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42. Europe's Armed Forces in Civil Security
- Author:
- John L. Clarke
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- Two decades after the end of the Cold War, does Europe need armies? What should soldiers do, besides fighting and preparing to fight? What tasks are (and are not) ap- propriate for soldiers to carry out in a domestic context? Is territorial defense still a valid mission for European armed forces? And are there better—and cheaper—solu- tions?
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
43. NATO's Energy Security Policy Put to the Caspian Test
- Author:
- Nathan R. Grison
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- As a bridge between the Middle East, the former Soviet republics, and the Euro-Atlan- tic zone, the Caspian Sea is increasingly at the center of the global geopolitical and commercial game. In addition to its strategic location, the Caspian Sea, according to analysts, could contain between 6 and 10 percent of the world's gas reserves, and from 2 to 6 percent of the world's oil reserves.
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Middle East
44. Strategic Thinking about Future Security
- Author:
- Marian Kozub
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- The reality that we face at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century renders security issues, and in particular the ways of providing security, central to international attention, both in its present and future aspects. The reasons for this centrality are not only the revolutionary changes in science and technology, but also perhaps even more importantly the characteristics of the already diagnosed and existing threats and predicted challenges for the global security environment for which we have not yet found sufficient responses. This essay focuses on the notion of challenges and opportunities created by the world in transition that we undoubtedly face, instead of relying on the "language of threats" and the responsive, symptomatic approach towards them that has characterized the discourse of the strategic community in the past. Discussing a new security environment requires a new set of terms.
- Topic:
- Cold War
- Political Geography:
- Europe
45. NATO's Cooperation with Others: A Comprehensive Challenge
- Author:
- Agata Szydelko
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- What defines NATO when it is compared to the United Nations and the European Union? Is NATO an "institution of doing" (task-oriented), or an "institution of being" (identity-based)? While trying to define the role and reasons for NATO's existence in comparison to the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) and trying to answer whether NATO is an identity-based or task-oriented institution, it is worthwhile to reach out to the sources and find out when and why these three international institutions were established in the first place and what is the primary driver of their decision making.
- Topic:
- NATO
- Political Geography:
- Europe and United Nations
46. Recent Trends in Security and Stability in the South Caucasus
- Author:
- Richard Giragosian and Sergey Minasyan
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- After twenty years of independence, the three counties of the South Caucasus-Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia-continue to struggle with a daunting set of challenges. In light of several unresolved conflicts and profound deficiencies in efforts directed at democratic and economic reform, the South Caucasus continues to be a "region at risk." As if this rather bleak landscape was not enough, three more recent trends have emerged to further threaten the region's security and stability. The first trend, and one that is likely to have the most profound effects over the long term, is evident in a subtle shift in the already delicate balance of power in the region, driven largely by a steady surge in Azerbaijani defense spending and exacerbated by a lack of progress in the mediation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Since the 1994 ceasefire that resulted in the suspension of hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh (but that did not definitively end them), this unresolved or "frozen" conflict has been subject to an international mediation effort conducted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) so-called Minsk Group. This tripartite body co-chaired by France, Russia, and the United States seeks to engage and prod the parties to the conflict toward a negotiated resolution of the conflict.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Security
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Caucasus, France, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia
47. Medvedev's Proposals for a New European Security Order: A Starting Point or the End of the Story?
- Author:
- Ulrich Kűhn
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- On 29 November 2009, the Kremlin published the draft of a legally binding European security treaty on its website. The initiative launched by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2008 for the rearrangement of Europe's security order thus reached its preliminary and unexpected climax, or perhaps an inconclusive endpoint. At their core, Medvedev's proposals aim at a codification of NATO's current borders, a recovery of Russian influence in the so-called “near abroad,” and the establishment of legally binding “rules of the game” going forward in the realm of maintaining peace and stability in Europe.
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Europe
48. Small States and (In)Security: A Comparison of Ireland and Slovenia
- Author:
- Daniel R. Sweeney and Joseph L. Derdzinski
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- This article compares the defense and security policies of two of Europe's smallest states: Ireland and Slovenia. The Irish military has a relatively small permanent force, based in part on their being sequestered from any major threat due to their island location, but there is also the precedent against a large military stemming from the nation's long occupation by the British military. The Slovene military evolved concurrent with the Slovene state: a small, homogenous entity that embraced Western institutions and values. Despite a relative lack of experience in democratic civil-military relations, Slovenia has tenaciously promoted its place in the world, and developed an active and professional military within a democratic state. This essay aims to add to the theoretical understandings of the major security decisions—especially with respect to the civil- military dynamic—that small states make. This comparison is key in understanding overall patterns of democratic governance and civil-military relations.
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ireland, and Slovenia
49. Foreword
- Author:
- General Raimund Schittenhelm
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- The Republic of Austria joined the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes through its Ministry of Defense in 1999. Right from the beginning, Austria's primary interest centered on the issues of security policy and crisis management, with a special focus on the Western Balkans region. As a consequence, the Austrian National Defense Academy promoted the establishment of a Study Group on Regional Stability in South East Europe (RSSEE) jointly with Croatia and Bulgaria at the Consortium's second annual conference in Sofia in December 1999.
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Austria
50. Fifteen Years of Peace-building Activities in the Western Balkans: Lessons Learned and Current Challenges
- Author:
- Michael Daxner
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- While Michael Schmunk's observations presented at the twentieth workshop of the PfP Consortium Study Group on Regional Stability in South East Europe are largely accurate, in this essay I will bring more precise emphasis on a few key issues. I will use the case of the Kosovo intervention as an example for my views on the region, and I shall try to generalize some of my experiences in the light of other, more recent interventions elsewhere. A partially subjective approach is chosen to demonstrate the problems that confront social scientists who attempt to bear in mind both the political and the scientific, while recognizing that they belong to two different systems.
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans