Neutrality Studies

Originally published on Feb 1, 2026.

Does being in NATO really feel that different from being in the Warsaw Pact for those who lived through both? And is it possible for a group of Eastern European nations to actually force peace by acting as a "buffer zone" from within the alliance?To explore these ideas, I turned to someone who has watched the world shift from the deck of a ship. Captain Ivo Yotsov is a former captain in the Bulgarian Navy and currently a professor at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy. With his unique mix of military experience and academic work on "New Structural Realism," he offers a view from the Black Sea that challenges how we usually think about power, culture, and the future of Europe.Links:Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on Jan 31, 2026.

Do European leaders actually believe that destroying their own economies is a good idea? I want to know if the arrogance we see in the West is just a bad habit or a sign of deep insecurity. Maybe the problem isn't politics, but the people running the show.To help me understand the minds behind these decisions, I sat down with Marianne Volonté. She is a Swiss lawyer and expert on human behavior who looks at these issues differently. Instead of just talking about treaties and wars, she breaks down the personality types that end up in power and explains why they simply cannot admit when they are wrongLinks:MyMarq: http://mymarq.comNeutrality Studies substack: https://pascallottaz.substack.com(Opt in for Academic Section from your profile settings: https://pascallottaz.substack.com/s/a...)Merch & Donations: https://neutralitystudies-shop.fourth...

Originally published on Jan 30, 2026.

Four years of failed proxy-war and now the potential annexation of Greenland by the United States. NATO tries to look strong but it is on its last political leg. The only thing that can save the exhausted alliance is peace with Russia and a return to the fundamental principles of European defence–security without aggression. My guest today puts forward concrete proposals for a political settlement and that is no small matter, given that he was once Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the alliance’s highest military representative.Original Video in German:    • NATO Am Abgrund: USA & Ukrainekrieg zerstö...  Support our work: Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on Jan 29, 2026.

Is Sweden actually safer now that it has joined NATO, or has it just painted a target on its own back? With talk of American bases and a strange push for Greenland, one must to ask: is Scandinavia becoming the next war zone?Thorbjørn Sassersson is here to help with insights. He is an award-winning Swedish journalist who runs an independent news outlet.Links:Newsvoice: https://newsvoice.se/english/Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on Jan 28, 2026.

Did peace deals fail by accident, or were they just used to buy time for war? Is the European Union using this crisis to take power away from its own member states? And why does admitting this is a proxy war actually offer the best hope for peace?I dig into these questions with Dr. György Varga, a Hungarian diplomat who saw the build-up to this fight with his own eyes. As the former head of the OSCE mission on the Russian border, he spent four years watching the situation get worse before the invasion started. He brings a rare, on-the-ground view of why diplomacy failed and what the West got wrong.Links:Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on Jan 27, 2026.

Everyone thinks neutrality means staying out of trouble. But what if it's actually about diving straight into the chaos to stay involved? We need to ask: is international law just a tool for the powerful, or can the little guys use it to strike back?To find out, I brought in Dr. Stefano Catellan and Professor Frederick Dhondt from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. They’ve spent years digging into this history for their new book, Small Power Neutrality and the Law of the Sea, uncovering how small nations used the open ocean to outsmart the world's biggest empires.Links:[Book] Small Power Neutrality and the Law of the Sea: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Neutra...Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on Jan 26, 2026.

Is the transatlantic partnership simply an abusive marriage disguised as diplomacy? We examine if the recent spectacle at Davos signals the collapse of Western cohesion and ask whether Europe possesses the resolve to finally decouple from a volatile American leadership or remain trapped in a fading colonial dynamic.Today I sit down again with Chandran Nair, founder of the Global Institute for Tomorrow. As a Malaysian scholar and author of “Understanding China”, Chandran offers an unvarnished perspective from the Global Majority, cutting through the self-congratulatory noise of the Western elite to reveal the geopolitical shifts they refuse to see.Links:The USA Today: a Derangement Threatening the World: https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/...China has a worthy blueprint to improve the UN system. Why is the West ignoring it?: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinio...[Book] Understanding China - Governance, Socio-Economics, Global Influence: https://global-inst.com/understanding...Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies⁠

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Originally published on Jan 24, 2026.

How does a journalist get snatched off a quiet Zurich street by plainclothes officers? Why did a federal police chief allegedly break protocol to force his expulsion? And most chillingly, who were the mysterious agents attempting an illegal interrogation inside his prison cell?These aren't hypothetical scenarios from a spy thriller—they are the exact questions I had to ask Ali Abunimah. As the co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and a relentless voice for Palestinian human rights, Ali has faced decades of demonization, but his recent ordeal in my home country of Switzerland reveals a terrifying new low for Western democracies. We dive deep into the corruption exposed by his recent court victory, the shadowy figures involved, and the systemic collapse of free speech we are witnessing in real-time.Links:Electronic Intifada: https://electronicintifada.net/Ali's X (Twitter): https://x.com/AliAbunimahNeutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on Jan 23, 2026.

With Western elites in Davos finally abandoning the charade of a "rules-based order" and Trump’s trade wars alienating even New Delhi, we face a stark reality: Is globalization dead, or just changing management? And if the West is bowing out, is India ready to lead the Global South?To map out this volatile landscape, I sat down with two Indian colleagues who see these shifts not as threats, but as inevitable evolutions. Professor Anuradha Chenoy, the former Dean of the School of International Studies at JNU, brings the historical weight of the non-aligned perspective, while Kanika Raka from the Kautilya School of Public Policy offers a sharp look at the tactical realities of India's 2026 BRICS chairmanship. We aren't just speculating on the end of Western hegemony; we're discussing the nuts and bolts of what actually comes next.Links:Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on Jan 22, 2026.

Is the West steering its ship of state directly into an iceberg while the captain refuses to turn the wheel? Can a financialized economy fueled by debt ever hope to defeat an autarkic industrial powerhouse fueled by real energy? And why does our leadership seem paralyzed by a collective delusion rather than guided by strategy?To parse through this fog of war, I turned to Commodore Steve Jermy. A retired British Navy officer who spent his career commanding destroyers, Steve doesn't just theorize about strategy—he has lived it. He joins me to dismantle the myths of the current conflict, applying the rigorous logic of a military commander and energy expert to explain why the current Western approach isn't just failing, but is mathematically impossible to sustain.Links:Articles by Steve:NATO – https://responsiblestatecraft.org/nat...Balance of Power – https://braveneweurope.com/steven-jer...Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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