Dr Jonathan Eyal

Position: Director, International Security Studies

Dr Eyal is the Director of International Security Studies at RUSI and Editor of the RUSI Newsbrief . He was born in Romania, but has lived most of his life in Britain. Educated at Oxford and London Universities, his initial training was in international law and relations, in which he obtained both his first degree and his Master's with a Distinction. His Doctorate, completed at Oxford in 1987, analysed relations between ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe since the end of the First World War.

After teaching at Oxford for three years, Dr Eyal was appointed a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies in London. Since 1990, Dr Eyal has been Director of Studies at the Institute.

Dr Eyal has completed books on military expenditure in the former Warsaw Pact and a published study on military relations in the Balkans during the time of Communism. He is a regular commentator on East European affairs for The Guardian, The Independent, The Times dailies and the Observer newspaper on Sundays. He has also given evidence to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on the conduct of British foreign policy in Eastern Europe, and the teams of experts which contributed to the peace plans for the former Yugoslavia. He has acted as an adviser to the European Union's studies on the process of dividing the assets of the former Yugoslav state, and has published two studies on the errors committed by the West in handling the Balkan conflict since 1991. He is fluent in French, Romanian, Italian, Hungarian and German.

RUSI articles and analysis by this author

A war report short on facts and weak on findings 5 Oct 2009
The long-awaited European Union investigation into last year's war between Russia and Georgia ignored the real context of the conflict - resulting in a banal and simplistic report that has failed to fulfil its intended purpose.

Dr Jonathan Eyal assesses NATO Secretary General's maiden speech 20 Sep 2009
Dr Jonathan Eyal, Director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, is interviewed on Channel 4's More4 News on NATO and the West's relations with Russia. He is responding to the first speech of the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

US missile defence: right decision, wrong presentation 18 Sep 2009
Scrapping the European missile defence system may well have been the right decision for American security. But this terribly-timed move will undermine future relationships with long-suffering Eastern European allies for very little benefit from the Russian bear.

US-Russia summit: a meeting of minds, but not of souls 9 Jul 2009
A breakthrough on arms control was achieved at the first summit between US president Barack Obama and the Russian leadership. However, the ‘reset button’ has yet to be pressed on the relations between the two countries. What the Russians really want the US is not prepared to grant, and what the US expects, Moscow is not willing to provide either.

The European Union and Russia: A Halting Relationship 21 May 2009
The European Union’s summit with Russia, which begins today, will achieve nothing substantial. The relationship between Moscow and the rest of the continent is stuck in a time-warp, largely of Russia’s making. And, until European leaders are prepared to rebuff Russia’s old imperial inspirations, no serious dialogue can be expected.

Russia’s Government Reshuffle: Changing in order to Make No Change 14 Sep 2007
Putin has appointed a prime-minister with no power-base, perhaps in order to maintain his own power when he leaves office.

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Dr Jonathan Eyal

RUSI articles and analysis by this author