logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2020
26m 47s

Episode 12: Of Nightclub Bouncers and Ar...

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP
About this episode

“Policies today are geared toward power, strength and pushing back. They are not geared toward talking to each other, and that is the prerequisite for arms control”. 

For Ulrich Kuehn, our guest on War & Peace this week, we have entered an age of regression of predictability in the international military balance. States are gradually dismantling many of the treaties won in hard negotiations during and after the end of the Cold War, arguing that they have become obsolete.

What does this mean for those countries who depend on cooperative mechanisms, but who have little say in what happens to them? And what are the implications for Europe? Does it have the political and military strength to be an autonomous arms control actor?

Tune in now to find out more, including why it’s sometimes useful to think of deterrence in terms of how nightclubs view their bouncers. 



See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Up next
Jul 2022
S3 Episode 22: 6.3 Million IDPs and a Humanitarian Crisis: Ukraine’s “New Normal”
Even if the war in Ukraine ended tomorrow, the country’s humanitarian needs would be colossal. Around 6.3 million people are displaced internally, with many still living in communal shelters not suited to the coming winter. While fighting rages on mostly in Ukraine’s east and sou ... Show More
28m 32s
Jul 2022
S3 Episode 21: What it Means to Demine in Ukraine and Afghanistan
Landmines remain a tool of warfare around the world. Yet both during and after fighting, they wreak havoc not just on adversaries, but also on the civilian population. In mined areas, everyday activities such as farming crops or going to school are fraught with risk. In Ukraine, ... Show More
28m 54s
Jun 2022
S3 Episode 20: Climate, Conflict and the Implications of Russia’s War on Ukraine
When world leaders convened at COP26 in November last year, climate was at the forefront of the global agenda. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has instead triggered a new “gold rush” for fossil fuels amid skyrocketing commodity prices. In the shadow of the conti ... Show More
23m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2019
A farewell to arms control: the INF treaty dies
As America abandons the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty we examine the future of arms control. New weapons abound and new countries are using them, but new treaties will be hard to come by. With Baltimore in the news as President Donald Trump’s latest point of provocatio ... Show More
21m 15s
Feb 2023
Checks and Balance: Sit on defence
A year on from Russia’s invasion, Joe Biden has made it clear: America’s backing for Ukraine “will not waver”.  But Ukraine needs more than strong words.  Does America have the will and the means to back Ukraine for as long as it takes?  And what does its commitment in Europe mea ... Show More
46m 56s
Jul 2023
Forewarned before armed: how to predict war
Military types need not wait until mass movements of troops to know a conflict is coming. We examine a raft of subtle and not-so-subtle market moves that would precede a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. France’s quiet volte face on the extent of NATO and the European Union will reshap ... Show More
26m 49s
Feb 2022
Drone warfare and the battle to control the skies
Governments and militias around the world, from Ukraine to Ethiopia, have a new and powerful weapon at their disposal: armed drones. Gideon talks to Ulrike Franke of the European Council on Foreign Relations about how this is changing the balance of power and causing growing conc ... Show More
22 m
Sep 2023
The roots of the new cold war w/ Gilbert Achcar
In 1999 in the wake of the Kosovo conflict Gilbert Achcar published a book titled 'The New Cold War: The World After Kosovo'. At the time, describing tensions between the United States, Russia and China in terms of "a cold war" seemed to many to be outlandish hyperbole, or very p ... Show More
1h 37m
Apr 2021
Britain shifts its military focus
The UK’s defence forces are slimming down and harnessing the power of AI and satellites to meet the emerging threats of the 21st century. Helen Warrell, the FT’s defence and security editor, talks to General Sir Patrick Sanders, head of the UK’s Strategic Command, about the bigge ... Show More
30m 5s
Jul 2023
Forewarned before armed: how to predict war
Military types need not wait until mass movements of troops to know a conflict is coming. We examine a raft of subtle and not-so-subtle market moves that would precede a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. France’s quiet volte face on the extent of NATO and the European Union will reshap ... Show More
26m 49s
Feb 2023
One Year of War in Ukraine
Melanie, Zack, and Chris, survey the course of Russia’s brutal war of aggression in Ukraine at the one-year point, with a focus on a recent paper by RAND’s Samuel Charap and Miranda Priebe. How did we get here? What key assumptions have been tested? And what does that mean for th ... Show More
1h 3m
Mar 2017
Ghost Fleet - The Shape of War to Come?
STRATEGIKON can be found on iTunes, SoundCloud, YouTube and the SIA website: www.sageinternational.org.au Topics covered: > The theme for today's episode is Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War > Do authors Singer & Cole point to real issues with regard to the prosecution o ... Show More
30m 49s
Apr 2024
The Intelligence: A civil society in waiting
The ruling military junta that seized power in a coup in 2021 is losing ground, slowly—and the rebels are now thinking about what happens if they win. We examine the structural reasons behind Britain’s dearth of industrial robots (10:22). And climate change boosts Canada’s yields ... Show More
22m 16s