Recent threats of secession made by Milorad Dodik, the Serbian representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three-person presidency, have stoked fears about the potential for renewed conflict in the region. Darren Davids writes that Dodik’s comments are simply aggressive posturing and are unlikely to prompt renewed violence.
Growing cocaine shipments to the Netherlands in recent years have been accompanied by an increased pervasiveness of violent criminal groups in the country. Markus Korhonen looks at the potential emergence of a Dutch narco-state.
Anti-vaccine protests have become a global phenomenon with varying driving factors ranging from low levels of trust in government to safety fears over the vaccines. Darren Davids writes that, governments and businesses will have to find creative solutions to get people to vaccinate given the cost and impact of renewed waves of infection.
The resurgence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has coincided with a recent spate of attacks in Europe writes Darren Davids. While intelligence agencies have been able to foil large scale plots, the Islamic State will be increasingly relying on radicalised lone attackers.
A number of high-profile Islamist terror incidents rocked France in 2020. The response to the attacks demonstrated again the French government’s challenge of maintaining a secular state while seeking to avoid alienating groups with firmly held religious convictions. At the same time, responses internationally point to a growing divide between Europe…
In some countries, the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed criminal groups to diversify and expand their operations. This could threaten foreign businesses and staff in affected countries in the coming year, writes Erin Drake.
Many government agencies around the world are now better prepared to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic than they were early in 2020, but the virus is far from contained, and the strain on resources and supply chains is easily exacerbated when natural disaster strikes. Cvete Koneska explains how the confluence of the pandemic and the onset of natural disasters…
While, initially, lockdowns in countries around the world had a notable dampening effect on the frequency of civil unrest, as the Covid-19 pandemic has persisted this effect has subsided. Markus Korhonen writes that the negative economic and social impacts of the pandemic have garnered increasing antipathy among citizens, prompting renewed anti-government…
A growing dispute over gas reserves between NATO members Turkey and Greece threatens peace in the eastern Mediterranean, writes Darren Davids. These tensions are compounded by historical grievances and a Turkish state which is growing increasingly isolated in the region.
While anti-government protesters are unlikely to overthrow the current government, endemic corruption in Bulgarian politics will continue to render successive governments susceptible to protests and premature elections, writes Erin Drake.
While recent anti-lockdown protests, particularly in Europe, have not been substantially disruptive to public order or commercial operations, their potential adverse impact on public health, commercial and security environments should not be underestimated, writes Saif Islam.
While there has not been a notable uptick in terrorist incidents during the Covid-19 pandemic, diverted security resources and the longer-term effects of the pandemic may result in a growing threat of terrorism, writes Markus Korhonen.