The REAL Reason Neutrality Is Better Than NATO | E. Golson & H. Briffa

Neutrality is back! Not just on this channel but in the international debate. And we are happy to announce the first-ever (academic) book series on the topic. Listen to Eric and Hillary introducing the two volumes that will come out shortly and why they show that neutrality is the better foreign policy strategy.

Kyoto University Symposium 2026: "Geopolitics in the Time of Monsters"
Presentation 10: Eirc Golson & Hillary Briffa

Eric Golson and Hillary Briffa explore how neutrality helps states preserve autonomy in an increasingly contested international order. Drawing on historical cases, they examine the legal foundations, practical demands and political limits of staying outside wars and military alliances. Their discussion considers recognition, defence capacity, diplomatic usefulness, domestic legitimacy and adaptation, alongside examples from Switzerland, Malta, Hawaii and the Gulf. The audience debate addresses nonalignment, mediation, Taiwan, security guarantees and the pressures that powerful states place on neutral actors today.

The (BRAND NEW) Neutrality Studies Books and Book Series:
Reframing Neutrality: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/reframing-neutrality-9781350628496/
Neutral Actors in History: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/neutral-actors-in-history-9781350628670/

Open Access: Both books will be made available Open Access. You don't need to purchase them. PDFs will be available in due course.

Eric and Hillary's Links:
Eric Golson — University of Surrey: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/eric-golson
Hillary Briffa — King's College London: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/hillary-briffa

Neutrality Studies Links:
Neutrality Studies Substack: https://pascallottaz.substack.com
Support Neutrality Studies: https://neutralitystudies.com/donate
Neutrality Studies shop: https://neutralitystudies.com/shop

Time Stamps
00:00 Neutrality in a changing international order
03:39 Law, diplomacy and the flexibility of neutrality
10:48 Small states and the limits of alliances
16:52 Hillary Briffa: the craft of staying out of wars
22:22 Five conditions for lasting neutrality
31:55 Failure, hierarchy and empire
40:31 Q&A: nonalignment, guarantees and mediation
53:22 Gulf security and opposition to neutrality Receive SMS online on sms24.me

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