Program in Arms Control & Domestic and International Security


 

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Letter from the Editor  

Dear reader, 

On behalf of the IJOIS Editorial Board, the Program in Arms Control & Domestic and 

International Security, the University Library, and the supportive academic community of the University 

of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, we would like to thank you for reading the third issue of Illini Journal of 

International Security (IJOIS)! IJOIS is a peer-reviewed academic journal that was founded in September 

2015 by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We publish 

exceptional papers on topics within international security or foreign affairs.  

For our third issue, we are excited to publish outstanding undergraduate papers that explore some 

of the most pressing issues within international security and foreign affairs, covering a wide range of 

topic areas and geographical regions. In “Evolution of Russian Military Force Since 1979,” Christopher 

Chappell explores the different ways that Russia has engaged in military conflicts over the last half 

century. Shifting focus to Europe, Sonam Kotadia and Justin Tomczyk, in their paper “Picking up the 

Pieces: The EU and Populism,” look at the rise of populism in Europe and analyze how this may affect 

the future of the European Union, despite the loss of several populists in major elections in 2017. 

Moving to the United States, Stuart Polen gives a detailed historical account of the START I 

treaty in his paper “START I: A Retrospective.”  Lastly, we go back to the Middle East where Caleb 

Weiss conducts a comparative case study of Chechen/North Caucasian and Central Asian Fighters to 

analyze the question of how local terrorist movements transform into transnational organizations. 

 These exceptional undergraduate papers present novel arguments on a wide array of issues 

within international security and foreign affairs. We hope that these papers will challenge and inform our 

readers, spark discussion, and encourage undergraduate students to explore these pressing issues or 

pursue international studies further.  

We hope you enjoy reading! 

 

Caleb Weiss and Chase Bloch