• ‘A Whiff of Munich’?

    Roger Spalding Neville Chamberlain holds the paper signed by both Hitler and himself on his return from Munich. I often read in applicants’ personal statements that they wish to study History to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. This is sadly, something that rarely occurs; humanity appears to have an infinite capacity to repeat…

  • Ukraine – What Next? Is Civil Society the Answer?

    Sergej Ljubownikow Over a week into Putin’s war in Ukraine, speculation on why, for what reason , remain high – but also to what end. Putin appears to have a variety of conflicting, and spurious aims (some only beknownst to him) with this invasion; both with regards to Ukraine, and highly likely beyond. Western response…

  • Medals at all costs? Kamila Valieva discovered the ‘ice cold’ reality of failure

    Anabel Timmins The ISR interview recently conducted with Rachael Denhollander regarding sexual abuse at USA gymnastics (USAG) for International Women’s Day 2022 was recorded before the Winter Olympics. However, the scenes of a 15-year-old girl caught up in a doping scandal less than 10 years after Russia was found to have engaged in a scheme…

  • Crossing the Dnieper: The UK political response to Ukraine

    Paula Keaveney “I have never forgotten the sheer courage and determination of pro-democracy activists whom I met on the streets of Lviv in 1989 as they risked their lives to throw off the shackles and chains of the Soviet Union.” (Lord Alton, HL Deb 25 February 2022) The last few days have seen debates in…

  • Why Ukraine? Why Now?

    Professor Jo Crotty In the last 24 hours I have received a number of messages asking ‘Why Ukraine?; and why now?’ Although media commentary has focused on Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, and Russia’s unwillingness to acquiesce to NATO forces on its border; the answer is more complex. First, since the end of the Soviet Union 30…

  • Relax… World War Three is NOT Imminent – at least not yet

    What with COVID, the death of the Duke of Edinburgh and a football furore, you could be forgiven for not noticing the recent build-up of 80,000 Russian troops on the Russian-Ukraine border. Unsurprisingly, this has raised alarm within the international community, as an armed conflict between these two nations would have serious and inevitable implications.…

  • You Still Need Society! Authoritarianism and COVID-19

    The COVID-19 pandemic has provided us with insights into different political regimes’ responses to what is now a prolonged, unpredictable, and difficult to manage crisis. Parts of Eastern Europe had initially been considered as the models for how to respond to the pandemic. Nearly a year on, with cases surging and the state struggling to…

  • Who Needs Society? Authoritarianism and COVID-19

    The Wall Street Journal recently suggested that ‘western democracies’ should look to Eastern Europe to how it contained the COVID-19 pandemic. With some Eastern European countries first ignoring or diminishing the COVID-19 threat (Russia) or asserting the benefits of ‘alternative’ therapies such as the encouragement of steam baths, eating garlic, and drinking Vodka – the…