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Papers by David Alenga
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review
From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections,... more From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections, insurgent political parties are becoming a force to be reckoned with. For all their disparate centers of gravity, nearly all of them converge on the question of Euroscepticism and the liberal international order. The primary consternation, it is routinely said, is not so much their dogged populism, but that most of them are unwittingly setting themselves up to do Moscow’s bidding in Europe. Drawing on Cold War historiography, this article sets out to critique how this thesis evolved along a consistent prism of ideological meta-narratives. Its key focus is highlighting how missing links in some of the seminal moments in the history of Soviet-Western relations continue to filter into explaining contemporary political developments in the EU. This article thus makes two basic conclusions. First, that there is something to be said of the insurgent political movements as committed players in ...
Korea Democracy Foundation , 2021
To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definiti... more To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definitive backsliding in its post-communist democratic gains. Up until recently Poland, for good reason was viewed as the bastion of liberal democracy in what used to be European communism’s heartland. This regression is in more ways than one, an issue of significant concern, especially for the symbolism it conjures. It beggars the question how did it come to this? This essay attempts to engage with this question through an axiomatic analysis of where Poland’s democratic culture is currently standing and its broader implications. It will approach it through the prism of a number of individual developments, if taken as a whole speaks to the significant paradigm shift in Poland’s flirtation with illiberalism.
Korea Democracy Foundation , 2021
To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definiti... more To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definitive backsliding in its post-communist democratic gains. Up until recently Poland, for good reason was viewed as the bastion of liberal democracy in what used to be European communism’s heartland. This regression is in more ways than one, an issue of significant concern, especially for the symbolism it conjures. It
beggars the question how did it come to this? This essay attempts to engage with this question through an axiomatic analysis of where Poland’s democratic culture is currently standing and its broader implications. It will approach it through the prism of a number of individual developments, if taken as a whole speaks to the significant paradigm shift in Poland’s flirtation with illiberalism.
IJKS, 2021
How does the history of Russia's complex energy politics influence perceptions of its recent natu... more How does the history of Russia's complex energy politics influence perceptions of its recent natural gas pipeline policies? The goal of this paper is to examine how Russia's gas route diversification is being impacted by broader geopolitical questions. A case study of two massive Russian-backed energy megaprojects Nord Stream 2 and the Power of Siberia pipelines aimed at delivering natural gas to the heart of Europe and China respectively. As Nord Stream is technically designed to bypass a number of transit countries coupled with an EU divided on the project the Power of Siberia project presents an alternative track for extending Russia's commercial partnership with Asia. This paper asserts that while critics are concerned about the implications of Russia's diversification objectives the differences in strategic thinking aside the pipelines will actually have no discernable impact on Moscow's foreign policy.
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 2020
From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections,... more From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections, insurgent political parties are becoming a force to be reckoned with. For all their disparate centers of gravity, nearly all of them converge on the question of Euroscepticism and the liberal international order. The primary consternation, it is routinely said, is not so much their dogged populism, but that most of them are unwittingly setting themselves up to do Moscow's bidding in Europe. Drawing on Cold War historiography, this article sets out to critique how this thesis evolved along a consistent prism of ideological meta-narratives. Its key focus is highlighting how missing links in some of the seminal moments in the history of Soviet-Western relations continue to filter into explaining contemporary political developments in the EU. This article thus makes two basic conclusions. First, that there is something to be said of the insurgent political movements as committed players in the competition for the balance of power in the political berth of Europe. And in that regard, their rhetorical association with Moscow's positions is a pragmatic step in the grand strategy of national and pan-European politics. Second, Moscow, contrary to being the adversarial vector of liberal Europe, has historically identified its best interest with cooperating, if not outrightly, aligning with the Western-led postwar international liberal order.
International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, 2020
This present study provides a historical grounding for understanding the nexus between the Korean... more This present study provides a historical grounding for understanding
the nexus between the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Soviet Union’s
complex relationship with the United Nations (UN). Its focus is on the
normative foundations of the principle of collective security in the highstakes politics of the twentieth century. The Korean War marked the first
major test of the nascent UN’s capacity to act as a military unit in enforcing
its Charter. This paper plugs into an ongoing discussion among diplomatic
historians regarding the inherent tension between the theory and praxis
of Moscow’s puritanical allegiance to the principle of collective security.
Drawing on an analysis of Marxist doctrines of war and peace and its
contending dynamics, it argues against the prevailing assumption that
Moscow’s allegiance to the principle of collective security was tenuous.
Instead it contends that Moscow’s shifting attitude towards the UN was the
outcome of a poorly conceived strategic realignment from the incapacity
of the League of Nations to the institutional challenges posed by the Korea
question. It concludes by explaining how the Korean War marked one of
the rare moments of the triumph of the principle of collective security in the
postwar international order and how it served to reinvigorate Moscow’s
resolve to engage with the multilateral process.
Keywords: Collective Security, United Nations, Soviet Union, Korean War,
League of Nations
Social Enterprise Studies, 2013
This paper’s focus is a partnership model on project implementation for social entrepreneurship b... more This paper’s focus is a partnership model on project implementation for social entrepreneurship by non-profit organizations. The fundamental purpose of this research is to help nonprofit organizations and social enterprises whose mandate is to promote social entrepreneurship through entrepreneurs’ capacity building. It further aims to explore Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) based on a case study of an actual project by the British Council Korea, in partnership with a British private company and a local NGO in Korea to build the capacity of young social entrepreneurs in East Asia. The case study is cited to illustrate management mechanisms and the step-by-step roadmap for successful implementation of a PPP project. This study presents three stages in the formation of a PPP project and essential elements to be examined at each phase of the partnership project cycle. We also carry out a comparative analysis of the prospects and challenges of this partnership model to foster critical reviews on PPPs and to provide practical guidance for similar project implementation and management to potential players in this sector.
A report by the British House of Lords chaired by Lord Tugendhat concluded that Europe sleepwalke... more A report by the British House of Lords chaired by Lord Tugendhat concluded that Europe sleepwalked into the conflict in Ukraine through a catastrophic misreading of the mood in the runup to the crisis. As the report rightly indicated, there is good reason to question the institutional thinking within the Western political elite. Despite President Petro Poroshenko's initial grandstanding, the needless suffering of Ukrainian people of all political stripes further confounds the logic of the West's triumphalist attitude going into Ukraine. History has an uncanny ability to mock human mendacity. It was barely 70 years ago that Europe was being torn apart by jingoism. Nazi Germany, discontent with massive punitive war reparations that came with the Versailles Treaty, found an opportunity in military expansionism to assault the logic of the hegemonic impositions of the victors. The reparations were in large measure economic instruments designed to achieve geopolitical outcomes. Similarly, looking back at the tumultuous cataclysmic events in Ukraine, the West was thrust into its worst security standoff with Russia since the Yugoslav Wars, thanks to the same misguided logic of Cold War triumphalism. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, an overdose of triumphalist KoolAid has made the West incapable of seeing beyond the horizon in its relations with Russia. This insidious aura of triumphalism so conveniently chose to ignore the dialectical truth behind the link between praxis and theory in strategic thinking, particularly in the postSoviet space. This Western narrative of triumphalism is premised upon a disregard for the useful lessons of the postCold War epoch of mutual respect and stability that prevailed in the European theater. These are the same triumphalist sentiments that have largely shaped the unacknowledged tendency to wishfully consign Russia to the status of a diminutive power. There has been a deliberate campaign in the Western narrative to present the crisis in Ukraine without references to the underlying context of the domestic political landscape. In doing so, there has been a drive towards distorting how the brazen Western determination to shape the outcomes of the wild domestic political swings was utterly misguided. Apart from the oftcited stranglehold of the oligarchs, Ukraine's political culture has been characterized by complexlyknit allegiances. One only needs to look at incumbent President Poroshenko's history of political crosscarpeting, including his association with exPresident Viktor Yanukovych's discredited Party of Regions (not to talk of the bitter split between the maverick Yuliya Tymoshenko and Viktor Yuschenko—the heroes of the Orange Revolution). The same can be said of the likes of
This paper presents a critique of the European Union’s flagship Eastern Partnership Initiative (E... more This paper presents a critique of the European Union’s flagship Eastern Partnership
Initiative (EaP) within the context of its geopolitical ramifications on the political crisis
in Ukraine. It particularly highlights the role of the Russian Federation as the principal
protagonists and its quest to counter the EU’s normative power within their
shared neighborhood. The EaP has among its goals promoting a broad range of political
and economic reforms with the partner states with the view to help them deepen
liberal democratic values and enhanced security and stability within the framework of
an enhanced Association Agreement. The Kremlin believes the EaP undermines
Russian interest in the region. This paper therefore presents a critical analysis of the
contending dynamics of the competing efforts to use Ukraine as the launching pad to
reshape the post-Cold War regional order
Conference Presentations by David Alenga
Korea Democracy Foundation , 2021
To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definiti... more To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definitive backsliding in its post-communist democratic gains. Up until recently Poland, for good reason was viewed as the bastion of liberal democracy in what used to be European communism’s heartland. This regression is in more ways than one, an issue of significant concern, especially for the symbolism it conjures. It beggars the question how did it come to this? This essay attempts to engage with this question through an axiomatic analysis of where Poland’s democratic culture is currently standing and its broader implications. It will approach it through the prism of a number of individual developments, if taken as a whole speaks to the significant paradigm shift in Poland’s flirtation with illiberalism.
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review
From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections,... more From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections, insurgent political parties are becoming a force to be reckoned with. For all their disparate centers of gravity, nearly all of them converge on the question of Euroscepticism and the liberal international order. The primary consternation, it is routinely said, is not so much their dogged populism, but that most of them are unwittingly setting themselves up to do Moscow’s bidding in Europe. Drawing on Cold War historiography, this article sets out to critique how this thesis evolved along a consistent prism of ideological meta-narratives. Its key focus is highlighting how missing links in some of the seminal moments in the history of Soviet-Western relations continue to filter into explaining contemporary political developments in the EU. This article thus makes two basic conclusions. First, that there is something to be said of the insurgent political movements as committed players in ...
Korea Democracy Foundation , 2021
To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definiti... more To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definitive backsliding in its post-communist democratic gains. Up until recently Poland, for good reason was viewed as the bastion of liberal democracy in what used to be European communism’s heartland. This regression is in more ways than one, an issue of significant concern, especially for the symbolism it conjures. It beggars the question how did it come to this? This essay attempts to engage with this question through an axiomatic analysis of where Poland’s democratic culture is currently standing and its broader implications. It will approach it through the prism of a number of individual developments, if taken as a whole speaks to the significant paradigm shift in Poland’s flirtation with illiberalism.
Korea Democracy Foundation , 2021
To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definiti... more To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definitive backsliding in its post-communist democratic gains. Up until recently Poland, for good reason was viewed as the bastion of liberal democracy in what used to be European communism’s heartland. This regression is in more ways than one, an issue of significant concern, especially for the symbolism it conjures. It
beggars the question how did it come to this? This essay attempts to engage with this question through an axiomatic analysis of where Poland’s democratic culture is currently standing and its broader implications. It will approach it through the prism of a number of individual developments, if taken as a whole speaks to the significant paradigm shift in Poland’s flirtation with illiberalism.
IJKS, 2021
How does the history of Russia's complex energy politics influence perceptions of its recent natu... more How does the history of Russia's complex energy politics influence perceptions of its recent natural gas pipeline policies? The goal of this paper is to examine how Russia's gas route diversification is being impacted by broader geopolitical questions. A case study of two massive Russian-backed energy megaprojects Nord Stream 2 and the Power of Siberia pipelines aimed at delivering natural gas to the heart of Europe and China respectively. As Nord Stream is technically designed to bypass a number of transit countries coupled with an EU divided on the project the Power of Siberia project presents an alternative track for extending Russia's commercial partnership with Asia. This paper asserts that while critics are concerned about the implications of Russia's diversification objectives the differences in strategic thinking aside the pipelines will actually have no discernable impact on Moscow's foreign policy.
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 2020
From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections,... more From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections, insurgent political parties are becoming a force to be reckoned with. For all their disparate centers of gravity, nearly all of them converge on the question of Euroscepticism and the liberal international order. The primary consternation, it is routinely said, is not so much their dogged populism, but that most of them are unwittingly setting themselves up to do Moscow's bidding in Europe. Drawing on Cold War historiography, this article sets out to critique how this thesis evolved along a consistent prism of ideological meta-narratives. Its key focus is highlighting how missing links in some of the seminal moments in the history of Soviet-Western relations continue to filter into explaining contemporary political developments in the EU. This article thus makes two basic conclusions. First, that there is something to be said of the insurgent political movements as committed players in the competition for the balance of power in the political berth of Europe. And in that regard, their rhetorical association with Moscow's positions is a pragmatic step in the grand strategy of national and pan-European politics. Second, Moscow, contrary to being the adversarial vector of liberal Europe, has historically identified its best interest with cooperating, if not outrightly, aligning with the Western-led postwar international liberal order.
International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, 2020
This present study provides a historical grounding for understanding the nexus between the Korean... more This present study provides a historical grounding for understanding
the nexus between the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Soviet Union’s
complex relationship with the United Nations (UN). Its focus is on the
normative foundations of the principle of collective security in the highstakes politics of the twentieth century. The Korean War marked the first
major test of the nascent UN’s capacity to act as a military unit in enforcing
its Charter. This paper plugs into an ongoing discussion among diplomatic
historians regarding the inherent tension between the theory and praxis
of Moscow’s puritanical allegiance to the principle of collective security.
Drawing on an analysis of Marxist doctrines of war and peace and its
contending dynamics, it argues against the prevailing assumption that
Moscow’s allegiance to the principle of collective security was tenuous.
Instead it contends that Moscow’s shifting attitude towards the UN was the
outcome of a poorly conceived strategic realignment from the incapacity
of the League of Nations to the institutional challenges posed by the Korea
question. It concludes by explaining how the Korean War marked one of
the rare moments of the triumph of the principle of collective security in the
postwar international order and how it served to reinvigorate Moscow’s
resolve to engage with the multilateral process.
Keywords: Collective Security, United Nations, Soviet Union, Korean War,
League of Nations
Social Enterprise Studies, 2013
This paper’s focus is a partnership model on project implementation for social entrepreneurship b... more This paper’s focus is a partnership model on project implementation for social entrepreneurship by non-profit organizations. The fundamental purpose of this research is to help nonprofit organizations and social enterprises whose mandate is to promote social entrepreneurship through entrepreneurs’ capacity building. It further aims to explore Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) based on a case study of an actual project by the British Council Korea, in partnership with a British private company and a local NGO in Korea to build the capacity of young social entrepreneurs in East Asia. The case study is cited to illustrate management mechanisms and the step-by-step roadmap for successful implementation of a PPP project. This study presents three stages in the formation of a PPP project and essential elements to be examined at each phase of the partnership project cycle. We also carry out a comparative analysis of the prospects and challenges of this partnership model to foster critical reviews on PPPs and to provide practical guidance for similar project implementation and management to potential players in this sector.
A report by the British House of Lords chaired by Lord Tugendhat concluded that Europe sleepwalke... more A report by the British House of Lords chaired by Lord Tugendhat concluded that Europe sleepwalked into the conflict in Ukraine through a catastrophic misreading of the mood in the runup to the crisis. As the report rightly indicated, there is good reason to question the institutional thinking within the Western political elite. Despite President Petro Poroshenko's initial grandstanding, the needless suffering of Ukrainian people of all political stripes further confounds the logic of the West's triumphalist attitude going into Ukraine. History has an uncanny ability to mock human mendacity. It was barely 70 years ago that Europe was being torn apart by jingoism. Nazi Germany, discontent with massive punitive war reparations that came with the Versailles Treaty, found an opportunity in military expansionism to assault the logic of the hegemonic impositions of the victors. The reparations were in large measure economic instruments designed to achieve geopolitical outcomes. Similarly, looking back at the tumultuous cataclysmic events in Ukraine, the West was thrust into its worst security standoff with Russia since the Yugoslav Wars, thanks to the same misguided logic of Cold War triumphalism. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, an overdose of triumphalist KoolAid has made the West incapable of seeing beyond the horizon in its relations with Russia. This insidious aura of triumphalism so conveniently chose to ignore the dialectical truth behind the link between praxis and theory in strategic thinking, particularly in the postSoviet space. This Western narrative of triumphalism is premised upon a disregard for the useful lessons of the postCold War epoch of mutual respect and stability that prevailed in the European theater. These are the same triumphalist sentiments that have largely shaped the unacknowledged tendency to wishfully consign Russia to the status of a diminutive power. There has been a deliberate campaign in the Western narrative to present the crisis in Ukraine without references to the underlying context of the domestic political landscape. In doing so, there has been a drive towards distorting how the brazen Western determination to shape the outcomes of the wild domestic political swings was utterly misguided. Apart from the oftcited stranglehold of the oligarchs, Ukraine's political culture has been characterized by complexlyknit allegiances. One only needs to look at incumbent President Poroshenko's history of political crosscarpeting, including his association with exPresident Viktor Yanukovych's discredited Party of Regions (not to talk of the bitter split between the maverick Yuliya Tymoshenko and Viktor Yuschenko—the heroes of the Orange Revolution). The same can be said of the likes of
This paper presents a critique of the European Union’s flagship Eastern Partnership Initiative (E... more This paper presents a critique of the European Union’s flagship Eastern Partnership
Initiative (EaP) within the context of its geopolitical ramifications on the political crisis
in Ukraine. It particularly highlights the role of the Russian Federation as the principal
protagonists and its quest to counter the EU’s normative power within their
shared neighborhood. The EaP has among its goals promoting a broad range of political
and economic reforms with the partner states with the view to help them deepen
liberal democratic values and enhanced security and stability within the framework of
an enhanced Association Agreement. The Kremlin believes the EaP undermines
Russian interest in the region. This paper therefore presents a critical analysis of the
contending dynamics of the competing efforts to use Ukraine as the launching pad to
reshape the post-Cold War regional order
Korea Democracy Foundation , 2021
To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definiti... more To the disappointment of its admirers, Poland is currently in the throes of a subtle but definitive backsliding in its post-communist democratic gains. Up until recently Poland, for good reason was viewed as the bastion of liberal democracy in what used to be European communism’s heartland. This regression is in more ways than one, an issue of significant concern, especially for the symbolism it conjures. It beggars the question how did it come to this? This essay attempts to engage with this question through an axiomatic analysis of where Poland’s democratic culture is currently standing and its broader implications. It will approach it through the prism of a number of individual developments, if taken as a whole speaks to the significant paradigm shift in Poland’s flirtation with illiberalism.