RESEARCH AREAS

Jason E. Strakes, PhD
(Associate Researcher, Ilia State University, Georgia)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 10 June 2015

In the years since the South Ossetia War of 8-13 August 2008, Western observers have produced much alarmist commentary regarding the imminent Russian threat to Georgia's continued existence as an independent state, and the imperative of greater Euro-Atlantic commitment to its deterrence.1 On one hand, this reflects the international public relations campaign launched by the former United National Movement (UNM) government to justify its unsuccessful strategy of reintegrating the disputed territories by force, which (in defiance of the 2009 EU Independent Fact Finding Mission Report) cast the conflict as a premeditated and expansionist gambit by Moscow.2 Yet, this narrative followed upon an existing unofficial domestic security doctrine during its incumbency from 2004-2012 that identified all major instances of organized political opposition or unrest as Kremlin-orchestrated actions, which both preceded and was reinforced by the five-day invasion.3 This essential credulity on the part of some U.S. and European representatives has encouraged the drawing of spurious associations between the August War and the Russian annexation of Crimea and involvement in the ensuing insurgency in the eastern oblasts of Ukraine since February 2014, in turn fueling the trope of entitlement to "shortcuts" to NATO membership among Georgian societal elites.4...Read more

Mayda Youssef
(Political Analyst based in Cairo, Egypt)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 June 2015

Introduction

Following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, Mohamed Hosni Mubarak took office ruling under emergency law.
Mubarak ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years during which the population grew by 90% from 45 million to 85 million according to the UN. The vast majority of Egyptians live in the limited area near the Nile River banks, which is an area about 40,000 square kilometers, where the only arable land is found and competing with the need of human habitations...Read more

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

Opinions

Copyright: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/will-europes-come-to-their-senses-about-greece/2015/07/07/d923e2d0-2412-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html

The Greeks have made their choice. Faced with two painful alternatives, they chose to stand with their elected leaders and to reject overwhelmingly the harsh, unending austerity that their creditors demanded. Now Europe's leaders must make their choice. Will they come to their senses and open new negotiations with the Syriza government? Or will they remain unbending, force Greece into official bankruptcy and inexorably out of the euro? Read more

Tassos Symeonides
(Academic Adviser, RIEAS)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) – Publication date: 13 July 2015

Greece always devoured her talented, dedicated children with the same persistence as Cronus, the ancient Greek god, who would similarly devour his own sons as soon as they were born - fearing a prophecy that predicted he was going to be killed by one of his male offspring.

Greece has always done the same without distinction as to sex and as if there was no tomorrow.

As Greece sinks deeper and deeper in the worst life-and-death crisis of her modern history, the absence of the talented, the educated, and the truly dedicated on the front line is tragically and glaringly apparent...Read more

Zhyldyz Oskonbaeva
(RIEAS Senior Advisor & Eurasian Liaison)

Daniel Little
(RIEAS Senior Advisor)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr)
Publication date: 25 July 2015

At first the concept of ISIS as a corporate entity appears strange, even unsettling yet a number of recent events lends itself to this analogy. While no one takes issue with ISIS' success in Syria and Iraq, their Grand Strategy has until now been treated as a conceptual construct rather than a practical roadmap. Not only is this Grand Strategy a realizable one, it is further along than imagined. This article ties together a two-month old video with events as fresh as last week, even yesterday (July 24th) morning to complete what has eluded many for some time - namely where all of this leads...Read more

Zhyldyz Oskonbaeva
(RIEAS Senior Advisor & Eurasian Liaison)

Daniel Little
(RIEAS Senior Advisor)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) - Publication date: 2 August 2015

"Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power,
while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must".
(Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, 5:89)

Since the creation of the world, human existence can be summed up as alternating between the struggle for survival and the struggle for power. Throughout history, militarized clashes were the way to ensure markets hence political-diplomatic and economic leverage. In the modern world, the newer way of establishing markets or preserving comparative advantage is now financial hegemony. The 'dictatorship of the purse' controls not only countries but also regions, even superpowers, alliances and other unions... Read more