Atlantic Sentinel

Author: Sean Matthew Tuohy

  • Anti-Immigration Parties Drive Conservatives to Fringe

    “Far right” or “extreme right-wing” parties have emerged across Europe in recent years, if with varying levels of electoral success, demonstrating that they cannot be termed as constituting a pan-European movement. But they do have characteristics in common. Chief among them, from the perspective of European politics as a whole, is that they’re driving mainstream right-wing parties to the fringe.

    In several countries, including Britain, Ireland and Spain, the far right has repeatedly failed to garner a considerable share of the votes whereas in France, the Front national‘s Marine Le Pen got almost 18 percent support in the first round of last year’s presidential election, consolidating the nationalist party’s position as the “third force” in French politics.

    The rise of far-right movements is closely linked to mass immigration into Europe, especially from developing countries that used to be European colonies and former communist states in Eastern Europe. The inclusion of some of the latter in the European Union has brought about a loss of national sovereignty in the traditional Westphalian sense, moreover, and has also served to foster a malaise among populations whose sense of national identity is in a state of flux. Right-wing parties tend to take advantage of this social identity cleavage within European communities, coupling it with an alarm over high immigration.

    The ideological core of these movements is the concept of the sovereign nation state. Their narrow definition of who and what constitutes the nation is of key importance to understanding their motivations. In their view, the nation is confined to those within the territory who share the same culture and ethnicity. It is through this lens that far-right parties frame their political positions to their supporters, especially their Euroskepticism and opposition to immigration, and it allows them to draw on a disenfranchised element of society that is susceptible to simple explanations for complex problems. (more…)

  • Iranian Foreign Policy as Realist Security Dilemma

    Last year saw the spiral of debate over the issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions gain continuous coverage in the international media. In September, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a “clear red line” must be articulated by the international community to avoid conflict. This conveyed a firm statement of intent from Israel, which reaffirmed its unequivocal opposition to Iran attaining a breakout nuclear capability. It also served to outline the clear military repercussions that Israel would take if Iran breached the conditions of such a red line by continuing the enrichment of nuclear materials.

    In light of this Israeli posturing, it is important to contextualize perceived Iranian belligerence in the region and consequently, Tehran’s relationship with the West. When dealing with the “Iran problem,” it is imperative that international stakeholders consider the reasons for Iran’s self inflicted international isolation, in order to better understand why it would continue to defy the wishes of foreign powers. (more…)

  • States Dodge “Responsibility to Protect” in Syria

    With the high-profile defection of Brigadier General Manaf Tlas, an elite member of the Syrian regime and close personal friend of President Bashar al-Assad’s, comes the renewed sense that the conflict in Syria is beginning to mirror developments in previous “Arab Spring” uprisings.

    As Muammar Gaddafi’s inner circle fractured and defected around him and opposition forces consolidated their gains in the rebel stronghold city of Benghazi, the international community invoked the principle of the “responsibility to protect” and mobilized for a military intervention that was spearheaded by NATO forces. This event represents the most recent case of intervention justified by the moral and ethical concepts encapsulated within the “responsibility to protect” doctrine.

    Though the principle itself is only a decade old, it has come under considerable scrutiny and criticism within the international community and has undergone several reinterpretations since its normative inception in 2001. (more…)