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Why Historical Claims are bad logic and bad policy
From the Elgin Marbles to Jerusalem to South China Sea islands, claims on territory, artefacts or sites based on history are rampant. Rather than pointing to tangible and more easily measurable indicators of competency or popularity, states have often resorted to waving old maps and descriptions at each other to justify a right to rule…
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Rising Sun over Red Ocean: Japanese Power in a Chinese Asia
In the brutal world of geopolitics, it might seem like the rook’s existence is a sorry one. Acting as a key pillar of the US-centric liberal order, after all, often drags one into the treacherous conflicts arising from superpower competition without granting it the decision-making space to set the terms and context of such engagements.…
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Shrinking Pacific: Australia’s Struggle for the Status Quo
When it comes to the politics of the Asia-Pacific, it is often easy to forget Australia, owing to its isolated position at its corner of the South Pacific. This is a reality happily embraced by Australians who have been largely able to pick and choose which conflicts to participate in. However, recent trends point towards…
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A sustainable “Chinese Asia” is a wrong, US-centric idea
It is often fashionable, in present political discourse, to claim that the 21st century will be a Chinese century, and that in some great return to historical norm, mastery of Asia, if not the entire world, has swung back to the Chinese. However, does China really have what it takes to maintain control over Asia?…
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Cowardly Eagle: Germany’s Geopolitical Weakness despite Economic Dominance
By all economic measures, Germany should be the unquestioned European superpower, with all the nations of the world rushing to court or accommodate it. However, Germany’s lack of political and military engagement have made it a frustrating ally and a tempting target. This article shall analyse the nature, reasons and implications of this geopolitical weakness…
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Returning Empire: Pan-Europa, African Order and other French Ambitions
With a retreating and increasingly politically unreliable United States, France has sought to accelerate American withdrawal from Europe and fill that void with French influence, especially with regard to replacing NATO with a de facto French-controlled EU military. In doing so, it seeks to live up to its proud history as the principal geopolitical force…
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Europa Universalis IV: Mechanics and Sources of Political Development
Europa Universalis has a long and storied history among grand strategy gamers. In it, you take a country of your choosing from 1444 to 1821, building it from whatever condition you find it in, to whatever you choose: A mighty Empire, a Merchant Republic, or anything in between. For such a long historical timespan, there…
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DotA: Conceptualizing Tactical and Operational Dynamics of war
Gaming has had a long history in relation to the exploration and teaching of military concepts. While extremely old games such as chess and its global variants have tangential or thematic relationships to war, the first game designed to deliberately represent military concepts was the Prussian Kriegsspiel, a map-based game with two teams and an…
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Sid Meier’s Civilization: Geopolitical Realism vs Constructivism
Sid Meier’s Civilization is a turn-based strategy game about controlling a Civilization from the dawn of history to the modern and future age, incorporating ideas of military conquest, cultural imperialism and economic base building. It is a “4X” game, a term that broadly refers to the core actions of Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate. While…
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Korean Reunification would be Catastrophic for Asia
Korea Reunification has been long been the principal objective of both North and South Korean foreign policy. However, even if South Korea’s perfect scenario can be achieved, and the two Koreas were able to reunify peacefully under a South Korean democratic government, this would result in massive problems for regional order. This piece will aim…
UnderStated
Exploring the intersection of geopolitics, history and strategy that makes our world the way it is.
UnderStated 