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A Pinpoint Politics article by Lena-Sophie Demuth

After World War II, the foreign policy of Bundesrepublik Deutschland (West Germany) aimed at getting back in line with its neighbouring states, reconstructing its economy and rebuilding the image of a state responsible for a war that had claimed over 60 million casualties, including more than 6 million deaths in the wake of the biggest genocide the world had seen – the Holocaust. This long path towards becoming a sovereign state was characterized by a strong relationship with the USA, its major partner and investor; membership in the NATO; and European integration as one of the priorities of post-war Germany. True to the motto of becoming an economic giant but a political midget, Germany together with the bordering country and erstwhile hereditary enemy France were at the forefront of the European integration taking a stand for a united Europe built on a shared past, common values and the iron will that war must be averted in the future by all means.

A Pinpoint Politics article by Ramsha Khan

The narrative of warfare in the last decade has been a poignant one, as we bore witness to the terrorist attacks, invasions, and revolutions that ignited across the globe. In its historical context this is not a phenomena out of the ordinary – indeed, the paradigm of conflict can be dated as old as mankind itself. However, there have been certain shifts in the form of warfare today, and, as these shifts in form collide with the liberal ideology and capitalist thought the western world is built upon, the resulting implications can be evidenced in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, as well as the Arab Spring revolts. An actor that is receiving an ever-increasingly central position on this stage is the mercenary, or private soldier, along with the corporate structures and governments that control his role.

Dr Nick Vaughan-Williams, Associate Professor of International Security in PAIS, gave the after-dinner keynote lecture at the 2012 Association for Borderlands Studies (ABS) Annual Conference on 13 April at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Houston, Texas, USA. He was presented with the ABS Gold Award, consisting of a plaque and certificate, for his monograph Border Politics: The Limits of Sovereign Power newly available in paperback.

The judges of the ABS Book Award Committee said: “Border Politics is an agenda-setting book, both in terms of demonstrating how new and challenging ideas can be incorporated into border studies, and more importantly, in leading the way in thinking the problem of the border afresh in order to understand the diversity of bordering strategies which exist in world politics”.

More information about the ABS can be found here:

An order form for Border Politics at a discounted rate can be found here:

Ben Clift was successful this week in being awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship for 2012/2013. Ben's project is entitled 'Its Mostly Fiscal - The IMF, Evolving Fiscal Policy Doctrine and The Crisis' .

The Leverhulme scheme is extremely competitive and Ben's success is testament to the very high quality of his proposal. Many congratulations to Ben on this great success.

A Pinpoint Politics article by Enrico Longobucco

In recent days, a number of important Italian newspapers published surveys about confidence in Prime Minister Mario Monti. The approval rate for Monti seems to be about 50 per cent, the lowest figure recorded throughout his office. As a result, many Italian political parties want currently to indicate their independence from the government, and so do trade unions and professional associations, by means of a clever media campaign, which aims to tell people that whatever their current problems are, these are not due to politicians and unionists. Hence, political parties and organisations are lately trying to improve their image, after being at an all-time low in terms of credibility and support. However, it is not easy to tell whether this operation is bearing fruit. On one hand, it is true that the confidence in this government seems to decrease but, on the other hand, we are witnessing a steady loss of approval to political parties, as well as to trade unions.