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2. Psychological Resilience to Extremism and Violent Extremism
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Hedayah
- Abstract:
- This report provides an overview of the expert roundtable on the topic of psychological resilience to violent extremism held during mid-2021. It summarizes key highlights and recommendations that experts made during the roundtable. The roundtable identified relevant psychological factors that increase individual resilience to extremism and violent extremism, provided practical recommendations for cognitive and behavioral skills among topics.
- Topic:
- International Security, Violent Extremism, Psychology, Political Extremism, and Countering Violent Extremism
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
3. Pentagon Fuel Use, Climate Change, and the Costs of War
- Author:
- Neta C. Crawford
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- If climate change is a “threat multiplier,” as some national security experts and members of the military argue, how does the US military reduce climate change caused threats? Or does war and the preparation for it increase those risks?
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Climate Change, War, International Security, Military Spending, and Fossil Fuels
- Political Geography:
- North America, Global Focus, and United States of America
4. How to make the European Green Deal work
- Author:
- Gregory Claeys, Simone Tagliapietra, and Georg Zachmann
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- European Commission president-designate Ursula von der Leyen has made climate change a top priority, promising to propose a European Green Deal that would make Europe climate neutral by 2050. Th e European Green Deal should be conceived as a reallocation mechanism, fostering investment shifts and labour substitution in key economic sectors, while supporting the most vulnerable segments of society throughout the decarbonisation process. Th e deal’s four pillars would be carbon pricing, sustainable investment, industrial policy and a just transition.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, International Security, Sustainable Development Goals, Global Warming, and Green Technology
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Global Focus, and European Union
5. Energy Geopolitics in 2019
- Author:
- Al Jazeera Center for Studies
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Al Jazeera Center for Studies
- Abstract:
- The extraordinary criticism that Saudi Arabia is under holds the potential for the US Congress enacting legislation against OPEC. Anti-trust legislation would have turbulent impact on the global energy market in that such pressure could lead members withdrawing from OPEC.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, International Security, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
6. Opportunities for Cooperative Cyber Security
- Author:
- Aaron Shull
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
- Abstract:
- While India and Canada are each individually taking steps to enhance their cyber security capacity, increased collaboration between the two countries in the realm of cyber security would increase systemic trust while creating opportunities to promote the nations’ strategic and economic interests. There are several similarities in the cyber security threats that both countries face, including being the subjects of attacks with suspected Chinese origins, and mutual concerns over terrorism and election manipulation
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7. The post-caliphate Salafi-jihadi environment
- Author:
- Isaac Kfir
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
- Abstract:
- In 2019, the global Salafi-jihadi architecture is very different from the one that emerged in September 2001, when transnational terrorism burst on to the international scene, or July 2014, when ISIL controlled more than 34,000 square miles in Syria and Iraq and thousands of young men and women were flocking to be part of its ‘caliphate’.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, International Security, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
8. Estimating the cost of capital for wind energy investments in Turkey
- Author:
- Lynn Fredriksson
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- Wind power represents a key component of Turkey’s energy strategy. Increased investment will be required to meet Turkey’s wind power target and, as such, there is a need to understand the viability of wind power projects there. The cost of capital is a crucial element in wind power investment decisions owing to the high capital intensity of wind power plants. A reduction in the cost of capital through support policies can lower overall project costs and increase investment
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Security, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
9. New Forms of Public Administration Activity in Poland after 1989 as an Attempt of Realization Current Social Demands
- Author:
- Paulina Bieś-Srokosz
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- The deep changes in Polish legal system and economy that took place after 1989 contributed to the emergence of new challenges for public administration. The legislator, in order to satisfy growing numbers of social demands, appointed new tasks and created a new legal form of action for public administration entities. However, not every of the new forms were fitted to classically understood administrative law. Part of this new forms at the same time combines some features characteristic for administrative law as well as typical for civil law, which gives them untypical (hybrid) character. As an example, there can be mentioned: civil law contracts with so called “overlays” (obligatory additional conditions) imposed by certain legal acts as well as administrative settlements and administrative contracts. The aim of this article is to analyze those hybrid forms of action of public administration entities in terms of implementation the objectives of regulation set by the legislator.
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
10. Friendly Force Dilemmas in Europe: Challenges Within and Among Intergovernmental Organizations and the Implications for the U.S. Army
- Author:
- Strategic Studies Institute
- Publication Date:
- 05-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- After a period of stability, the transatlantic community is facing considerable challenges in maintaining European security. Russia’s efforts to destabilize Europe, terrorism, climate change, energy insecurity, migration, fracturing European identity, and the reemergence of nationalist populism challenge the ability of European institutions to perform their central functions. Different visions for Europe’s future and the lack of a shared threat perception add to these dilemmas.
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
11. USAWC Research Plan AY 2018
- Author:
- COL Todd E Key and LTC Charles A. Carlton
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- The USAWC Research Plan is one part of a research program cycle that incorporates three interrelated documents: the KSIL, the USAWC Annual Research Plan and the USAWC Annual Research Report. While the KSIL drives USAWC research, the Research Plan describes how directed resources will answer many of the questions posed in the KSIL. The Research Report serves as a compendium of research completed and a means to identify unanswered questions from the current KSIL, to assist in the next cycle’s KSIL formulation
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
12. Avoiding the Trap: U.S. Strategy and Policy for Competing in the Asia-Pacific Beyond the Rebalance
- Author:
- Mr. Frederick J. Gellert, Professor John F. Troxell, and Dr. David Lai
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- The challenge for the U.S. administration, and for policy experts writ large, is to build an effective strategy for a whole-of-government action in moving forward from the “Rebalance” in the direction of a free and open Indo-Pacific while avoiding the Thucydides Trap. This U.S. Army War College report provides analysis and policy recommendations on topics regarding the instruments of national power, regional affairs, and key Asia-Pacific countries. The key findings are rooted in the following overarching concepts:
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
13. Trends in international arms transfers 2017
- Author:
- Pieter D. Wezeman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- The volume of international transfers of major weapons in 2013–17 was 10 per cent higher than in 2008–12. This is a continuation of the upward trend that began in the early 2000s. The flow of arms to the Middle East and Asia and Oceania increased between 2008–12 and 2013–17, while there was a decrease in the flow to the Americas, Africa and Europe.
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
14. The “Deal of the Century”: The Final Stage of the Oslo Accords
- Author:
- Joseph Massad
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Al Jazeera Center for Studies
- Abstract:
- Donald Trump’s “Deal of the century” is the final phase of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which formalized the final liquidation of the Palestinian anti-colonial national struggle for independence and liberation. The “Deal” is nothing more or less than the last step of the so-called “peace process.” In order to understand the aims of the “Deal,” we need to go back to the Oslo Accords, which anticipated this step and assiduously prepared the ground for it. Since the beginning of the so-called “peace process” inaugurated in Madrid in 1991, the PLO, through its unofficial negotiators, conceded Palestinian rights one by one, in a gradual process culminating in the official PLO signing of the Declaration of Principles in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993.
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
15. Water Crises, Security and Climate Change
- Author:
- Geoffrey Kemp and Luke Hagberg
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Abstract:
- The historically severe drought in Syria from 2006-2011 led to the migration of rural communities to already overburdened urban centers, which concurrent with the state’s mismanagement of freshwater resources, helped foment the social unrest and the uprisings against President Bashar al-Assad. The ongoing conflict has had repercussions around the globe with refugees fleeing to, and having an unmistakable political impact upon, neighboring states and Europe. The war in Yemen was rooted in the Arab Spring, but while the attempts to overthrow President Ali Abdullah Saleh were eventually successful, the political transition was not. The overextraction of Yemen’s groundwater led to an unprecedented water crisis that has been exacerbated by the civil war. Terrorist cells, militant insurgencies, and foreign interventions have undermined efforts to reform the Yemeni government and address this humanitarian catastrophe.
- Topic:
- International Security, International Affairs, and Water
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
16. 2017-18 Key Strategic Issues List
- Author:
- Todd E Col Key
- Publication Date:
- 07-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- Today's global security environment remains volatile, uncertain, ano complex. Resurgent, revanchist, and unstable states, and radical terrorist organizations continue to challenge the international order, undermine peace and stability, and threaten U.S. interests. In the face of this, the United States Army remains America's combat force of decision. If the political leaders of the United States decide to deploy its Army, the Nation's opponents know they will be defeated. This certainty is the foundation of America's deterrent capability
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
17. Armed Robotic Systems Emergence: Weapons Systems Life Cycles Analysis and New Strategic Realities
- Author:
- Dr. Robert J. Bunker
- Publication Date:
- 11-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- Armed robotic systems—drones and droids—now emerging on the battlefield portend new strategic realities not only for U.S. forces but also for our allies and future potential belligerents. Numerous questions of immediate warfighting importance come to mind with the fielding of these drones and droids that are viewed as still being in their experimental and entrepreneurial stage of development. By drawing upon historical weapons systems life cycles case studies, focusing on the early 9th through the mid-16th-century knight, the mid-19th through the later 20th-century battleship, and the early 20th through the early 21st-century tank, the monograph provides military historical context related to their emergence, and better allows both for questions related to warfighting to be addressed, and policy recommendations related to them to be initially provided.
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
18. Evaluation of the 2015 DoD Cyber Strategy: Mild Progress in a Complex and Dynamic Military Domain
- Author:
- Mr. Jeffrey L. Caton
- Publication Date:
- 11-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- In 2011, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace, which officially recognized cyberspace as an operational domain akin to the traditional military domains of land, sea, air, and space. This monograph examines the 2015 DoD Cyber Strategy to evaluate how well its five strategic goals and associated implementation objectives define an actionable strategy to achieve three primary missions in cyberspace: defend the DoD network, defend the United States and its interests, and develop cyber capabilities to support military operations. This monograph focuses on events and documents from the period of about 1 year before and 1 year after the 2015 strategy was released. This allows sufficient time to examine the key policies and guidance that influenced the development of the strategy as well as follow-on activities for the impacts from the strategy. This inquiry has five major sections that utilize different frameworks of analysis to assess the strategy:
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
19. Meeting U.S. Deterrence Requirements
- Author:
- Robert Einhorn and Steven Pifer
- Publication Date:
- 09-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In conducting its Nuclear Posture Review, the Trump administration needs to consider how best to meet U.S. deterrence requirements in a changing security environment. Today’s most pressing challenges to U.S. deterrence goals come not from the threat of a massive nuclear attack against the U.S. homeland but from the possibility that nuclear-armed adversaries will use the threat of escalation to the nuclear level to act more aggressively in their regions and prevent the United States from coming to the defense of its allies and partners.
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
20. A World in Flux
- Author:
- Johan Verbeke
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- Scholars and pundits alike have been qualifying our times as of “transition and turbulence”, “disorder” and “strategic unease”. Other concepts that recur in discussions on the present state of the world are ‘uncertainty’ and ‘unpredictability’. They all seem to point to a world in flux. Let’s see what that means.
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
21. Cyber and Deterrence: The Military-Civil Nexus in High-End Conflict
- Author:
- Franklin Kramer, Robert J Butler, and Catherine Lotrionte
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- This paper analyzes cyber’s role in deterrence and defense—and specifically the military-civil nexus and the relationship between the Department of Defense (DoD), the civil agencies, and the key private operational cyber entities, in particular the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and electric grid operators. The focus of the paper is on high-end conflict including actions by an advanced cyber adversary, whether state or nonstate, and not on the “day-to-day” intrusions and attacks as regularly occur and are generally dealt with by governmental agencies and the private sector without military involvement. High-end conflict can be expected to include attacks within the United States homeland as well as in forward theatres.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, International Security, Military Strategy, Military Affairs, and Cybersecurity
- Political Geography:
- America and Global Focus
22. The Deterrence and Assurance Conversation
- Author:
- Rebecca K.C. Hersman
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- As we survey the world today, we find the nuclear landscape to be more uncertain and precarious than it has been at any time since the end of the Cold War. In recent years, Russia has taken to routinely rattling its nuclear saber—publicly embracing the value and utility of nuclear weapons while rejecting further nuclear arms control efforts—in an effort to intimidate its smaller neighbors and to test European unity along the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) periphery. North Korea’s expansion and diversification of its nuclear arsenal and associated delivery platforms, combined with Kim Jong-un’s penchant for provocation, has raised the risk of nuclear coercion and undermined confidence in current deterrence approaches. Meanwhile, nuclear competition between Pakistan and India continues to grow, spurred on by Pakistan’s now-open acknowledgment of a range of “tactical” nuclear weapons as part of their “full spectrum deterrence.” And China, unabashed in its desire to assert greater regional dominance, is modernizing, diversifying, and hardening its nuclear forces while simultaneously enhancing complementary capabilities in space, cyber, and advanced missile systems. Over a quarter century past the fall of the Berlin Wall, nuclear dangers appear to be growing rather than receding, contributing to an increasingly complex security environment
- Topic:
- International Security, Self Determination, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
23. Non-proliferation challenges facing the Trump administration
- Author:
- Robert Einhorn
- Publication Date:
- 03-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The global nuclear non-proliferation regime, as it has evolved since the entry into force of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1970, has been remarkably resilient. Despite predictions of a “cascade of proliferation,” there are currently only nine states with nuclear weapons, and that number has remained the same for the past 25 years.[1] The NPT is nearly universal, with 190 parties and only five non-parties (India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, South Sudan). Several countries voluntarily abandoned nuclear weapons development programs (Argentina, Brazil, Egypt); several others were forced diplomatically or militarily to give up the quest (Iraq, Libya, South Korea, Syria); three former Soviet republics inherited nuclear weapons but gave them up (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine); and one country built a small arsenal before unilaterally eliminating it (South Africa). With Iran’s path to nuclear weapons blocked by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for at least 10 to 15 years, there are no non-nuclear weapon states currently believed to be pursuing nuclear weapons, according to U.S. government sources. And despite cases of nuclear smuggling and continuing interest of terrorist groups in acquiring nuclear weapons, no thefts of enough fissile material to build a bomb are believed to have taken place.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Security, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
24. Daesh Meta-Narratives: From the Global Ummah to the Hyperlocal
- Author:
- The Carter Center
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- Daesh’s innovative and tailored use of social media has enabled the terrorist organization to lure and recruit disaffected young men and women on a global scale. Effective interventions to reduce the flow of foreign fighters to Daesh require a nuanced understanding of the organization’s recruitment strategies. This includes both the range of Daesh’s propaganda media (videos, online print materials, offline recruitment networks), and the material’s content.1 Such analysis is essential for policy-makers and community leaders who are on the frontlines of developing effective counter-narratives to Daesh’s insidious ideology.
- Topic:
- Terrorism and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
25. European cybersecurity policy – Trends and prospects
- Author:
- Iva Tasheva
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- European Policy Centre (EPC)
- Abstract:
- Increased digitalisation has brought both economic benefits and cybersecurity challenges. According to Europol, an expanding cybercriminal economy is exploiting our increasingly Internet-enabled lives and low levels of digital skills. This became publicly evident in May 2017 with the biggest ransomware attack so far; the WannaCry cryptoworm exploited a security gap in widely used, and often not updated versions of the Windows operational system. The cyber weapon, which enabled hackers to lock (encrypt) the victims' computer files until they paid a ransom, was stolen from the US National Security Agency. It spread within a few hours, affecting 200,000 computers, compromising the security and preventing the work of critical infrastructures, such as hospitals (NHS), public transport (Deutsche Bahn), banks (Deutsche Bank), service providers (Telefónica), delivery services (FedEx), and businesses across the globe.
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
26. “The Terrorism of the Possible” sweeping Europe
- Author:
- FARAS
- Publication Date:
- 08-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
- Abstract:
- Three European states and Russia were hit by a flurry of six terrorist attacks over five consecutive days during this month of August. A primary driver of the attacks appears to be a desire to deal a series of strong blows to these states in response to the human and material losses suffered by ISIS in Iraq and Syria after it withdrew from Mosul City and retreated in Raqqa City. Similar attack patterns and targets as well as similar identities of the perpetrators of some attacks are what recent attacks appear to have in common. This indicates that the group is trying to adapt and de- velop its tactics, as revealed by investiga- tions into the August 17 Barcelona attack.
- Topic:
- Terrorism and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
27. Gender Equality as a National Security Priority
- Author:
- Julia M. Santucci
- Publication Date:
- 09-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Abstract:
- The Obama administration made efforts to advance gender equality around the world one of its core national security and foreign policy priorities, based on the premise that countries are more stable, secure, and prosperous when women enjoy the same rights as men, participate fully in their countries’ political systems and economies, and live free from violence. A growing body of research makes a compelling case about these links. Former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Cathy Russell and former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon sum up much of the evidence in this Medium piece, noting that advancing gender equality around the world helps grow global gross domestic product, decreases hunger, strengthens the prospects for peace agreements to succeed, and counters violent extremism.1
- Topic:
- International Relations, Gender Issues, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
28. The "Section 702" Surveillance Program
- Author:
- Adam Klein, Madeline Christian, Matt Olsen, and Tristan Campos
- Publication Date:
- 08-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Abstract:
- Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is an important intelligence tool that will expire on December 31, 2017, unless Congress re-authorizes it. Here’s what it is, and how it works. First, a bit of background: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 requires the government to get a court order to intercept the electronic messages of a suspected spy or terrorist on U.S. soil. By contrast, overseas spying took place with no court oversight. That made sense for 20th century technology, because international communications rarely transited the United States. The internet made things far more complicated: now, foreigners’ communications often travel through the United States, or are stored on servers here. That produced an anomaly: FISA was forcing the government to apply Fourth Amendment safeguards when a foreign terrorist or spy’s internet messages passed through the U.S.—even though non-Americans overseas do not have Fourth Amendment rights. This overtaxed the Justice Department and made counterterrorism more difficult. To remedy this, Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which included Section 702. Section 702 creates a middle ground between U.S.-based surveillance under FISA and overseas surveillance by the NSA.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
29. A Blueprint for New Sanctions on North Korea
- Author:
- Edward Fishman, Peter Harrell, and Elizabeth Rosenberg
- Publication Date:
- 07-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Abstract:
- North Korea has emerged as one of the most significant national security threats facing the United States and its allies today. Since leader Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011, North Korea has accelerated the pace of its nuclear tests, and appears to have made substantial progress in developing operational medium-, long-range, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Many experts assess that if left unchecked, Pyongyang could develop the capability to strike the contiguous United States with a nuclear warhead within 5–10 years. Because of that, in June 2017 U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis characterized North Korea as “the most urgent and dangerous threat” to U.S. peace and security.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Security, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- North Korea and Global Focus
30. Artificial Intelligence and National Security
- Author:
- Gregory Allen and Taniel Chan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Abstract:
- Partially autonomous and intelligent systems have been used in military technology since at least the Second World War, but advances in machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) represent a turning point in the use of automation in warfare. Though the United States military and intelligence communities are planning for expanded use of AI across their portfolios, many of the most transformative applications of AI have not yet been addressed. In this piece, we propose three goals for developing future policy on AI and national security: preserving U.S. technological leadership, supporting peaceful and commercial use, and mitigating catastrophic risk. By looking at four prior cases of transformative military technology—nuclear, aerospace, cyber, and biotech—we develop lessons learned and recommendations for national security policy toward AI.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, International Security, Military Strategy, and Cybersecurity
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
31. Higher, Heavier, Farther, and now Undetectable?
- Author:
- Jerry Hendrix and Lt Col James Price
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Abstract:
- On Christmas Day in 1914, three former cross-channel packet ships, the Engadine, Empress, and Riviera, stood off the island of Heligoland in the North Sea. Under the watchful eye of the Royal Navy cruisers Arethusa and Undaunted, the three ships pulled back the tarps erected on their sterns and forecastles to reveal nine seaplanes. The aircraft – three Short Folders (Short was the company name; Folder was the model and denoted the aircraft’s ability to fold its wings for storage), four Short 74s, and two Short 135s – were assembled and carefully lowered into the water. The Folders had a 67-foot wingspan, were powered by a 160-horsepower engine, and weighed 3,040 pounds fully loaded. The other two models were derivatives of the original Folder and had similar, if not exact, characteristics. Seven of the nine aircraft were able to get airborne (the other two were unable to break the dynamic tension of the water) and headed eastward carrying three 20-pound Hale bombs apiece, each of which contained 4.5 pounds of explosives within 13 pounds of steel guided by aluminum tail fins. Combined, the 21 bombs had less destructive power than one 13-inch shell fired from a British battleship, but these weapons could be taken directly to their targets and dropped precisely on top of them.
- Topic:
- International Security and Military Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
32. Toward an “Open Source” Maritime Force Structure
- Author:
- Nicholas C. Prime
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Abstract:
- The U.S. Navy’s updated Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower outlines several key themes and areas of development for the sea services as they continue the transition from the focus on the land wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.1 Some are new, a few are traditional, and several provide an interesting perspective on previously gestating concepts. One item of particular interest, and the focus herein, is the call to “expand the practice of employing adaptive force packages, which tailor naval capabilities to specific regional environments.”2 This seems like something that should be fairly intuitive, something that should evolve naturally as the sea services adapt to new and challenging circumstances. However, the argument here is meant to suggest something broader, a more conceptual rethink of how the maritime services, collectively, develop and deploy force structure packages. In short, all three maritime services should work toward the creation of an integrated, open framework for force development and deployment. A framework which replaces the practice of haphazard or incoherent deployment of assets, deployments with little or no connection between platforms deployed and overarching strategic aims. Abandoning a practice that indelicately pushes standardized—one size fits most—force packages into meeting unique operational requirements, and instead develop a system that identifies operational requirements and allows the relevant services (even when acting in concert with partner nations) to more precisely match particular capabilities to unique operational requirements.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
33. Following the Money: A Primer on Terrorist Financing
- Author:
- Ellie Maruyama and Kelsey Hallahan
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Abstract:
- Terrorist financing entails the raising and moving of funds intended for terrorist causes.1 The number and type of terrorist groups and the threats associated with them have changed over time, but the fundamental need for terrorists to raise, move, and use funds has remained constant.2 Terrorists have displayed adaptability and opportunism in meeting their financing needs, which vary but can be substantial.3 For example, al Qaeda relied on many sources of funding and its pre-9/11 annual budget was an estimated $30 million.4 The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), one of the best-funded terrorist organizations in modern history, approved a $2 billion budget for 2015
- Topic:
- Terrorism and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
34. Mapping the Global Legal Landscape of Blockchain and Other Distributed Ledger Technologies
- Author:
- Julie Maupin
- Publication Date:
- 10-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Blockchain, tangle and other distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are pushing a broad array of previously centralized global economic activities toward decentralized market structures. Governments should tackle the new regulatory conundrums of an increasingly disintermediated global economy by focusing on DLTs’ individual use cases rather than its underlying enabling technologies. Grouping the known use cases by common characteristics reveals three broad categories of blockchain-law interfaces. For ease of reference, this paper labels these the recycle box, the dark box and the sandbox. Each raises distinct legal, regulatory and policy challenges deserving of separate analysis.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
35. Untangling the Web: A Blueprint for Reforming American Security Sector Assistance
- Author:
- Rose Jackson
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Open Society Foundations
- Abstract:
- Since the attacks of 9/11, the United States has spent more than $250 billion building up military and police forces around the world. From attempts to build whole armies in Iraq and Afghanistan to efforts to help Yemen or Nigeria fight terrorism, the impact of these efforts has been mixed and in some cases counterproductive, exacerbating local corruption, human rights abuses, and even terrorism. A knot of U.S. offices and agencies have evolved to provide this aid, mostly pulling in different directions. Untangling the Web: A Blueprint for Reforming American Security Sector Assistance describes the main failures in the system and sets out immediate steps the next administration can take to improve how the U.S. government plans, coordinates, and executes its security-related assistance. This would significantly increase transparency and accountability and link the aid more closely to the human rights, development, and governance outcomes that are essential to U.S. foreign policy interests and national security.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, National Security, Terrorism, War, International Security, Military Affairs, Counter-terrorism, and Grand Strategy
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Global Focus
36. 2017 Natural Resource Governance Index
- Author:
- Natural Resource Governance Institute
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Natural Resource Governance Institute
- Abstract:
- This report presents the key findings and core messages of the 2017 Resource Governance Index. The index measures the quality of resource governance in 81 countries that together produce 82 percent of the world’s oil, 78 percent of its gas and a significant proportion of minerals, including 72 percent of all copper. It is the product of 89 country assessments (eight countries were assessed in two sectors), compiled by 150 researchers, using almost 10,000 supporting documents to answer 149 questions
- Topic:
- International Security and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
37. Beyond the Caliphate
- Author:
- Richard Barrett
- Publication Date:
- 10-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Soufan Group
- Abstract:
- As the so-called Islamic State (IS) loses territorial control of its caliphate, there is little doubt that the group or something similar will survive the worldwide campaign against it. As long as the conditions that allowed the group to exist in the first place remain, IS or something like it will survive. The threat will mutate…
- Topic:
- International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
38. Mission to the Middle East 2017: The Plight of the Displaced
- Author:
- Kevin Appleby
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Migration Studies of New York
- Abstract:
- From February 23, 2017 to March 6, 2017, His Eminence Roger Cardinal Mahony, archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles, California; His Excellency Silvano Tomasi, c.s., delegate secretary for the Holy See’s Dicastery on Integral Human Development; and Kevin Appleby, senior director of international migration policy of the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) and the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), joined in a mission to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Greece to examine the situation of refugees and the displaced in these states
- Topic:
- Migration and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
39. Back from the Brink Toward Restraint and Dialogue between Russia and the West
- Author:
- William Perry and Deep Cuts Commission
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- This report contains a number of bold proposals on how to better manage relations between the West and Russia in order to avert worst-case scenarios. Specifying that cooperative solutions are pos- sible without giving up on the fundamental interests of each side, it warrants a close look by officials in both Moscow and Washington.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Cooperation, International Security, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Russia, America, Europe, and Global Focus
40. The Cyber Financial Wars on the Horizon
- Author:
- Juan Zarate
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Juan Zarate, with a foreword from Stewart Baker, looks forward to the future as cyberattacks and intrusions become increasingly common weapons in the ever-expanding toolkit of state and non-state actors.
- Topic:
- International Security and Cybersecurity
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
41. A, B, C – Deployment of Civilian Capacities to International Peace Operations
- Author:
- Denis Hadžović
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Centre for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- After the end of the Cold War traditional peacekeeping has become more complex and multidimensional, including not only military but also civilian, political and humanitarian tasks.1 The concept of peacekeeping thus broadened into a concept of peacebuilding, which dates back to the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe and Japan. The term ‘peacebuilding’ entered the international lexicons in the early 1990s when the then United Nations Secretary General Boutros- Boutros Ghali defined it in his 1992 Agenda for Peace as “…Action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict“.2
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
42. Launch of CTED Global Research Network
- Author:
- The Soufan Group
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Soufan Group
- Abstract:
- With a view to enhancing its analytical capacity and its engagement with the research community, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) launched a global research network at United Nations Headquarters, New York, on 19 February 2015
- Topic:
- International Security and Counter-terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
43. ISIS global strategy: A wargame
- Author:
- Harleen Gambhir
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of War
- Abstract:
- The United States currently faces multiple national security threats in an environment of growing disorder. ISIS is executing a sophisticated global strategy that involves simultaneous efforts in Iraq and Syria, the Middle East and North Africa, and the wider world. Homegrown terrorism is increasing in the U.S. and Europe. Civil wars are intensifying in Ukraine, Yemen, and Libya, while the U.S. attempts to pivot to the Asia-Pacific. In this complex environment, it is difficult for policymakers to discern the consequences of action or inaction even in the near future.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
44. The Islamic State
- Author:
- The Soufan Group
- Publication Date:
- 12-2014
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Soufan Group
- Abstract:
- The self-styled Islamic State is an accident of history, emerging from multiple social, political, and economic tensions in the Middle East and beyond. It has challenged the territorial divisions imposed on the region following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire by carving out for itself a large area of territory. But ultimately, its impact will flow as much from its challenge to established concepts of government, national sovereignty, and national identity.”
- Topic:
- Terrorism, International Security, and Islamic State
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
45. Maritime Security East of Suez Sustaining the U.S. Role as the Key Policeman in Times of Change
- Author:
- Geoffrey Kemp
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Abstract:
- At the height of America’s postwar power, in the 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. Seventh Fleet was able to sustain an unchallenged presence “East of Suez” to embrace the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Indonesian Straits, and the South and East China Seas as well as the Western Pacific. Today the U.S. remains the dominant maritime power in this vast area, especially in the region to the west of the Straits of Malacca. However, in the region closer to China, the growing power projection and sea denial capabilities of China’s military raises questions about the future ability of the United States to operate with immunity in an area China increasingly believes is part of its own patrimony. Although the United States has many allies in the region, especially Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and increasingly Vietnam, the trends in military spending and force deployments suggest the U.S. will have to increasingly rely on cooperation with allies if there is to be a balance against China’s maritime aspirations. The downside of this is that the U.S. must avoid being drawn into the many bilateral disputes between China and its neighbors and must try to play a conciliatory role rather than taking sides. This will inevitably mean that the U.S. will have to play a different role from the one it became accustomed to during its days as the undisputed hegemon. The U.S. will still remain the key policeman in the Indian Ocean and Gulf regions, but will have to adapt to a different role in parts of the Western Pacific and southeast Asian waters.
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
46. Extended Deterrence and Security in East Asia.
- Author:
- Paul Saunders
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Abstract:
- Following the North Korean sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan, and North Korea’s subsequent shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, the Center for the National Interest proposed a U.S.-Japan-South Korea dialogue on extended deterrence in East Asia to assess whether and how the three countries could work together to strengthen stability in a region of vital importance to America’s security and prosperity—and, of course, to the security and prosperity of its close allies. Shortly before the project began, the collision of a Chinese fishing vessel with a Japanese coast guard ship near the Senkaku Islands led to a significant political confrontation between Tokyo and Beijing
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus