EU Foreign Affairs & Security
The situation in the Western Balkans is increasingly inching toward a showdown in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) sparked by separatist tendencies in the Serb entity of the country, Republika Srpska. This would most likely drag the rest of the region into a wider confrontation and would also most certainly have implications for the rest of Europe. […]
History is unfolding before our eyes and both the US and EU have decisions to make in about how they are approaching their attempts to deter Russia from invading all or part of Ukraine. There has been no lack of proposed solutions to the problem at hand, but what is often missing is the proper understanding and context of Russia’s actual aims for Ukraine. […]
On September 15th, President of the European Union Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered the annual State of the Union Address. Noteworthy key priorities were the continuation of the fight against COVID-19, climate change, migration, respect for rule of law, and a European defence policy. After the speech, many were left with further questions, be it from a public health policy perspective or from a security standpoint. […]
“Global warming is a security threat”, former UN Secretary General Kofi suggested. Data indicate that over 40% of intrastate conflicts in the last 60 years have been partially driven by competition over natural resources. Consequently, 7 out of the 10 countries most impacted by climate change already host or had hosted international peacekeeping missions. […]
Europeanization has transformed from an aspiration to an obligation and this in term has created a need for sacrificing internal democracy in terms of EU integration. Subsequently, in most cases, this results in not only a lack of implementation but more importantly a lack of ability to implement legislation. The difference being that lack of implementation may come due to lack of political will, whilst lack of ability to implement comes from the weak absorption of transformative power that the EU intends to achieve. […]
As is well reported on by now, Belarusian authorities ordered a Ryanair flight traveling from Athens to Vilnius to make an emergency landing in Minsk just a few days ago. The flight was accompanied by a MiG-29. Their aim was to arrest dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich, which they brazenly did, and trotted him out to do a coerced speech where he was clearly shaken and physically assaulted. What was even more bizarre was the fact that the Belarusian government blamed Hamas for putting a bomb on the grounded Ryanair flight. Of course, Hamas denied any responsibility. […]
Back in November, the pro-EU candidate Maia Sandu won the Moldovan race for Prime Minister against pro-Russian incumbent Igor Dodon by a margin of 57.75% of the vote to 42.25%. While not a major event even in European politics, this election could be a bigger sign of a major shift in Moldova from a traditionally stalwart Russian ally to a country with budding EU aspirations, or even possibly reuniting with their Romanian siblings to the West. […]
The automation of the production and circulation of disinformation has never before been so easy and cheap. We now have automated social bots that can rapidly disseminate a post containing disinformation on average more than fifty times a day. However, their role is not limited solely to that; they are also used to rapidly generate ad revenue by directing traffic. We have only recently started to awaken to the consequences of this technology for our societies and democracies. […]
Last November, in the Ethiopian region of the Tigray, an ethnic-based political crisis broke out and quickly transformed into a military conflict. The war escalated and several thousands of civilians were killed and many more became displaced. The fighting is likely to significantly impact the unstable political situation present in the Horn of Africa: Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Sudan, as well several ethnic-based conflicts in the region. What could be the role of the EU in such a fragile context? […]
Terrorist attacks and weapons of mass destruction: these are just a few of the threats that come to mind when considering international security. As the United Nations warns of a new climate crisis each week, climate change is deemed as the security threat most pertinent. By threatening resource scarcity and growing global unrest with conflict potential, the climate crisis is consistently growing larger in scale and clearer in outline. […]
Many may have missed the news that South Dakota single-handedly stopped the former President Donald Trump from criticising China’s human rights abuses, despite the rest of the country supporting the idea. […]
Breathing Life Into the Colombian Peace Process? The EU’s Strengths and Weaknesses as a Peacebuilder
The EU is an important promoter of peace in Colombia and has successfully taken on a role as a strong supporter of the implementation of the Peace Agreement. This article highlights the EU’s contributions to the Colombian Peace Process, but it also identifies three problems in the EU’s approach to peacebuilding in the region. […]
In the midst of election season in America, the outcome of the election is one of the core issues for European capitals and how it will affect the Transatlantic partnership going forward. Most assume that relations would quickly improve if Joe Biden were to be elected; however, it would still not change many of the challenges that both sides of the Atlantic have to deal with. […]
In June 2020 the Malian population protested against their President, and irregularities in the elections. Two months later, on 18 August 2020 a coup d’état orchestrated by the military led to the arrest and resignation of the president. The political crisis will likely turn into a regional security issue. […]
For those witnessing the United Kingdom’s spectacular descent into ignominy over the last four years since voting to leave the European Union, Tuesday September 8, 2020 is a date that will not soon be forgotten. On that afternoon, Brandon Lewis (Northern Ireland Secretary of State), speaking from the House of Commons’ despatch box, announced the government’s intention to break international law in pursuit of its Brexit policy. […]
The European Union (EU) is versed in the recurring debates regarding the scope of European defence, among them being the creation of a European Army. With the lack of a proper framework, the concept of a united army remains fragile and uncertain. […]
Terrorism is a threat that pervades every value of democratic society, a threat that illuminates the cracks in our security and freedoms in the EU. It is a threat that recognizes no borders and targets anyone regardless of where they call home. […]
A conditionality mechanism in the European Union (EU) budget tied to the rule of law creates important consequences for the EU’s future in several regards. Specifically, one effect that should not be underestimated lies within the field of foreign policy, where the EU depends heavily on its external credibility to exert influence. […]
The European Union is operating under the Coronavirus Crisis framework, with most of the public discourse focusing on tackling the effects of the recent health crisis. In this context, the European Commission was able to pull a white rabbit from its hat: a 2020-2025 Security Union Strategy. […]
In light of the spate of protests following a rigged election in Belarus, its citizens have taken to the streets enmasse to protest its outcome. The numbers are estimated to be in the tens of thousands, and they only seem to be getting stronger. Amidst all of the chaos, the EU still does not have a clear position, nor does the US who is still on the sidelines. […]
Give no respect, get no money. This seems to be the new and strongest stance so far adopted by EU institutions in the face of countries violating the rule of law. Yet, is this a true commitment or mere window dressing? It would appear that, in the hierarchy of EU issues, rule-of-law violations have been put aside by the Covid-19 pandemic, the following economic downturn and the impending climate crisis. […]
In 2007 Ethiopia launched the “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” [GERD], a $4.5 billion project. Once completed, the project is supposed to be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa and the seventh largest in the world. With construction work almost completed, on 07th July 2020, the water reservoir was scheduled to start. […]
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to unearth the fault lines in our global security, and not only in the countries already grappling with preexisting conditions. The security threats between nations are taking center stage as the world struggles to adapt to the new normal, causing mass instability in countries that until now did not appear wrought with fragility. […]
The impact of a Union-State between Russia and Belarus may not seem all that significant to Europeans at first glance. However, the secondary and tertiary effects could completely change the security dynamic on the Eastern flank of the EU – all of which are members of NATO. […]
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” The 2008 catch phrase of Rahm Emanuel, chief of staff of former U.S. president Barack Obama, is particularly relevant to the mounting phenomenon of online disinformation. […]
During the Covid-19 pandemic, talks and discussions around African debt cancellation, or relief, became current and debated internationally. The crisis impact on African economies could lead to a slow down in growth of 1.8 percent in the best-case scenario, or a contraction of 2.6 percent in the worst case. […]
There is a conflict brewing over the Eastern Mediterranean with a potential to escalate beyond the diplomatic battlefield. The issue at hand involves the Libya – Turkey maritime boundary treaty between the Turkish government and Libya’s UN recognised Government of National Accord, which has officially been referred to the United Nations for approval. […]
On the 20th of May 2020, the French Council of Ministers adopted a resolution to end the involvement in the West African CFA franc. The decision implied that the Central Bank in Paris renounced any monetary governance on the former colonies in West Africa. […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has caught everyone’s attention on governments’ and EU institutions’ efforts to contain the spread of the virus and promote economic recovery. But remember that not so old dream (or nightmare?) of a more sovereign Europe on defence matters? […]
The coronavirus pandemic has erupted a void in both the EU and the US that extremists are clamoring to fill. Conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, anti-vaxxers, and anti-refugee groups alike have become extraordinarily vocal during the pandemic and have used the crisis to push their political agendas while the world is seized with uncertainty and trauma. […]