Book Talk: Neutrality After 1989
Neutrality in the growing hostility between the US on the one hand and Russia and China on the other is the ardent wish of most states around the world. During the Cold war, neutrality worked out very well for certain states including Finland and Austria; just as since then, it has worked well for states like Singapore and Vietnam. Washington’s policy however has been to try to pull states firmly into the US orbit.
Partly for that reason, neutrality is an under-studied subject, both intellectually and practically. A rare and very valuable book on neutrality in recent decades, Neutrality Since 1989: New Paths in the Post-Cold War World, was edited by Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom. He was joined by Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia program at the Quincy Institute, discussed the book and the advantages and problems of neutrality for states today.
Program
Topics
Countries/Territories
Entities
Panelists
Anatol Lieven
Dr. Anatol Lieven directs the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He was formerly a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College London. From 1985 to 1998, Lieven worked as a journalist in South Asia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and covered the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya and the southern Caucasus. His latest book is "Climate Change and the Nation State" (2021).
Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom
Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom is a foreign and security policy researcher and writer. He recently defended his thesis at the University of Cambridge, where he has been researching contemporary European military and diplomatic history. He was previously a visiting researcher at the Swedish Defence University, Stockholm University’s Hans Blix Centre, and Université libre de Bruxelles. He has written for War on the Rocks, Lawfare, Carnegie Europe, Responsible Statecraft, and the Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies, among many other publications. His research interests include European security, neutrality, and foreign fighters.