roles that women are playing in our societies and photos are shared about women we care about…
Restoring America’s position as team captain: Why international cooperation is in the nation’s best interest
President Joseph R. Biden prepares to deliver remarks on U.S. foreign policy at City University of New York in July 2019. Photo Credit: Adam Schultz/Biden for President This piece was originally run in “The Diplomatic Pouch” (https://medium.com/the-diplomatic-pouch/analysis-restoring-americas-position-as-team-captain-f48affeb47a6) Since the end of World War II, and until “America First,” U.S. foreign policy championed a system of…
Nuclear Disarmament: Why Reaching for Zero Makes Sense
India’s Brahmos missile, which was developed jointly with Russia, on display in 2018. Photo Credit: Politico, Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images Nuclear weapons have dominated U.S. security strategy for decades. The overwhelming power of these weapons has captivated the minds of U.S. scholars, strategists, and policymakers alike. However, this fascination with complete annihilation has created an impenetrable bubble around…
Kautilya in the Gray Zone: How Russia has Successfully Adopted Two-Thousand Year Old Teachings
“A Russian serviceman is seen behind pro-Russian activists at the Belbek Sevastopol International Airport in the Crimea region, March 4, 2014.” Photo credit: Business Insider What do a South Asian statesman from the fourth-century BCE and current members of Russia’s Ministry of Defence have in common? The belief that war should be conducted by incorporating…
European Militaries Join the U.S. in Space
US allies in Europe are following in America’s footsteps and developing their own military space commands. In Dec 2018, the U.S. announced the elevation of U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM). Since then, the four largest countries in Europe announced their own similar institutions: French Space Command, the German Air and Space Operations Centre, the UK Space…
The New Great Game
The Dragon, Eagle, and Bear play the Great Game. Photo Credit: Global Village Space. Central Asia has always been an important crossroads of great powers. Just to name a few, the Persians, Russians, British, and Chinese have all struggled for influence. The United States is now an important stakeholder in the region—at least since its…
SSP Event: Security Around the World: U.S.-China Competition and the Korean Peninsula
Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, December 4, 2013. Photo credit: Reuters/Lintao Zhang On Tuesday, March 9th, the Georgetown Center for Security Studies hosted an event entitled: “Security Around the World: U.S.-China Competition and the Korean Peninsula.” This event focused on the…
SecDef to Delhi: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Credit: US Department of Defense The Visit On March 20th, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited India, capping off an Asian tour that saw the secretary visit Japan and the Republic of Korea. The visit by Austin constituted part of a larger American effort to show diplomatic strength in the run up to a…
Towards a Non-Nation State
Detail from a poster for the Codesa talks. Credit: Judy Seidman Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minoritiesby Mahmood MamdaniThe Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 401 pp., $29.95 In his probing essay “In Search of a Majority” the late James Baldwin seeks to understand why Black people are treated the…
Sputnik V is Helping Putin Reach for the Stars
Russian President Vladimir Putin is using “vaccine diplomacy” to improve Russia’s global status. Photo credit: Pixabay The COVID-19 crisis created an opportunity for Russian President Vladimir Putin to expand his sphere of influence. As countries turned inward, consolidating resources and vaccinating their populations first, Moscow chose to embark on a campaign of “vaccine diplomacy.” This…
China: Myanmar Is Not Libya
Photo Credit: Reuters. Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, urges action against the military coup at the end of his speech to the General Assembly. Myanmar’s coup earlier this year showcased the fragility of democracy and how quickly things can change for the worse. The United States rightly condemned the coup and imposed…
The Biden Administration Should Stand Up to Turkish Violations of US Sanctions
Turkish state bank Halkbank has been at the forefront of an effort by Turkish government officials to circumvent US sanctions against Iran. Photo Credit: Flickr On October 15, 2019, the Southern District of New York indicted Turkish-state owned bank Halkbank for violating US sanctions against Iran. The indictment was the culmination of years of investigation…
What’s New in the 2020 US National Space Strategy?
Photo credit: European Space Agency (ESA) The US National Space Policy (NSP) outlines military, civil, and commercial efforts in space and is the authoritative policy document that guides the space activities of NASA, the intelligence community, and the Departments of Defense, State, Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Transportation, and Interior. Therefore, the publication of a new…
Making The Law Work for Women
Photo Credit: Robyn Jay. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA (Accessed via UN University Webpage) On Thursday, February 25th, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS), in partnership with the Georgetown Ambassadors for Women, Peace and Security, hosted the second of their five-part webinar series focused on increasing gender equality. The event, entitled Making the Law Work for…
Turkey’s New Joint Operational Concepts Foreshadow the Future of Armed Conflict
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stands in Front of a Bayraktar TB-2 Drone. Photo Credit: AA Following the July 15, 2016 coup attempt and subsequent violent purges, Turkish Armed Forces launched major military operations in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Libya and continued to expand basing across North Africa.[i] These operations exhibited characteristics indicative of the…
There is No Society: Islamic Action and Activism under the Thumb of the Saudi State
Saudi youths demonstrate a stunt known as “sidewall skiing” (driving on two wheels) in the northern city of Hail, in Saudi Arabia. Photo Credit: Reuters Graveyard of Clerics: Everyday Activism in Saudi Arabia (2020)by Pascal MenoretStanford University Press, 250 pp., $24.00 Saudi Arabia is a country of extremes: extreme heat, extreme wealth, and as Pascal…
The Recent Rise of the Far-Right
Photo Credit: Getty Images The January 6th events at the Capitol were heinous, lethal, and extreme. They were also predictable. For a nation that touts itself as the beacon of a liberal world order, many were left scratching their heads and wondering, “how could this happen here?” The answer to that question has been hiding…
India needs Planes, Waivers, and A Little Bit of Patience
Photo Credit: Boeing The Border Clash On June 15th, 2020, Chinese and Indian forces clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) resulting in the deaths of twenty Indian soldiers and at least six members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).[1] This clash, the first border incident between the two nuclear armed powers to lead…
Rape as a Weapon of War in Tigray
Photo Credit: Courthouse News Service The recent violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia along the country’s northern border with Eritrea has been disproportionately victimizing women and children. The Ethiopian government and regional forces are using rape as a weapon of war to demoralize and terrorize local civilians.[1] Even once women flee to refugee camps…
The January 6 Attack Deserves A Strong and Bipartisan Congressional Response
The heart of American democracy was attacked on Jan. 6. Congress cannot even agree on appointing an independent commission to investigate. Photo Credit: Pixabay On January 6 the Capitol building was invaded for only the second time in American history. Hundreds of individuals stormed the Capitol, threatened lawmakers, and attacked police and security officials. The…
Amid Growing Instability, Elections in the Sahel Should Signal a Shift in US Security Policy
Niger’s electoral commission prepares ballot boxes for the presidential election runoff on 21 February. Photo Credit: AFP-ISSOUF SANOGO The deteriorating security situation in the Sahel underscores an urgent need for an innovative policy to combat terrorism and insecurity. While this failure to ameliorate the security environment has long been evident, a series of elections in Niger,…
What Ever Happened to Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Photo Credit: Agency for the Statistic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Popis: Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Dayton Accords, the agreement that ended the Bosnian War and instituted power-sharing between the state’s three constituent peoples, marked its 25th anniversary late last year. Two-and-a-half decades later, where is Bosnia and Herzegovina…
Owning the Libs: Explaining the Rise of Illiberal Populism After the End of History
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during Fidesz party campaign rally. Photo credit: Laszlo Balogh/Getty Images The Light that Failed: Why the West is Losing the Fight for Democracy (2020)by Ivan Krastev and Stephen HolmesPegasus Books, 246 pp., $26.95 After the collapse of Soviet-style communism in 1989-1991, analysts infamously declared liberal democracy would sweep the…
Dr. Fauci’s 2020 Takeaways
Dr. Anthony Fauci participating in a news briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Thursday, November 19, 2020. Photo Credit: Jabin Botsford/Washington Post On Monday, December 14th, the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) hosted a webinar entitled Year-End Reflections on 2020 with Dr. Anthony Fauci. The event was moderated…
Why Israel-Sudan Normalization is Unlikely to Last
Sudan has become just the third Arab country to normalize ties with Israel since 1994. Will normalization last? Photo Credit: Anthony Beck/Pexels Just over a month after it was announced, the normalization deal between Israel and Sudan has come under fire. Sudan’s representatives said they would exit the accords if the U.S. cannot guarantee Sudan’s…
Sandra Grady Interview
After several years of government service, Professor Sandra Grady joined the SSP community in fall 2018. She has formerly taught “African Security Challenges” and currently teaches “Disinformation and Security.” GSSR caught up with her to discuss her career, her background in anthropology and folklore, her love of fieldwork, and more. The transcript of this interview,…
Georgetown Among Universities Targeted by Iranian-Backed Hackers
Photo Credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation Georgetown University was targeted by an Iranian-backed cyber threat actor dubbed Silent Librarian (a.k.a Cobbalt Dikkens) in April 2020. The group, employed by an Iran-based company named “Mabna Institute,” has been targeting universities since at least 2013 in search of academic materials for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),…
Trump’s Refusal to Concede Emboldens Europe’s Right-Wing Authoritarian Leaders
Protests in Belarus over President Alexander Lukashenko’s fraudulent victory. Photo Credit: Artem Podrex/Pexels Despite Joe Biden’s clear and convincing victory, Donald Trump has refused to concede the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Since the election, he and his supporters have made baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and have spread conspiracy theories spawned on fringe-media outlets,…
Russia’s Latin America Foreign Policy Supports its Incursions in Ukraine
Russian troops enter Perevalne base, a Ukrainian military installation located in Crimea, during the Crimean Crisis of 2014. Photo Credit: Anton Holoborodko Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its sponsorship of an ongoing separatist insurgency in Eastern Ukraine was largely met with widespread international condemnation. The United States and European Union levied sanctions against…
Arms for Oil: How North Korea and Iran Facilitate Each Other’s Security Strategies
North Korea launches a short-range missile, July 26, 2019. Photo Credit: BBC The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) have established a relationship that serves both of their security strategies. Their cooperation is a functional means to withstand their mutual economic isolation as well as a threatening move against their…
Purge White Supremacist Extremism from the Military
Photo credit: Australia Broadcasting Service, Emma Machan and Ola Haydar In October, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security released an annual assessment that declared white supremacist violence the “most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland.”[i] That sentiment, echoed by FBI Director Christopher Wray in his February address to Congress, supports the general consensus among…
Has Mali Gotten Too Messy? The Case for Hope amidst Uncertainty
Photo Credit: Mission de l’ONU au Mali – UN Mission in Mali Mali has been a thorn in the side of international peacekeeping and security proponents for the better part of a decade. Since a 2012 coup overthrew the democratically-elected government, the country has been plagued by conflict and civil strife, which the international community…
Beware of Nagorno-Karabakh
Photo credit: Tim Ryan Williams/Vox The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh recently flared up after decades of relative stability. A Russia-negotiated ceasefire that came into effect on November 11 will hopefully stop the violence. Whether or not the peace holds going forward, it is not in the interest of the United…
Joint Artificial Intelligence Center: An Opportunity for Transparency
Stylized representation of Joint All Domain Command and Control. Photo Credit: Raytheon Intelligence and Space. In 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD) set up the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) to consolidate the DoD’s artificial intelligence R&D projects under one organization. The JAIC is currently responsible for over 30 projects with broad applications, including battlefield…
A Crime to Want Something Different
Sukarno and other leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement. Photo Credit: ResearchGate The Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade & The Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World (2020) By Vincent BevinsPublicAffairs, 307 pp., $28.00 As Vincent Bevins points out in his vital and timely new book, The Jakarta Method, it is the winners who write history.…
Biden’s Plans for NATO Strategically Reimagine the Transatlantic Relationship
Vice-President Joseph R. Biden Jr. poses with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroschenko during the 51st Munich Security Conference in 2015. Photo Credit: Marc Müller With the 2020 US presidential election, it’s important to remember that Americans have not only elected the President of the United States, but also the leader of…
A Discussion on ICE Detention Centers and Forced Gynecological Procedures
Dawn Wooten (left) the whistleblower who filed a complaint about the conditions at the Irwin County Detention Center, accompanied by protestors at a news conference in Atlanta. Photo Credit: Jeff Amy/AP On November 9th, the Georgetown University Gender Justice Initiative hosted a virtual event entitled: Forced Gynecological Procedures and Other Gender Abuses in Detention. Moderated…
The First Step Towards Justice
Photo credit: Reuters The indictment of Alexanda Kotey, 36, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 32, on Wednesday, October 7th represents the first step towards achieving justice for their victims and bringing a measure of solace to their grieving families. As members of ISIS, Kotey and Elsheikh were dubbed “The Beatles” because of their British accents. In…
Understanding the Insurgency in Mozambique
Bridge over Rio Lúrio in Cabo Delgado. Photo Credit: F H Mira Over the last year, the Mozambican Salafi-jihadist group Ahl al-Sunna wa Jama’ah (ASWJ)[i] has grown in scope, committing twice as many attacks as in 2019.[ii] Although there has been low-level violence in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique for years, the extent of…
Fighting Venezuelan Corruption at Home: Money Laundering Vulnerabilities in US Real Estate Markets
An overhead view of real-estate property in Miami. The Maduro regime’s cronies have leveraged loopholes in US real-estate markets to launder money on behalf of the Venezuelan government. Photo Credit: PxHere In June of 2020, the federal government seized two multimillion-dollar Miami properties owned by Jesus Veroes and Luis Chacin, Venezuelan businessmen who pled guilty…
Climate Change and COVID-19: Threat Multipliers in the Caribbean
Students at the Sixth Form of Government Secondary School in Trinidad and Tobago take part in activities during Caribbean Climate Change Day of Action in October 2009. Photo Credit: 350.org The rapid spread of COVID-19 has forced many states to turn their attention away from climate change in order to address the pandemic’s effects. However,…
As Unusual School Year Begins, Georgetown’s SSP Steps Up DEI Efforts
Photo Credit: Pixabay/Alexandra Koch It is 2020: a year when racial injustice is topping national headlines and forcing the national security community to confront its heritage of racial prejudice, exclusion, and marginalization. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are three core principles guiding organizations and communities as they seek to increase representation of marginalized and underrepresented…
The Future for Unmanned Surface Vessels in the US Navy
Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) concept renderings from shipbuilder Austal USA. Photo Credit: Austal USA In the past few years there has been an increasing focus on expanding the US Navy’s capabilities through the use of unmanned surface vessels. On September 17th, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said “Unmanned will enable us to grow the United…
Achieving Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea
Gulf of Guinea. Photo Credit: International Chamber of Commerce When people think of modern-day piracy, Somalia and the Horn of Africa region quickly jump to mind. In the late 2000s, a series of dramatic hijackings and hostage situations received widespread media attention, and even a Tom Hanks movie. However, on Africa’s West Coast lies another,…
China’s Arms Diplomacy in Venezuela Affects Stability in the Western Hemisphere
Soldiers of the Venezuelan National Guard ride Chinese-manufactured armored vehicles during a 2014 parade commemorating the death of former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez. Photo Credit: Xavier Granja Cedeño / Ecuadorean Chancellery Venezuela declared in late September that it had obtained a new shipment of Chinese C-802A anti-ship cruise missiles, which can target vessels more than…
Lest We Forget the Uyghurs
Photo Credit: Huseyin Aldemir/Reuters The Chinese Communist Party since 2017 has committed genocide against its Uyghur Muslim citizens in East Turkestan (Xinjiang province). The United States should officially designate this as a genocide and spearhead an international pressure campaign against the Chinese government. With an official designation of genocide, the United States will be able…
Seth Johnston Interview
Photo Credit: Professor Johnston’s Faculty Profile Professor Seth A. Johnston is one of SSP’s newest faculty members. After several years of service in the U.S. Army and academic appointments at the United States Military Academy and Harvard University, he joined the SSP community this past summer and currently teaches a 500 course. GSSR caught up…
“Where the real fight begins:” What Would it Take to Solve Washington’s Diversity Crisis?
President Trump Addresses a Briefing on the Coronavirus on January 29, 2020. Photo Credit:White House Official Flickr Account The killings of Ahmad Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd by police over the past summer have ignited a worldwide wave of protests calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality. In a deeper sense,…
Our Adversaries are Interfering in the 2020 U.S. Election: What Do They Want and How Can We Stop Them?
The 2020 U.S. Election is upon us. Are we being manipulated? Photo Credit: Element5 Digital Russia, China, and Iran are interfering in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Just this past week, intelligence officials warned that Iran and Russia had obtained voter data, and that Iran in particular had targeted voters with threatening emails.[i] While the…
The Abraham Accords: A Peace Deal in Name Only
Photo Credit: Bing.com President Trump’s acclaimed ‘peace deal’ in the Middle East may be historic, but only time will tell if it will bring any semblance of peace to the region. On Tuesday, September 15, President Trump sat with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani, and Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin…
Who’s in the Room? Part II: The Case for Women’s Voices in National Security
Businesswoman explaining new business strategy to coworkers sitting around table in conference room. Photo credit: Shutterstock/Jacob Lund Over the last 40 years, women have gained greater representation across the United States national security establishment.[i] From 1992-2012, the proportion of men and women in the general scale of federal service came closer to approaching equality overall;…
Faysal Itani Interview (10/5/20)
Photo Credit: Center for Global Policy Professor Faysal Itani is one of SSP’s newest faculty members. After several years in the private sector, he joined the SSP community this past summer and is currently teaching SEST 522: Comparative Politics: Middle East. GSSR caught up with him to discuss his class, his career, some personal hobbies,…
National Security is One Thing Both Republicans and Democrats Care about. So Why Aren’t We talking about It?
President Donald Trump and former Vice-President Joe Biden respond to questions posed by moderator Chris Wallace during the first 2020 presidential debate. Photo Credit: Adam Schultz / Biden for President Both Republican and Democratic voters cite foreign policy as a topic of concern for this election cycle. Presidential candidates of both major parties have ample…
The Lethal Results of Police Militarization in 2020
State police officers dispersing a protest after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. Photo Credit: New York Times/Victor J. Blue The progression of police militarization in the United States has heightened the antagonistic relationship between state and local law enforcement and many of the civilians they have sworn to protect. The National…
Lying to Ourselves: Senator Johnson Shows that the Disinformation Problem Starts at Home
Declining trust in traditional news media and civic institutions goes hand in hand. Photo Credit: Unsplash/Nijwam Swargiary On October 8, 2020, The Wall Street Journal made the decision to publish an op-ed by Senator Ron Johnson entitled “An American Coup Attempt.” The piece argues that the United States is in a constitutional crisis because unelected…
Security Comes First: The Link Between Global Counterinsurgency and American Policing
Police secure an intersection during a third night of unrest in Richmond, Virginia. Photo Credit: Associated Press Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policingby Stuart SchraderUniversity of California Press, 393 pp., $29.95 Stuart Schrader, author of the intellectually and empirically towering Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing, knows that his…
Reclaiming the Moral High Ground?
The final 40 Guantanamo detainees are still waiting for their day in court, but a recent DC appellate court decision has put the privilege of due process in jeopardy. Can the U.S. regain the moral high ground with these indefinitely detained individuals acting as an indefinite stain on the robes of justice? Photo Credit: Congregation…