Category: Security Policy & Defence
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Strategic Autonomy in a Digital Age
Main Question: How can the EU achieve strategic autonomy in defense amid technological disruption and geopolitical rivalry? Argument: Europe must adopt three interdependent policies: ethical governance for emerging technologies, industrial and supply chain resilience, and integrated cybersecurity to secure its defense ecosystem. Conclusion: By aligning these points through investment, collaboration, and unified standards, the EU…
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Shaping Europe’s Security – A Formula for Success?
This article highlights changes within the CSDP/CFSP framework and evaluates the security and industrial initiatives that reflect this shift. The overall argument rests on the premise that the EU has begun to base its security decision-making on both the traditional intergovernmental level and the supranational level led by the Commission. Despite that, the final decision…
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Privatizing war
Main question: How have international legal norms adapted to the rise of private military and security companies (PMSCs), and with what consequences for accountability? Argument: States have responded to PMSCs primarily through soft-law mechanisms that normalise private force while avoiding binding legal responsibility. Conclusion: This shift enhances legitimacy and flexibility in security governance but entrenches…
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Iranian Defence Industry
How did Iran build and operates its defence industry? Through the pursuit of defence autarky, reverse engineering, civil-military fusion and dual-use technologies Iran achieved substantial self-reliance in military production, responding to the evolutionary pressure of the sanctions. However this resulted in a deeply unbalanced system, simultanously innovative and obsolete. It directly leads to the adoption…
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What Is Deterrence? Core Concepts and Distinctions
Prevention via Cost-Benefit Calculus: Deterrence aims to persuade an adversary that the costs and risks of an offensive action far outweigh any potential gains, thereby maintaining the status quo. Credibility and Capability: Success requires both the actual military capacity to act and the perceived resolve to follow through. Without clear communication and credibility, even the…
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From Orbits to Ecosystems
How should Europe govern space as it shifts from a technical domain to a strategic ecosystem central to security, economy and governance? Space has become an interconnected, contested ecosystem shaped by geopolitics, markets and governance gaps, where Europe risks dependency due to fragmentation, underinvestment and weak foresight. Strategic foresight is essential for moving from reactive…
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The Asymmetric Air War
Russia has massively scaled up its production of long-range drones since the full-scale invasion and is gradually improving their technical characteristics and tactics. This buildup now threatens European states, which can detect incursions but lack a cheap way to stop mass incursions. Europe must rapidly field interoperable, low-cost layered counter-drone systems (counter-drones, EW, lasers) and…
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The Transnational Engine of Tren de Aragua
RQ: How did Tren de Aragua use Venezuela’s crisis and migrant routes to move from a prison gang to a transnational network? Argument: Its expansion stems from the interaction of state fragility, mass displacement, and diversified criminal markets. Conclusion: TdA shows a new franchise-style, poly-criminal model that policing alone cannot contain.
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Strategic Governance in China’s New Five-Year Plan
Main question: How does China’s new Five-Year Plan strengthen technological self-reliance, national security, and ecological sustainability? Argument: The Plan integrates these domains under Xi’s holistic security framework to reduce external vulnerabilities and secure long-term stability. Conclusion: China is restructuring its economy to achieve strategic autonomy and resilience.
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Is Nuclear Deterrence a Phoenix of the Cold War?
Is nuclear deterrence truly fading or rising again since the Cold War? Treaty erosion, modernization, politics and alliances show its revival like a phoenix. While promising security, nuclear deterrence increases humanitarian risks and global tensions, making the global community question its true cost.