❗Last Call❗

Join us on Monday, 8 December, for our event "The New Global (Dis)order: Europe, Japan and the Future of Alliances" (14:30-16:30 at the VUB):

Speakers:
➡️ Masafumi Ishii
➡️ I-Chung Lai
➡️ Eva Pejsova
➡️ Niklas Swanström

Register now!
csds.vub.be/event/the-ne...

Op-ed: Why Europe should build ships with Indo-Pacific allies As Washington deepens industrial ties with Japan, South Korea and Australia, Europe risks being left out unless it partners with its Asian allies.

A recent op-ed I coauthored. www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article...

Aonishiki becomes first Ukrainian to win sumo tournament The 21-year-old won the Kyushu tournament after a tie-breaking victory over grand champion Hoshoryu from Mongolia.

Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki, whose real name is Danylo Yavhusishyn, on Sunday became the first from his nation to win a tournament of the traditional Japanese sport.

New International Student Enrollments Plummeted This Fall, Survey Finds

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u... "The number of international college students enrolling in their American schools for the first time decreased by 17 percent this fall"

Faroe Islands: The part-time players with World Cup dreams The Faroe Islands could still qualify for their first World Cup with one qualification game remaining. BBC Sport looks at the impossible mission and dreams of a team full of part-timers.

www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

I didn't know the existence of Faroe Islands until this afternoon, but it was leading against Croatia until a few minutes ago, to qualify for men's football world cup. Where can I watch the game? The island has like 55000 people, and many of the team members are not professional football players.

中国の大阪総領事「その汚い首は斬ってやるしかない」　高市首相の台湾有事巡る答弁に投稿 中国の薛剣（せつけん）駐大阪総領事は8日、朝日新聞デジタル速報席がX（旧ツイッター）に投稿した記事「高市首相、台湾有事『存立危機事態になりうる』　認定なら武力…

Reported reaction from the Chinese Consul-General in Osaka to the PM's statment: "That filthy neck that barged in uninvited—I'll cut it off without a moment's hesitation. Are you prepared?" www.sankei.com/article/2025...

but it is not clear how we can determine if a ship is civilian or not in such as situation.

the measure. For example, do Chinese Coast Guard ships or maritime militia ships not count as warships even if they are armed? The PM also mentioned that she doesn't believe "lining up civilian ships to obstruct passage [for maritime blockade] constitutes a situation threatening national survival,"

addition for deterrence: "The government will make a comprehensive judgment based on all available information, tailored to the specific circumstances of the actual situation that arises." Clarity can sometimes enhance extended deterrence, but it also allows the opponent to circumvent

...of warships and the exercise of force.” (in reference to "Survival-Threatening Situations/crisis of national existence" which allows Japan to engage in collective defense). This part will receive a lot of attention, but the following part seems to be a crucial

高市首相、台湾有事「存立危機事態になりうる」　認定なら武力行使も：朝日新聞 高市早苗首相は7日の衆院予算委員会で、台湾有事について、安全保障法制で集団的自衛権を行使できる「存立危機事態」にあたるかを問われ、「戦艦を使って、武力の行使も伴うものであれば、存立危機事態になりうる…

On situations where Japan can militarily intervene in a Taiwan contingency, Japanese PM Takaichi on November 7 stated that "I believe it could be a case where a crisis situation threatening the nation's existence arises if it involves the use... www.asahi.com/articles/AST...

The path to the Nobel Peace prize is through Darfur, not Nigeria.

“All Politics is local”: the U.S.–China balance in the First Island Chain and Japan’s defense transformation This article examines recent changes in Japan’s security policy, visible in its 2022 Japan National Security Strategy. It finds that the underlying driver for Japan’s military investments is a new ...

New publication! In this article, Kristin Grostad examines recent changes in Japan’s security policy, visible in its 2022 Japan National Security Strategy.
“All Politics is local”: the U.S.–China balance in the First Island Chain and Japan’s defense transformation

doi.org/10.1080/1479...

reaching readers of diverse backgrounds. I have fond memories of photocopying academic articles at libraries, but students today have much better access to knowledge.

Levels of division: How wedge strategies shape international and domestic politics States often seek to undermine their competitors in order to obtain a favorable balance of power. Yet, the literature on how they actually do that remains sparse and disconnected. We focus on how a...

I just had an email exchange with a high school student headed to @bsog.be next year about my recent article with @luissimonn.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... She may have been being nice to her future academic advisor, but I'm still glad to see that open-access publications are

smooth at all, but even US backtracking from it would still have important effects.

With Trump approving nuclear-powered (albeit not nuclear-armed) submarines for South Korea, this piece by @doyoung-lee.bsky.social seems even more relevant to policymakers. muse.jhu.edu/article/973856. Great that @tnsr.org is an open-access journal! I'm not sure if the path for ROK nuclear sub is

This CSDS In-Depth Paper by Daniel Fiott analyses the prospects and limits of Europe–South Korea defence industrial cooperation through the frameworks of the EU and NATO, and offers ten targeted policy recommendations to advance it.

Read
csds.vub.be/publication/...

Who in North Korea are in their epistemic community on nuclear strategy? How did they learn nuclear strategy, and how do they update their thinking on the subject? Could they have academic/scientific exchange with American counterparts?

❗New Event❗

"Responses to a Triple Korean Peninsula-Taiwan-Europe Contingency"

🗓️ 21 October 2025
❗International Conference Hall, Seoul, ROK
⏰ 15:00-17:00

Register
csds.vub.be/event/respon... #SNU #KF

Even if Qatar had signed a document with the US on this, it does not appear to be a treaty, congressional-executive agreement, or executive agreement made pursuant to an earlier treaty. Excuse me if I have missed something!

can be executive agreements, and defense obligations do not have to be mutual, but I am not sure if this is a formal "agreement" by two sides. There is no mention of duration, and does this last only for Trump's presidency unless something else happens?

Assuring the Security of the State of Qatar By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in recognition of the enduring alliance

I read President Trump's executive order to guarantee security for Qatar: www.whitehouse.gov/presidential.... It looks significant, but is this an alliance? @bashleyleeds.bsky.social? Maybe I just haven't seen, but it seems to be a unilateral declaration and not signed by Qatar. Alliance agreements

"Asked whether Pakistan would be obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear umbrella under the pact, the official said: "This is a comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means."" www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

"Marape told reporters that China, a major trading partner for PNG, had no hand in stalling the treaty." www.reuters.com/world/china/...

It looks like Australia and Papua New Guinea will sign a mutual defense treaty. I'm not familiar with the context, but I want to look at the treaty text at some point. www.pm.gov.au/media/press-...

How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u... "Within seconds, everyone on the North Korean boat was dead...the crew, which people briefed on the mission said numbered two or three people, had been civilians diving for shellfish. All were dead"

Happy to have met a couple of alumni today. They seem to be doing very well. Their family must be proud, and I'm also proud to have played a small role in their education.

It seems infeasible for Rwanda to control the entire DRC, and keeping the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo divided gives Rwanda the upper hand. This kind of balance-of-power perspective may be completely misleading in some situations, but the article sounds like it is not irrelevant.