FLUX: International Relations Review

Great Power Deterrence

Nathan Potter — 2026-09-16

The evolving relationship between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the defining event of our geopolitical era. This paper explores the strategic posture of the United States toward the PRC, with a particular focus on China's fossil fuel-related insecurity and American strategy to leverage this vulnerability. The Strait of Malacca is a vital maritime choke point for Chinese fossil fuel imports. This paper argues that the threat of an American blockade of Chinese imports at the Strait of Malacca exemplifies a successful deterrent against serious Chinese military aggression. The United States has the requisite military capabilities to blockade the Strait of Malacca, even when the considerations of proximity and third-party involvement are accounted for. In the event of such a blockade, fossil fuel inputs would be restricted from China to an extent that the industrial Chinese economy would fail in its most basic functions. By threatening a blockade at the Strait of Malacca, the United States deters a significant Chinese military escalation.

To what extent have queer people been included in the Indian state since Modi’s election?

Joseph Ellis — 2026-09-16

This paper analyses queer people’s inclusion into the Indian state since the election of Narendra Modi in 2014. Queer people have been increasingly included into the Indian state after the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 2018, with a rise seen in queer affinities with Hindutva and a growing logic of queer inclusion predicated on stratified ‘consumer-citizenship’. Through analysing hijras and urban gay men and women, this research shows queer complicities with the Hindutva and neoliberalism that serve as the two key planks of the Indian state under Modi and thus define the extent and form of queer inclusion. This paper argues that queer people are included within the state to a moderate extent, where although formal legal inclusion is lacking, there is significant investment from queers in the ideological foundations of the Indian state and an inclusion into the symbolism of India’s developmental future. The creation of a Muslim and low-class queer ‘other’ assists Hindu and middle-class queer inclusion by defining an idealised queer citizen that the state is safe to include.

A Figurative Bunker of the Mind

Isabela Prendi — 2026-09-16

This paper examines how contemporary Albanian society relates to the concrete bunkers built during Enver Hoxha’s regime and the difficult past they symbolize. As a ubiquitous physical emblem of communist material heritage, the bunkers occupy a contested status within national cultural heritage. On the home front, an elite-driven, top-down model of heritage management allows state passivity to cede control to private tourism initiatives. Simultaneously, through dark heritage narratives, these sites of state repression are packaged into novel tourist attractions, as exemplified by the controversial ‘Bunk’Art 2’ museum. Ultimately, this market-driven approach reflects broader power imbalances in post-communist Albania, trivializing local trauma and excluding the public from decisions surrounding their historical legacies.

Presidentialism and Instability in Latin America

Valerie Delgado — 2026-09-16

This paper examines how the design of constitutional checks and balances impacts institutional stability and the success or failure of presidentialism in Latin America. Challenging early scholarship that predicted presidentialism would inevitably fail across the region, this study utilizes a ‘most similar systems’ comparative analysis of Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. Specifically, it evaluates three key mechanisms of direct accountability: presidential impeachment, parliamentary dissolution, and the appointment and removal of state ministers. Ultimately, this paper argues that presidentialism thrives when constitutional design ensures independent state powers and accountability without compromising the continuity of the entire system of governance.

The Growth of Canadian Nationalism

Siya Duggal — 2026-09-16

This paper examines how Lester B. Pearson’s Administration created a Canadian identity that transcended linguistic differences to boost Canadian nationalism and strengthen Canada’s position on the international stage. On the home front, the Pearson government implemented domestic strategies that balanced English-Canadian imperial sentiment and French-Canadian separatism. Simultaneously, through a foreign policy doctrine known as Pearsonian Internationalism, Pearson established an autonomous role for Canada outside the shadows of Britain and the United States. Through mediation in the Suez Crisis and opposition to the American bombing campaign in the Vietnam War, the administration cemented Canada’s reputation as a neutral mediator, humanitarian peacemaker, and peaceable middle power.

The Anarchy of the Deal

Aviya Krauss — 2026-09-16

This paper stresses the importance of Two-Level Game Theory in the context of Israeli-Palestinian peace deals. By comparing the attitudes of political and domestic climate around Camp David Summit and the Deal of the Century, the paper combs through the differences between the two deals and the circumstances of their failure. By examining the use of Two-Level Game Theory at Camp David and its subsequent loss of validity after the deal's failure, the paper provides context for why present-day even handed peace deals between Israel and Palestine are virtually nonexistent.

Colonial Continuities

Theresa Decius-Timothée — 2026-09-16

This paper examines the role of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) in exacerbating the socio-economic and political landscapes. Using Ghana as a case study, the analysis explores how implementing SAP policies involving privatization and economic liberalization intensified socio-economic inequalities and deepened regional and ethnic disparities. It argues that SAPs produced the neocolonial dynamics of power, leveraging economic dependency to sustain unequal power dynamics. The paper connects the colonial-era exploitation of Ghanaian society and resources to the contemporary global economy, highlighting how SAPs undermined local development while favouring international financial institutions' interests.

Enhancing the European Union’s Trade Position Through Digital Standards Externalization

Jules Borgetto — 2026-09-16

Following the accelerated growth of global digital trade post-COVID-19, the European Union (EU) has actively projected its domestic digital regulations globally. Moving beyond traditional interpretations that view EU digital policies as purely normative or defensive, this paper demonstrates that digital standards externalization serves as a strategic tool of economic statecraft to bolster European trade influence. Utilizing state-level regulatory power through trade agreements and firm-level conditional market access, the EU leverages its market size to compel foreign governments and tech giants to adopt its frameworks. Case evidence reveals that this strategy levels the playing field for European businesses, reduces technological service dependencies on the United States, and strengthens the EU's leverage in international trade negotiations with global powers like China.

What, if anything, is new about technology’s threat to democracy in a digital age?

Vihaan Jain — 2026-09-16

There is growing concern around the threats posed by digital technologies to democracy. This paper explores two of the most potent digital threats, misinformation and echo chambers, against a two-part criterion of fundamental democratic features that come into close contact with these digital threats: the deliberative process and trust. I then compare the digital threats to their closest historical counterparts. I conclude that these threats are indeed both quantitatively and qualitatively new and distinct from their predecessors. This is based on five differentiating factors, which relate to the quality of misinformation, the type of echo chambers, persuasion methods, the transfer of trust, and polarisation.

Kula Kulluk Yakişir Mi

Alex O'Neill — 2026-09-16

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, commonly referred as the ‘father’ of the modern Turkish Republic, established a slew of linguistic reforms during his reign as President between 1923 and 1938. Analytically, these reforms are no short of radical; with the help of the Turkish Language Society (Türk Dil Kurumu, or TDK), these reforms consolidated a common Turkish alphabet and culture, and assimilated groups within Türkiye’s regional breadth of influence as to create one singular imagined community. As such, Atatürk’s authoritative policymaking has had a lasting impact on Turkish society at-large: from musical performance and bilateral free trade, to contemporary immigration laws, the legacy of Atatürk has been uncompromisingly upheld for several decades; only now to be challenged by current President Erdoğan’s administration.

Leaders and Laborers

Jay Gulati — 2026-09-16

Despite the extensive influx of research surrounding Israel in light of its recent conflict in Gaza, a majority of these studies explore Israel’s contemporary history, often neglecting its formative years. While Israel’s status as a democracy has been subject to ample debate, its democratic foundations at the time of its inception have yet to be thoroughly explained. This article therefore revisits Israel’s early years to address why Israel was founded as a democracy. Ultimately, it is concluded that the democratic, Western beliefs of key Israeli leaders such as David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, combined with the central role of Jewish workers in the construction of Israel, placed an emphasis on the importance of popular democracy. This study provides valuable insights on how new nations come to adopt democratic practices, contributing not only to the discourse on the scope of Israel’s democracy, but also to the broader question of how nations end up democratic versus authoritarian.

National Identity and Anti-elitism

Yelyzaveta Yeroshkina — 2026-09-16

The rise of populism is a central theme of our present era. To understand it, we need to look at the possible ‘triggers’ that have caused this rise. This paper examines the triggers of populist attitudes among the populations of Eastern and Western Europe. I use the post-election nationality-representative survey conducted by Comparative Study of Electoral System (CSES) dataset Module 5 from 2021. The research uses an ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariate regression model to examine the effect of national identity, distrust in politicians, and acceptance of abuse of the law by leaders on populist attitudes across the EU. The findings suggest that populism in both Eastern and Western Europe is significantly affected by the lack of trust in politicians, especially in Eastern Europe. Although the research hypothesis states that national identity would have a bigger influence on the rise of populism in post-communist Eastern Europe, it appeared not to be the case. The acceptance of abuse of the law by leaders had more impact in Eastern Europe, while national identity played a more important role in Western Europe. Despite little heteroscedasticity in the OLS regression models, the results are statistically significant.