April 16, 2023 written by Ash Breedlove Finland officially joined NATO on April 4, 2023. NATO Allies previously signed Finland’s Accession Protocol back in July of 2022. NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Finland to the alliance, touting its joining as important to both Nordic security and the alliance as a whole. Finland is the 31st... Continue Reading →
Estonia’s Continued Support for Ukraine
April 10, 2023 Written by Ash Breedlove Five weeks after a general election in Estonia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas reports her party, the Reform Party, has secured a deal with two other parties to form a coalition. Estonia’s Reform Party won the parliamentary election in March with 31.2% of the vote. The coalition has been formed... Continue Reading →
Russia’s Latest War Crime: The Abduction of Ukrainian Children
Written by Ash Breedlove Since the war began in February last year, thousands of Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russian forces. This is just one of Russia’s tactics to control occupied territory. The relocation of these children is not a humanitarian effort to save innocents from a war zone. Russia is actively kidnapping children under the... Continue Reading →
Another Pro-Ukraine Election Win in Estonia
Written by Ash Breedlove March 12, 2023 Digital voting has dominated Estonia’s most recent general election. The Baltic nation has used “i-voting” in order to increase the use of digital infrastructure. I-voting is made secure by an electronic identity system provided by e-Estonia. The security system involves user ID, a card reader, and PIN codes.... Continue Reading →
Moldova’s Instability Amid the War in Ukraine
Written by Ash Breedlove February 11, 2023 Moldova’s prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, unexpectedly resigned on February 10th. During her 18-month period as prime minister, Gavrilita contended with Moldova’s energy crisis and a struggling economy with rising rates of inflation. She often voiced her pro-Western views and support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The day before... Continue Reading →
Pro-Western Candidate Defeats Oligarch in Czech Republic Presidential Election
Written by Ash Breedlove February 5, 2023 On January 28th, General Petr Pavel was elected president in the Czech Republic. Pavel is a former army chief and NATO official who has been vocal about his pro-Western views. Pavel’s opponent, billionaire Andrej Babis, spouted populist rhetoric in his campaign and portrayed Pavel as a warmonger for... Continue Reading →
Ukraine Secures Modernized Tanks
by Ash Breedlove On January 25th, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would send fourteen Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, allowing other nations with these German-made vehicles to send them as well. Poland has been lobbying Berlin for permission to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine for months. Along with fourteen of the Leopard 2... Continue Reading →
UN Human Rights Council Issues Early Report on War Crimes in Ukraine
Written by Tyler Kibbey September 26, 2022 On Friday, September 23rd, the Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, Erik Møse, issued an initial report following the exhumation of a mass burial site documented in the city of Izium, Ukraine. The update presented by the Commission reports on their investigation into alleged... Continue Reading →
The Russia-Ukraine War: How Russia Violated the United Nations Charter
When representatives from the United Nations signed the UN Charter on June 26, 1945, those representatives bound their governments to the entirety of the Charter, including provisions regarding sovereignty. Article 2 is organized with the understanding that nations would respect the sovereignty of other nations. Specifically, Article 2 states, "The Organization is based on the... Continue Reading →
Enlargement and Article 10: NATO, Finland, & Sweden
Last week, the United States Senate voted to ratify adding Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (hereinafter "NATO"). The resolution passed the Senate with a 95-1 vote after Senators Schumer (D-NY) and McConnell (R-KY) urged lawmakers to support the measure as Russia's aggression threatened national security. While President Biden hosted the leaders... Continue Reading →
The Patterson Journal of International Affairs 