EPIS Basics
A weekly series of short articles — max. 500 words — explaining key theories, influential personalities, and political regimes in foreign and security policy. Complex concepts made accessible, one entry at a time.
Hybrid Warfare
Hybrid warfare is a contested concept. In its broadest form, it can be described as the use of different actors and different types of warfare. Specifically,…
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian lawyer and anti-colonial activist. He is best known for “satyagraha,” his nonviolent opposition to British colonialism. In…
Absolutism
Absolutism asserted that by divine right, all power should be centred in the hands of the reigning monarch. To enable absolutism, monarchs relied on a…
Friction and Fog of War
“Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.” This quote by Clausewitz encapsulates the meaning of “friction”. The concept refers to…
Pol Pot
As the leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol rose to power in 1975 in the aftermath of the Cambodian civil war. The Khmer Rouge were a radical communist movement in…
Natech Disasters
The “Double Disaster”: Natech stands for Natural-Hazard-Induced Technological accidents. It describes a scenario where a natural event (e.g., an earthquake)…
Treaty of Versailles
The 1919 Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty ending the First World War between Germany and the Allied Powers of Great Britain, the US, and France.…
Josip Broz Tito
Tito-Stalin Split: Defied the USSR in 1948, proving that a communist state could remain independent from Moscow’s direct control and influence.…
Governmental Politics Model
The governmental politics model posits that separation of power does not lead to a division of power. Rather, multiple actors with different agendas have to…
Energy Security & Independence
Availability and Affordability: True energy security means a state has an uninterrupted supply of energy at a price that does not cripple the economy.…
Anwar Sadat
Sadat became Egyptian president in 1970 following Nasser’s death. Despite launching the Yom Kippur War to alleviate the trauma of Egypt’s defeat during the…
Political Warfare
The term political warfare has been used differently throughout history. In the West, US Diplomat George Kennan significantly influenced the understanding of…
Augusto Pinochet
A general in the Chilean army, Pinochet took power in a military coup in 1973. Under Pinochet, approximately 40,000 critics and suspected communists were…
Hugo Grotius
Mare Liberum: Pioneered “freedom of the seas,” arguing that oceans are international territory, a core principle of modern maritime law. Just War Theory:…
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Nasser’s presidency (1956-1970) established Egypt as a significant player in the Middle East and saw the rise of Nasserism. A variant of Arab Socialism…
International Criminal Court
In The Hague, the Netherlands, the International Criminal Court prosecutes individuals based on the 2002 Rome Statute. The Rome Statute allows for the…
Belt and Road Initiative
Launched in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is central to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy. Under the Belt and Road Initiative, China provides loans to countries…
Post-Colonialism
Post-colonialism investigates how colonial history and narratives continue to influence international relations. Rather than anarchy, hierarchies reminiscent…
Arctic Council
The Arctic Council was first convened in 1996 and features eight permanent member states: the US, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Canada, Russia, Finland, and…
Rational Actor Model
The rational actor model assumes states assess policy options based on their predicted payoff. The policy with the highest payoff concerning an overarching…