BALKAN STUDIES

Interview with Dr. Matthew Crosston
(Faculty Member, Doctoral Programs, School of Security and Global Studies, American Military University)

Copyright: https://inhomelandsecurity.com/look-lone-wolf-terrorism-2020s/
Posted at RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 1July 2018.

Note: Dr. Matthew Crosston is also RIEAS Senior Advisor

In 10 years’ time, the “9/11 syndrome” will be over, according to Dr. Matthew Crosston. In this exclusive vlog, American Military University’s Dr. Crosston discusses terrorism in its current state and what the future of counterterrorism efforts will look like in the next decade. Read more

Choutea Eleana (ΜA)
(RIEAS Research Assistant)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) -Publication date: 20 May 2018

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).
First published on Geopolitcs & Daily News - (Greek language)

It is fair enough to describe the 21st century as “Century of Technology and Information”. The relationship between political technology and military technology becomes closer as the first produces dual use technology used by the latter. Technological development of a state undoubtedly affects economic and military power in times of war and peace, transforming the world and influencing relations among states.... Read more

HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE, EURASIA, AND EMERGING THREATS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 17, 2017
Serial No. 115–47 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

Copyright: Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ Publication at RIEAS web site: (www.rieas.gr) on 12 March 2018

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:00 p.m., in room 2200 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Dana Rohrabacher (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Read more

Published by the Authority of the House of Lords
HOUSE OF LORDS Select Committee on International Relations
1st Report of Session 2017–19 HL Paper 53

Copyright: www.parliament.uk
Publication date at RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 14 January 2018

Summary

In the 20th century, the Western Balkans endured a number of serious conflicts—each following periods of complacency, meddling or inattention from the international community, each expanding beyond the borders of the region, and each involving the UK. It is a region which, in many respects, remains in the shadow of the wars of the 1990s. Whereas many of its neighbours have progressed, political instability, inter-ethnic tensions and the competing influence of third countries have slowed progress towards regional reconciliation and greater consonance with the rest of Europe. The region suffers from authoritarian leadership, weak democratic institutions and serious challenges from organised crime and corruption. This situation is exacerbated by uncertainty about EU accession, a brain drain of young and educated people, and a rise in extremism and anti-democratic nationalism....Read more

Alexander Clapp
(Journalist based in Athens. His work has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement and The National Interest)

Copyright: https://www.the-american-interest.com/2018/01/05/new-greek-oligarchy/

The strange saga of a Greek-Russian tobacco tycoon shows how crisis-era Greece has regressed into a post-Soviet-style oligarchy.
Ivan Ignatyevich Savvidis has played many unusual roles in his life—one of the great tobacco tycoons of Eurasia, a member of Russia’s Duma, a confidante of Vladimir Putin —but it is his latest one that is now sounding off alarm bells throughout Europe. Savvidis is the parvenu of Greece’s oligarchic scene. Since the onset of the economic crisis, he has effectively seized personal ownership over vast sectors of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city and its maritime gateway to the Balkans. The fire sale of old state assets—an auctioning process ordained by the European Union as part of its enforcement of economic austerity, but which has become overwhelmingly rigged by vested political interests within Greece—has given Savvidis a rare opportunity to invest hundreds of millions of euros into his ancestral homeland. A soccer team, a grand luxury hotel, a tobacco conglomerate, a water-bottling company, a fleet of beach resorts, a television station, a trio of newspapers, great stretches of coastline and blocs of Thessaloniki real estate, the port of Salonika and its industrial warehouses: these are but a few of the holdings that Savvidis has quietly acquired in the last eight years. The buying spree has lately given rise to a strange new coinage across the newspaper headlines and streets of his adopted city: Ivanaptiksi, “prosperity emanating from Ivan.” Read more

Muslims are projected to increase as a share of Europe’s population – even with no future migration







Copyright: http://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/29/europes-growing-muslim-population/ 
Publication date on RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 23 December 2017

In recent years, Europe has experienced a record influx of asylum seekers fleeing conflicts in Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries. This wave of Muslim migrants has prompted debate about immigration and security policies in numerous countries and has raised questions about the current and future number of Muslims in Europe. Read more