How a Newsletter can cure the IR curse  

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The Imperfect Abenomics

There is no point in defining an economic policy as imperfect, because all of them are – and big popularity is bound to bring more criticism

Papyrus Review of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

📜 If I had to rewrite the whole book on a singe papyrus scroll, which parts would I keep? By Alexandros Sainidis Why is this book beneficial for those interested in International Relations? Because by nature we are generalists. We study the biggest social actors, states and international organisations, which cover enormous parts of Earth’s … Continue reading Papyrus Review of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

Interview with former Syrian Diplomat, Danny Albaaj

In this first interview by Pecunia et Bellum, we discussed sensitive political and geopolitical matters with Dany Albaaj, a former Syrian Diplomat who witnessed the changes in Syria first hand. We note that the views or calculations expressed by the interviewee do not in any way reflect the opinions of the Pecunia et Bellum team members, individually or collectively.

De Macron

How Macron took lessons from de Gaulle’s Playbook

Jigsaw: The Power of Pictures

Presented by Alexandros Sainidis This post is part of the Jigsaw series where we share enlightening excerpts we find in books. Some words and ideas are more impactful when expressed by their writers, as they are. When I was a child, my mother would often say that mathematics is the global language – not English. … Continue reading Jigsaw: The Power of Pictures

For the sake of the Fourth

‘Oer the land of the free and the home of the brave’ A different 4th of July emerges, with President Biden presenting the U.S. and his leadership as winners, moving forward unmasked and with confidence. The current President’s goal has been to get approximately 2/3 of the American population vaccinated by this time. The initial … Continue reading For the sake of the Fourth

To feel like a State

Lv 2: This post is a part of my Video Games series. Humans have the capacity to be empathetic. Personally I am even more empathetic when it comes to a videogame character I am invested in. Regardless if you can read between the lines of world politics or not, we all have the ability to … Continue reading To feel like a State

The Tigrayan Conflict

In the present, Ethiopia is experiencing a bloody civil war between the Federal Government and the state of Tigray.

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How does the system function? An interpretation of the current world order.

Understanding how the international system functions remains a rather confusing task mainly because the world order constitutes a dynamic field, the features of which are under constant change. This is due to the fact that the international system is the output of the perpetual interaction of countless actors, factors and parameters. In the effort to … Continue reading How does the system function? An interpretation of the current world order.

The Academic Currency

One of the trends we see in modern learning is condensed science. Be it in school, university or YouTube, we tend to explain, or be provided knowledge “in a nutshell”. It sounds convenient. My own Grandfather, an architect wishes it was possible to transfer knowledge with ease. “So much knowledge. It is a pity that … Continue reading The Academic Currency

Summer changes

A note by Alexandros Sainidis This has been quite a challenging summer. One of the countries hit by the economic virus is Greece. The coronavirus has butchered tourism in Athens, something which has forced many of us, including me, to seek multiple jobs, more responsibilities, overtime work and alternative ways to make money, in order … Continue reading Summer changes

In need of reliable neighbours

By Nickolaos Angelis The “holy” relationship between the two Nations dates back to ancient times, when, during the epoch of the Maccabean wars against the Syrian yoke, the relations between Sparta and Judaea were renewed. This time the initiative was taken by the successful brother of Judas, Jonathan, in the last years of his reign … Continue reading In need of reliable neighbours

The Sociopolitical Pathogen

By Angeliki Martinou In 1918, the world faced a pandemic, the ‘Spanish flu’, of origin geographically still unidentifiable. A century later, SARS-CoV-2, originating from China, became a worldwide health emergency. In March 2020, the WHO officially declared Covid-19 a pandemic, urging countries all over the world to take a “whole of government, whole of society … Continue reading The Sociopolitical Pathogen

Eurogroup’s economic plan for the Covid-19 crisis

The Eurogroup set up the current guidelines on fighting the economic plight of COVID-19a. The release of €540 billion corona packageb. A €25 billion European Investment Bank guarantee.c. The deployment of the SURE (Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency) programme. This will provide €100 billion in total among member statesd. Precautionary financial assistance … Continue reading Eurogroup’s economic plan for the Covid-19 crisis

Mapping Brexit: A Tale of Sovereignty

During my freshman year at the Panteion University, where I studied International Relations, Brexit surfaced as a theme of contemporary political dialogue. Ironically, the Brexit referendum was held during the day of the European Integration course examination. How could a student expect good results given the circumstances? Since then, British Politics became a real time … Continue reading Mapping Brexit: A Tale of Sovereignty

The World After a Week – February 16, 2020

Merkel’s successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, suddenly resigned as leader of Germany’s Christian Democrats. Sinn Fein, the party historically associated with the Irish Republican Army, won the elections. This unexpected victory will probably become a factor for the status of the post-Brexit Irish border. The United States decided to downgrade their military effort against extremism in the … Continue reading The World After a Week – February 16, 2020

A Post of Gratitude – Feedspot

With this humble post, the Pecunia et Bellum team would like to express its graditute towards Feedspot for featuring our blog in its “Top International Relations Blogs” section. The internet is like the international system: anarchic. It’s hard to know, beforehand, which website is worth reading. Not to mention that opening eight different websites to … Continue reading A Post of Gratitude – Feedspot

Escalation in the Middle-East: The Assassination of Qassim Suleimani

By Mubbashir Hussain An unprecedented and expectedly very consequential event took place outside the Baghdad Airport on the third morning of the year 2020. Major General Qassim Suleimani, Commander of Quds Force of Iranian Revolutionay Guard Corps, was killed in a missile attack. According to a Pentagon statement, the attack was carried out at the … Continue reading Escalation in the Middle-East: The Assassination of Qassim Suleimani

The Oil Weapon

  Prior to the dawn of the previous century, the world had already witnessed embargos, ranging from the Megarian decree to the Embargo act of 1807. What defined the trade disputes and embargos of the 20th century, however, was the use of oil; linked to electricity, fuel and more. Oil is a source of revenue, … Continue reading The Oil Weapon

US-China Trade Deal: a Big Step for Global Economy, a Rather Small Step for Global Stability

We can gather from many developments around the world that tension manifests itself with many forms in the international spectrum. Wars of different kind and scale, conflicts based on various reasons all reflect an underlying systemic change. This geopolitical condition, as Graham Allison states, is associated in theory with the phenomenon of ‘transitional friction’ and … Continue reading US-China Trade Deal: a Big Step for Global Economy, a Rather Small Step for Global Stability

The World After a Week – November 24, 2019

Pope visited Thailand, the most heavily Bhuddist country (more). Russia returned naval vessels which were captured during the Kerch Strait incident. The Ukrainian navy reported that three of the vessels were vandalized by Russians (more). Google will prevent advertisers from targetiing election ads using data containing public voter records and general political affiliations (more). Microsoft … Continue reading The World After a Week – November 24, 2019

The Battleship Bismarck

Most people would associate the name “Bismarck” with the father of Germany as the country we know today, Otto von Bismarck. In many instances, communities name streets, squares, institutions and their arsenal after historic figures and Bismarck was no exception. During the Second World War the Nazi Germans deployed their biggest Battleship named after the … Continue reading The Battleship Bismarck

China: The Challenger

By George Monopatis It is common knowledge in international fora that China is the number 2 power in the international system. However, the tricky part consists of identifying the means of achieving the status of a world order challenger. Perhaps the straightforward answer to this question derives from the country’s geography. In a geopolitical sense … Continue reading China: The Challenger

The world after a week 3/11/2019

In case you were too busy these days to follow the news. United States impose new sanctions on Iran but waivers other existing ones Oil price rose by 4% Mass anti-government demonstrations in Iraq. Protests in Lebanon and Chile The Islamic State claims responsibility for the killing of 53 millitants in Mali Turkey and Russia … Continue reading The world after a week 3/11/2019

Do it for Sturgeon

A Brief of an older article What could possibly be the link between caviar and natural gas going to Europe? Simple – Russians love both. In fact one of Russia’s provinces, Dagestan is dependent on the production of caviar from Caspian surgeon. However hypocritical may it sound, a pipeline from Turkmenistan leading to the European … Continue reading Do it for Sturgeon