Other News

Dr Georg Löfflmann has published an article in Asian Security, examining American grand strategy under the Obama administration, and how the 'pivot to Asia' functions within this geo-strategic context. It argues that President Obama attempts to secure American hegemony through a combination of cooperative engagement and restraint. This exposes a fundamental dilemma at the heart of America’s rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific: increased engagement with US allies and partners in the region is fueling political, economic, and military competition with China. Sequestration and questions over American strategic coherence and consistency are simultaneously undermining the credibility of the pivot, both at home and abroad. The article concludes that this dilemma makes it unlikely for Obama's rebalancing strategy to succeed in its stated aims, unless the United States re-emphasizes cooperative engagement with China.

The article is available here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/QFgaRX2uXXuqKDbCBDV4/full 

We are delighted to announce two excellent outcomes for PAIS in this year’s WATE awards for Postgraduates Who Teach.

Lisa Tilley was a winner of an award and Dženeta Karabegović was commended.

WATE PGR recognises the best in learning and teaching done by postgraduate tutors at Warwick. Lisa and Dženeta were nominated by students and academic colleagues, and the judging panel was highly impressed by their innovation, dedication, and commitment. Very many congratulations to Lisa and Dženeta on their achievements.

You can read more about the winners here.

In an article for openDemocracy, PAIS PhD researcher Ragnar Weilandt shares his views on who is responsible for Brexit and what should happen next and in another article he argues that Brexit might provide an opportunity for genuine change in Europe.

Why do terrorist groups employ female fighters? In her recently published journal article, PhD Candidate Jennifer Philippa Eggert, who is supervised by Miranda Alison and Nicola Pratt, compares the involvement of women in ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Iraq and explains why the two groups started including women as combatants.

The journal can be downloaded here.

Steven Kettell has been quoted in an article in The Guardian on the forthcoming Chilcot Inquiry.

“The thing I found really shocking when I was researching this was the absence of a plan and a complete failure to make any kind of preparation for the postwar aftermath or even consider what the aftermath might be,” said Steven Kettell, associate professor in politics and international studies at the University of Warwick. “It was criminal negligence on an industrial scale.”

Kettell said the inquiry’s report needed to be explicit in its criticisms. “Otherwise, a significant number of people will say it’s a cover-up by the establishment.”

You can read the full article here.