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Articles by Roderick Parkes
Authoritarian Cooperation Versus Western Solidarity: The Ukraine Case
RUSI JournalVOLUME 171ISSUE 4 Alex Kaplan and Roderick Parkes Long Read The authors of this Research Article question the efficacy of a loose alignment between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, reflecting on their cooperation during the war against Ukraine. The alignment of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea is often seen in overly narrow terms, and dismissed as transactional and fragile.
Roderick Parkes: Klincz w Unii Europejskiej. Czego boją się Polacy, Niemcy i Francuzi - rp.pl
Unia Europejska opanowała do perfekcji sztukę przekształcania najbardziej drażliwych kwestii krajowych w zagadnienia techniczne. Skupiając uwagę na budżetach, celach i wspólnych zobowiązaniach, odciąga narody od ich autodestrukcyjnych nawyków. Obecnie jednak Europa ulega własnej iluzji, zachowując się tak, jakby dawne patologie państw członkowskich przestały istnieć. Tymczasem złudzenie, że obronność i odstraszanie są przedsięwzięciem czysto technokratycznym, stanowi ryzyko strategiczne.
Who calls the shots? Institutional and political dynamics in European defence
Preface The European security environment is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, continued instability in Europe’s neighbourhood, and growing uncertainty about the future of transatlantic security guarantees have intensified pressure on the European Union and its member states to assume greater responsibility for their own defence.
Is Europe Too Soft to Fight?
Europe’s populations are readier to fight than they are often credited. The problem isn’t their lack of will, but elite pessimism about it. The belief that Europeans are too soft to fight — too coddled, too individualistic, too “post-heroic” — is quietly shaping policy decisions about mobilization, recruitment, and spending. Military veterans, academics, and arguably even European leaders appear more worried with divisions in their own societies than with the adversary itself.
NATO’s Dutch Disease: Can a Wartime Mindset Survive an Injection of Resources?
At the recent summit in The Hague, NATO reaffirmed its commitment to a “new war of production.” With fresh funding, heightened urgency, and rising expectations, the Alliance is cultivating a mindset that is focused, specialized, and execution-driven. But war rarely conforms to that kind of conveyor-belt thinking. Take something as seemingly straightforward as securing artillery supply. Shells are seen as NATO’s most predictable wartime need.
NATO’s Dutch Disease: Can a Wartime Mindset Survive an Injection of Resources?
Home / Articles / NATO’s Dutch Disease: Can a Wartime Mindset Survive an Injection of Resources? At the recent summit in The Hague, NATO reaffirmed its commitment to a “new war of production.” With fresh funding, heightened urgency, and rising expectations, the Alliance is cultivating a mindset that is focused, specialized, and execution-driven. But war rarely conforms to that kind of conveyor-belt thinking. Take something as seemingly straightforward as securing artillery supply.
(S+) Meinung: Bundeswehr: Sind die Deutschen zu individualistisch für den Ernstfall?
Wordle Wortsuche Paarsuche Wabenrätsel Das tägliche Quiz Kreuzworträtsel Solitär Sudoku Mahjong Bubble-Shooter Jackpot Snake Exchange 2048 Doppel Rushtower Sudoken Street Wortblitz Fibonacci Gumblast Wimmelbild Skiracer Trivial Pursuit Dialog schließen © Patrick Mariathasan / DER SPIEGEL Anmelden oder Konto erstellen Helfen Sie uns, besser zu werden Dialog schließen © Patrick Mariathasan / DER SPIEGEL Haben Sie einen Fehler im Text gefunden, auf den Sie uns hinweisen wollen?
Brave new interior world: The rise of self-enhancing states
How does Australia view the future of order? Often through time-tested lenses: great power rivalry, resource competition, mutual balancing – and the perennial debate over how its natural resources can serve the national interest. This strategic mindset, shaped by geography and alliance history, reflects longstanding anxieties about abandonment by distant allies. But it may leave Australia poorly positioned to grasp how power is shifting – not outward, but inward. A new global logic is emerging.
In Brief: How Key European States Will Approach Ukraine in 2025
A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** With Donald Trump now back in the White House, European leaders must determine how much support they will provide to Ukraine — and, more broadly, how to approach European security.
Germany's Last Sonderweg: How Germany Learned to Love Strategy, in its Own Way
CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 12/2024 By Roderick Parkes 24.4.2024 Key issues Almost unnoticed, there is a sizeable shift in the way Germany carries out its domestic security and defence debate, especially in terms of its readiness to dismantle the institutional blocks to allied perspectives, and to formulate an honest national response. The Federal Chancellery’s bullish effort to spell out German sensibilities has drawn most attention abroad – not all of it admiring. But this is only half the picture.
¿Asociación Oriental? Algo más parecido a una dependencia mutua. El caso de la Unión Europea y la cooperación en asuntos interiores con Moldavia
¿Asociación Oriental? Algo más parecido a una dependencia mutua. El caso de la Unión Europea y la cooperación en asuntos interiores con Moldavia Roderick Parkes [1] ; Elina Viilup [2] [1] Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) [2] CIDOB Localización: Notes internacionals CIDOB, ISSN-e 2013-4428, Nº. 52, 2012, págs.
Germany Needs a Strategy-Grand and Democratic
Grand strategy, often surrounded by controversy, is really quite straightforward—at least in theory. It is strategic in that it is the way a government chooses to get to where it wants its country to go: to reach an objective or desired state. It is “grand” in two ways: It encompasses all policy fields (not just military) and has a vision that goes beyond war to the kind of peace, the kind of regional or world order, or the kind of situation that is desired beyond mere victory or survival.
The Future of the Zeitenwende: Futureproofing German Security Policy
After Hamas’ atrocities on October 7, German academics took to the air waves. They said future-proofing the Zeitenwende would require four things from government: Kick off a big societal debate on security; establish a National Security Council at the highest political level; ramp up the armaments industry; and lead Europe.
The Future of the Zeidenwende: Futureproofing German Security Policy
After Hamas’ atrocities on October 7, German academics took to the air waves. They said future-proofing the Zeitenwende would require four things from government: Kick off a big societal debate on security; establish a National Security Council at the highest political level; ramp up the armaments industry; and lead Europe.
The Future of the Zeitenwende: A Team Power Strategy for Germany
Germany’s ability to choose the right partners, and support them, is the real key to navigating the next decade. Partnership is a prime way of shaping the future. It is a means of resilience to external shocks, of deterring unwanted eventualities, and of creative power when solving global problems and constituting international order. Germany has had all this delivered on a plate. It is a member of a Western alliance of awesome power and ingrained advantages that can be used as a force for good.
A Different Way of Thinking about EU Enlargement and Reform
The term for a think tank in German is Denkfabrik—factories for ideas. But when governments jointly task think tanks with writing reports, then it is only very rarely because they want them to actually produce new ideas. More likely they already have a fixed set of proposals, but they cannot agree on how to meld them. They are, in other words, abdicating political responsibility—responsibility for coming up with an overarching goal that might force them to rethink or drop their pet projects.
Germany's Economic Myths Debunked
Key Findings Europe’s economic security depends on German reassurance – from both its private and public institutions. The German state and its largest businesses, after years of growing mutual distrust, must therefore be self-disciplined for the sake of allies and partners and put their relationship on solid footing. The new German China strategy might prove to be a small step in the right direction.
Why Europe Needs to Rediscover the Art of Political Innovation
What a time to be alive. We are experiencing a “Great Acceleration.” The world is becoming more inventive, adaptive, and adoptive as we all pack into towns and cities. As we interact more we are spurring breakthroughs in energy and transport, civilian and military technologies, finance and pharmaceuticals. So there is reason to hope that man-made innovations might just outpace some man-made problems after all. But even in the rosiest future, there will be winners and losers.
How Germany Can Realize Friendshoring in Its Neighborhood
In the context of heavy geoeconomic competition with China, the EU has deepened its internal regulation and investments and leveraged access to Europe’s consumers to spread its norms. The side effect has been to expose its near neighbors to its geoeconomic rivals.
Germany should create a new stereotype for itself: ‘Team power’
Why all the Germany bashing? There’s no “France bashing,” “Britain bashing,” or “Poland bashing” when it comes to foreign and security policy. Why is it that these countries can still live in their historical stereotypes of grand, global, and aggrieved without being subject to the same highly critical treatment as the Germans? Of all Western countries, Germany has perhaps moved furthest since February last year, and yet it receives the harshest hearing.
Ending Germany’s Indecision-Making
Initially, many observers hoped that under German leadership, the European pillar of trans-Atlantic defense would evolve to be solid and dependable, if perhaps a little dull and unwieldy. Instead, Germany is importing the dysfunctional politics of the European Union into trans-Atlantic military decision-making. As Europe faces security shocks and strategic surprises, this has already led to foot-dragging in Germany and Germany-bashing in the rest of Europe.
Ending Germany’s Indecision-Making
On May 13, Germany announced that it would send $3 billion in military aid to Ukraine. German commentators generally welcomed the news, congratulating the chancellor for facing down his domestic critics and taking a leadership role in Europe. But for the rest of Europe — accustomed to Germany arriving late and then stealing the show — relief was tempered by familiar frustration.
Look Who’s Talking: Why Germany Plays the Strong, Silent Type in the Field of Economic Security
KEY FINDINGS Germany is a more natural geo-economic than military player. Amidst international criticism of its past naivety about the state of the world, some Germans evidently see trade and commerce as a field to re-establish their nation’s credibility. Germany does not seem to appreciate how its geo-economic posturing creates uncertainty in Europe, not least its propensity to talk with Washington over the heads of its European peers.
In Europe’s Transatlantic Beauty Contest, Germany Wins Again
The Munich Security Conference is always a diplomatic beauty contest, with national leaders trying to boost their standing. But at this year’s conference, which concluded on February 19, the political peacocking seemed supercharged. At stake: the prize for Best Atlanticist.
Europe: Crossing the East-West divide
Something is afoot in Europe. Last week, a group of European states lost patience with Berlin as the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz strained transatlantic relations with his insistence that the United States match the German supply of tanks to Ukraine.
Europe: Crossing the East-West divide
Something is afoot in Europe. Last week, a group of European states lost patience with Berlin as the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz strained transatlantic relations with his insistence that the United States match the German supply of tanks to Ukraine.
Iran Is no Litmus Test for Germany’s Feminist Foreign Policy
Four months ago, Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in Tehran at the hands of Iran’s so-called religious police. Her death triggered protests—led largely by women—which quickly spread across society and continue to this day. And Germany’s response? To talk about itself—to ask why the government has failed to support the protestors despite supposedly developing guidelines for a feminist foreign policy (FFP), and, in fact, already pursuing one.
Why France and Germany Need to Get Together With the UK Again
Germany and France both have governments that came to power with a strong appetite to reform the European Union and to cut loose from old ways of thinking. Each is now trying to ask the difficult questions: How can Europeans provide for their own security, and how can they emancipate themselves from an unpredictable United States? But neither has a chance of succeeding when old habits are still attractive.
Protecting Eden, or the Dark New Geopolitics of “Fortress Europe”
The European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, was in Twitter trouble last month, having called Europe a neat “garden” surrounded by invasive “jungle.” He was speaking about the need for a shared European geopolitical culture, and he encouraged his audience of European diplomats to see themselves as gardeners pruning back the chaos.
Großbritannien und Deutschland: Wollt ihr uns auf den Arm nehmen?
Inhalt Auf einer Seite lesen Inhalt Seite 1 — Wollt ihr uns auf den Arm nehmen? Seite 2 — In London wird man das feiern In seiner Rede an die Nation versuchte Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier vergangene Woche den ungünstigen Eindruck zu zerstreuen, den Deutschlands Bündnispartner seiner Meinung nach haben: Doch, doch, die Bundesrepublik habe sehr wohl einen Strategiewechsel vollzogen und stelle ihre internationalen Verpflichtungen nun an erste Stelle.
Filling Europe’s Geopolitical Vacuum
At a time when Europe’s security architecture is broken, a potential new forum has emerged to fix it. This week, 44 European leaders are meeting during the greatest geopolitical crisis to hit Europe for at least three decades. Top of the agenda: to work out why they are meeting, and whether to do it again.
2022 Is a Pendulum Year in Global Affairs
Roderick Parkes Internationale Politik Quarterly March 24, 2022 This year is shaping up to be a pendulum year—a moment in history when the big formative forces of world affairs reverse direction. There are telling parallels with the year 2001. Europe, however, needs to draw the right lessons. Read Full Article »
2022 Is the New ... 2001
Three months in, 2022 has proved to be a momentous year, but hardly the first of such. History tends to rhyme. So, are we experiencing a riff on 1918—pandemic, inflation, global war, and the murder of the tsar? Is it 1812 again, only instead of Napoleon’s disastrous march to bring progress to Russia, we are seeing Moscow’s disastrous attempt to bring the 19th century to Europe?
Action Group Zeitenwende
Helping Germany Develop Both Its Willingness and Capacity to Act Effectively Germany’s readiness to adapt to a new and more hostile world – expressed in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s speech announcing the so-called Zeitenwende on February 27, 2022 – opened a window of opportunity for the kind of holistic and lasting transformation that will benefit both the country and its partners.
Migration, Borders, and the EU’s Capacity to Act
Please note: Below you find the executive summary of this report, assessments and recommendations for Capacity to Act, and the description of the “Ideenwerkstatt Deutsche Außenpolitik,” the project through which the report is published. For the full report – including all info graphics, footnotes, and citations – please refer to the PDF version here.
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German policymakers are worried about the upcoming election in France, that is: Emmanuel Macron is facing a battle for re-election in 2022, and he wants some political victories in Europe. He will expect help from the new German government, even at the cost of German interests and EU cohesion. He has already proved assertive in putting issues on the EU agenda, and the highest French Court is now opening scope for him to block EU initiatives based on an expansive definition of national security.
Europe After Brexit
In 2016, Brussels saw Britain’s vote to leave the EU as a threat. But since Boris Johnson took power in 2019, European officials have found reassurance in his clownish politics. They have lapped up reports of how Johnson, a throwback to the UK’s old ruling classes, is exploiting the prejudices and delusions of Britain’s working classes. They have barely disguised their schadenfreude as the UK erodes its credibility through populism, pork barrel politics, and international posturing.
The Siege Mentality: How Fear of Migration Explains the EU's Approach to Libya
This report is part of The Eastern Mediterranean and Regional Security: A Transatlantic Trialogue series. Download The Siege Mentality: How Fear of Migration Explains the EU’s Approach to Libya The European Union’s stance towards the crisis in Libya is bewildering – at least without deep background on Europe’s workings. The EU classifies problems and players in odd ways, and the way it links them up is odder still.
Is Brexit Contagious?
In 2016 Michael Gove, Conservative government minister and co-head of Vote Leave, predicted that the Brexit result would be contagious. Gove (Boris Johnson’s partner in crime) forecast a wave of democratic rebellion across Western Europe – not necessarily resulting in other members leaving the EU, but certainly heralding a revolt against Europe’s elites.
Social Distancing in International Relations
The post-mortem results are unanimous: in 2020 globalization died of COVID-19-related complications. The pandemic accelerated existing trends of economic de-globalization, strategic decoupling, and diplomatic distancing. The world moved apart, and cooled off. What remains of the international community is now sitting at home in self-imposed quarantine. And yet the symptoms don’t quite fit the diagnosis: international relations are feverish.
Changing Polish Attitudes Toward America
The lack of support for both U.S. presidential candidates within Poland is striking. The fact that President Obama has some of his lowest popularity ratings across Europe in Poland is not so surprising given his attempt to reset relations with Russia, his decision to shift his focus from Europe in favor of the Asia-Pacific, and his unfortunate reference to Polish death camps.
Building European Resilience and Capacity to Act: Lessons for 2030
Contents Executive Summary #Migration Story Line Note: Download the full report with the twelve scenarios here (PDF, 3MB). We present three scenarios for each of four global phenomena that we have chosen for their potential to change European society within a single generation.
The other Frontex debate: how border geopolitics will define the future of Schengen
FRONTEX, the European borders agency, is in the news again, accused of helping push back migrants at the external EU border, pressing partner countries into dubious practices and other controversies. But the debate in the European Parliament and public sphere about “who guards the guards” does not fully capture the problem. The debate is legalistic.
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