By Catherine Lefèvre: http://globalpublicpolicywatch.wordpress.com/ — On the 27th of March 2014 I had the honour to attend the annual conference of the European Defence Agency (EDA) entitled “European Defence Matters”. Over 500 participants were present from various sectors ranging from the government, military and industry. During the conference the importance of pooling and sharing resources…

By Catherine Lefèvre: http://globalpublicpolicywatch.org/ — *This article was originally published by YPFP Brussels Russian president Vladimir Putin once described the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 as the ‘greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.’ It is no secret that Russia has been trying to recover its geopolitical influence in former Soviet states to…

By Catherine Lefèvre: http://globalpublicpolicywatch.org/ — *This article has originally been published on Sharnoff’s Global Views On March 16, 2014, Crimeans voted to join Russia in a referendum that was supported by Russia and denounced as illegitimate by Western powers and Ukraine. The Ukrainian government said that the outcome of the referendum would not be recognized…

By: Peter Russel Guest Author). http://globalpublicpolicywatch.wordpress.com/ — In one of his typically ebullient accounts of life in 1950s Greece, Patrick Leigh Fermor recalls how even the most isolated shepherds and villagers would display an acute curiosity about British politics, asking questions like “do you prefer Mr Churchill or Mr Attlee?” In a similar manner, in the mid-1970s…

By: Mario Zorro. http://globalpublicpolicywatch.wordpress.com/ — Where the Black Gold lies beneath the Frozen Route of the Ships The night is at its high, with the stars lighting the skies and the Northern Lights bringing the darkness a greenish illumination. The travellers came ashore and made a fire in a place where the sea and tall…

By: Moritz Borchardt (Guest Author). http://globalpublicpolicywatch.wordpress.com/ — From a western point of view, Belarus, the Belarusian state and its citizenry are not in good shape in the second decade of the 21st century. The country’s leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, is widely considered to be Europe’s last tyrant, and the relationship with its long-time partner Russia has been strained…

By: Donika Emini — * This article was originally published on the Sharnoffsglobalviews Even 15 years after the last conflict in Kosovo, North Mitrovica is a “no-mans-land” and remains a divided city along the Ibar River. The break-up of Yugoslavia brought the Western Balkan region into the center of the world’s attention. Once a…

By: Catherine Lefevre. http://globalpublicpolicywatch.wordpress.com/ — All over South America there has been a rise in indigenous feminism with many indigenous women speaking out in favour of increased political and cultural rights and a more equal society within their respective tribes. This appearance of indigenous feminism began in the 1990s with a variety of groups in…

By: Mario Zorro. http://globalpublicpolicywatch.wordpress.com/ — The Viking Saga IV: The Viking Realm and the Frozen Gates between the West and the East On a cold night in the year 1194, a group of Drakkars reach a group of islands known to the ships’ crews as the ‘Svalbarði’. As they approach the snow covered land, illuminated…