This Brief focuses on the phenomenon of foreign fighters originating from the Western Balkans, and how countries in the region apply double standards in this regard, categorising Islamist foreign fighters as terrorists, whereas right-wing nationalist combatants who have fought in Ukraine are reg...
This Brief looks at how Operation Sophia has de facto become a police – as well as rescue – operation, while also generating added-value as a maritime security instrument....
Visa liberalisation processes have offset the slow pace of reforms in the eastern neighbourhood by drawing partner states closer to the EU. What have been the effects of this success story for the Eastern Partnership (EaP)?...
This brief examines the question of EU funding for peace operations. It highlights the fact that, despite being a major financial contributor to a large number of peace operations, under current conditions the EU does not wield political influence commensurate with its financial engagement....
As EU member states try to juggle decreasing budgets and increasing costs in the face of an ever more unstable neighbourhood, is Europe trying to maintain its defences by cutting everything that makes them viable? This Brief suggests a few answers by looking at some of the latest data available ...
This Brief examines the rise of hybrid threats, focusing in particular on Russia’s ongoing info-war against the West. Could the ‘psychological defences’ developed by several countries in Western Europe during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda now inspire the EU?...
Little effort has been made so far to acquire a comprehensive understanding of transnational organised crime, its political economy and its ambivalent, non-linear relationship with political violence and system stability. This Brief takes a theoretical approach to explain the phenomenon in Afric...
In the light of Japan’s recently unveiled National Security Strategy (NSS), this brief examines how the country’s security and defence policy is evolving in response to a changing security environment. The country’s new national security doctrine is driven by a strong perception of a shifting ba...
Few international actors blur the lines between politics and business to the point of making them indistinguishable as some Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states do. This Brief looks at their distinct political and economic models, which allow the GCC states to deploy economic levers in support ...
With the five BRICS countries continuing to expand and institutionalise their cooperation on key international issues in an attempt to further increase their global clout, this Brief takes a look at the EU’s response to their rise. Should the BRICS be treated individually or as a group by the Un...