Neutrality in the growing hostility between the US on the one hand and Russia and China on the other is the ardent wish of most states around the world. During the Cold war, neutrality worked out very well for certain states including Finland and Austria; just as since then, it has worked well for states like Singapore and Vietnam. Washington’s policy however has been to try to pull states firmly into the US orbit.
Partly for that reason, neutrality is an under-studied subject, both intellectually and practically. A rare and very valuable book on neutrality in recent decades, Neutrality Since 1989: New Paths in the Post-Cold War World, was edited by Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom. He will be joined by Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia program at the Quincy Institute, to discuss the book and the advantages and problems of neutrality for states today.
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