Areas of expertise

Themes

• International relations and diplomacy

  Relations between states, alliances and negotiations, including the Iran nuclear talks, the Russia–China agreement and the diplomacy around the Syrian conflict.

• Geopolitics

  How geography, resources and history shape what states do. My analyses cover Russia between geography and history, China’s geographic constraints, the South China Sea, Germany between East and West, and France.

• Security and war

  Military balance and armed conflict: the modernisation of China’s armed forces and navy, the conflicts in Syria, Libya and Ukraine, and the rivalries of regional powers in the Middle East.

• Hybrid warfare

  The combination of military, economic, informational and political pressure applied below the threshold of open war, and how states and institutions respond to it.

• Energy geopolitics

  Energy as an instrument of power: Russian gas in the European market, the Turkish Stream, Russia–Turkey energy relations and the Arctic’s resources.

Regions

• Russia and Eurasia

  Russian strategy, geography and energy policy, and the geopolitics of the South Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

• China and the Indo-Pacific

  China’s geography, military modernisation and relations with its neighbours, the South China Sea, and Japan’s revival. Recent field research in China.

• Middle East and North Africa

  Syria, Lebanon and Iraq as an arena of regional powers, Iran’s geopolitical outlook and its relations with the United States, and instability in Libya.

• Europe

  The European Union and European integration, Europe’s political crisis, Germany and France, and Romania’s geopolitical position.