Citius, altius, fortius? In April 2008, I was despatched to write a high-level report entitled “Afghanistan: The Way Ahead in the South”. The report remains confidential but its final two sentences were prophetic. “Some countries forgive mediocrity. Afghanistan is no such country”. The defeat in
The commonly used concept of “strategic autonomy” is certainly part of the political discourse rhetoric of the European Union (EU), over which many spears have been broken in recent years. Since 2016, when Member States adopted the EU Global Strategy Paper, Europe had to face
The year 2020 brought unprecedented change to Belarus. Following evidence of massive fraud during the August presidential election and the ensuing brutal crackdown on protestors, which included violent deaths and tortures, Belarus’s civil society found new forms of mobilization and selforganization resulting in hundreds of
The United States is a global superpower and its influence is far from underestimated. Even without abusing the democratic system, the President retains an important role as the highest political spokesman of the American nation and the main individual player on the international stage. For
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is not a prediction anymore; it is here and it reaches far beyond technology development and future economy. Its speed is exponential, accelerating deep systemic change in every aspect of human life and societal transformation. The question is whether societies around
What are the implications for the Allied defence of Riga of COVID-19? Defence budgets will probably be plundered in many European countries to pay for ‘human’ (health) security, the growing gap between Allied defence, deterrence and threat will further increase, a further European retreat from
There has never been any explicit world order that has been natural, autarkic, and self-sustained. The only exception might a world order with ‘rule of the jungle’ where in the powerful subdue the weak. Despite the seemingly beneficial and all-inclusive liberal world order supported by
Advances in information and communication technologies -- global Internet, social media, Internet of Things and a range of related science-driven innovations -- are recognized almost everyone and everywhere Less well appreciated are the accelerated advances in Artificial Intelligence and its far-ranging applications that are shaping
Over the last five years, NATO has undergone deep modernization of its command structure and force posture. Three consecutive summits have proven NATO’s adaptability to the new security environment created by Russian aggression on Ukraine and the increased assertiveness of Putin’s regime. Two important strategic
With Moscow’s tacit support, ethnic Russians in the Estonian city of Narva vote to declare autonomy and threaten to block rail lines, sparking fears of unrest. The Kremlin provides weapons and support to both sides in separatist conflicts in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions,
The lives of Latvian residents have been turned upside down since March of 2020. We have faced unprecedented social, economic and political constraints in less than half a year. The pandemic, like the people of other countries of the European Union, also surprised us unprepared. However, overall statistics show that
This issue of the journal is a result of the project “Masterclasses for young political leaders” organized by the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation, Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Latvian Political Science Association. The project was tailored to deliver the master classes by current politicians and leading academics