The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the subsequent reunification of Germany were followed by the quick dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Mikhail Gorbachev timely withdrew his support from the collapsing GDR. In June 1989, the former Soviet leader stated in Bonn, where he received a rapturous…
Read MoreFrederic Labarre, MA Paul Kennedy, in his seminal work “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers” (1988) argued that the strategic relevance of political agents rose or fell according to their economic fortunes. This observation is also pertinent to NATO’s future as well, since the military health of the Alliance…
Read MorePresident Obama standing in a Prague square on an April day in 2009, by a telecast speech to millions of people around the world, raised their hopes by stating: “So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear…
Read MoreAfter a hiatus of almost a decade strategic arms control is back on the agenda of the two former superpowers and might lead to a fundamental realignment of U.S.-Russian relationship in the twenty-first century. The first step towards this new rapprochement – as could have been expected – was taken…
Read MoreAccording to a senior Foreign Office official in 1939, it was better for Britain to become an American dominion than a German Gau. This statement epitomised both Britain’s refusal to compromise, and its future readiness to surrender sovereignty to the USA, rather than share it with Europe. His statement proved…
Read MoreSTART-1 treaty forms to this day the cornerstone of the prevailing nuclear arms control regime. The treaty will expire at the end of the current year. It needs to be reviewed and updated. Renegotiating START-1 was not a priority for the previous US administration; an attitude that bothered Moscow. The…
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