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32. Rising powers in Africa: what does this mean for the African peace and security agenda?
- Author:
- Elling N. Tjønneland
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- Much has been written about the role of the rising or emerging powers and their accelerating economic engagement in Africa. Much less is known about how they contribute to or impact on the African peace and security agenda. This report takes a comparative look at the roles of China, India, Brazil and South African in relation to the African Union and its African Peace and Security Architecture. Each of these four countries has a distinct commercial and corporate approach to Africa, despite a shared political commitment to South-South cooperation. However, as they extend their economic engagement they are becoming more sensitive to insecurity and volatility. The Asian and Latin American countries, which traditionally have strongly emphasised non-intervention, are gradually becoming more involved in the African security agenda. They are increasingly concerned about their image and reputation and the security of their citizens and business interests, and are becoming more prepared to act multilaterally and to work with others in facilitating security and stability. As an African power, South Africa plays a more direct role and has emerged as a major architect of the continent's evolving peace and security architecture. This report summarises elements from a broader research project on rising powers and the African peace and security agenda undertaken by CMI in cooperation with NOREF.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Rights, International Cooperation, Regional Cooperation, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Africa, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and Latin America
33. Five Long-Term Challenges for NATO beyond the Ukraine Crisis
- Author:
- Karl-Heinz Kamp
- Publication Date:
- 07-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- Moscow's aggression against Ukraine has truly been a “game changer” for the Atlantic Alliance. Its implications for NATO's further evolution can hardly be over-estimated and after the likely shoot-down of a Malaysian civil aircraft over Ukrainian territory, controlled by pro-Russian rebels, the situation is even more unpredictable. Even if the catastrophe has put heavy political pressure on President Putin to reduce Russian involvement in Ukraine, Moscow is still not likely to revert the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. As a result, the crisis will dominate the international security debate for a long time to come. Thus, signs of resolve directed at Russia, measures to reassure the NATO members in Eastern Europe and indications of further cooperation with Ukraine will rank very high on the agenda of the NATO summit in Wales in September 2014. With the draw-down of the operation in Afghanistan, some Allies tend to see NATO's future role as primarily to preserve the territorial integrity of its member states. Hence, they argue in favour of a “back to basics” approach with an Alliance concentrated on its defence mission, according to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
- Topic:
- Security, Terrorism, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Malaysia, Ukraine, Asia, and Moscow
34. The Future of US Extended Deterrence in Asia to 2025
- Author:
- Robert A. Manning
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- US extended deterrence in Asia, involving the full spectrum from nuclear to conventional capabilities, faces an array of new challenges. Indeed, a dynamic, volatile, and more complex security landscape in the Asia-Pacific and globally has heightened regional security concerns and given deterrence and strategic stability a renewed importance in the period extending to 2025.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Nuclear Weapons, International Security, and Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Asia, and Asia-Pacific
35. Crisis Management Mechanisms: Pathologies and Pitfalls
- Author:
- David A. Welch
- Publication Date:
- 08-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- As events demonstrate on a regular basis, the Asia-Pacific is a region prone to crisis. In recent years there has been a marked increase in the use of military force to signal interests or resolve, and even, in some cases, to alter the status quo, particularly in the East and South China Seas. Fortunately, none of these “mini crises” have escalated to the level of a shooting war. The received wisdom is that, all other things being equal, no country in the region desires conflict, owing to their high levels of economic interdependence. However, it is clear that in a context of rising nationalism, unresolved historical grievances and increasing hostility and suspicion, there is no reason to be complacent about the prospect of managing every future crisis successfully. Hence the recent surge in interest in crisis management “mechanisms” (CMMs). This paper explores the dangers of thinking of crisis management in an overly technical or mechanistic fashion, but also argues that sensitivity to those very dangers can be immensely useful. It draws upon US and Soviet experiences in the Cuban missile crisis to inform management of a hypothetical future Sino-American crisis in the East China Sea, and to identify general principles for designing and implementing CMMs.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Foreign Policy, International Security, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Asia
36. Chinese Strategy and Military Power in 2014
- Author:
- Anthony H. Cordesman
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
- Abstract:
- The United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) face a critical need to improve their understanding of how each is developing its military power and how to avoid forms of military competition that could lead to rising tension or conflict between the two states. This report focuses on China 's military developments and modernization and how they are perceived in the US, the West, and Asia.
- Topic:
- International Security, Military Strategy, and Hegemony
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Asia, and Korea
37. NATO in an Era of Global Competition
- Author:
- Magnus Nordenman
- Publication Date:
- 06-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- As NATO winds down its long combat operation in Afghanistan, the Alliance is facing a new and dynamic security environment that is more strategically constraining and competitive than at any time since the end of the Cold War. This is spurred by a set of long-term trends that are driving a transformation of global arrangements and power relationships and is further reinforced by fiscal austerity and uncertain political leadership on both sides of the Atlantic. Furthermore, along with these long-term challenges, increasing turbulence in the Middle East and the Ukraine crisis mean that NATO today has serious security concerns to tend to on the immediate periphery of Alliance territory.
- Topic:
- NATO, Demographics, Science and Technology, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Ukraine, Middle East, Asia, and Syria
38. Recalibrating CSDP - NATO Relations: The Real Pivot
- Author:
- Jo Coelmont and Maurice de Langlois
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- Are long-standing allies drifting apart? In the US, struggling with budget deficits, questions such as “Is current US security strategy not stimulating free-riding by allies and friends?”, or “NATO: what is in it for us? “, and even “Should the US not withdraw from NATO's military command structure?”1, are more than ever coming to the fore. In Europe on the other hand, even if some worry about the effects of the “the US pivot to Asia”, many are still looking to the US to take ultimate responsibility for crisis management operations. The effect of the post-Iraq/post-Afghanistan context in the US and the real meaning of “leadership from behind” are not that well understood in Europe. The message that at times it will be up to Europeans to take responsibility has not come across. Consequently, so far Europeans have not achieved more coherence in defence capabilities, let alone more integration – barely some limited cooperation and minimal savings. Persistent shortfalls in military capabilities are not being met, quite the contrary.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, NATO, Globalization, International Cooperation, International Security, and Power Politics
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Europe, and Asia
39. NATO and Japan as Multifaceted Partners
- Author:
- Michito Tsuruoka
- Publication Date:
- 04-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- Japan and NATO are now partners on the international security scene, but they used to live in different worlds with little interaction between the two. The Cold War, as seen from Washington and Moscow, was undoubtedly a global conflict. Yet, in many respects, it was still regional in nature: United States allies in Europe and Asia faced different sets of threats and challenges which, more often than not, evolved separately. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that relations between Japan and NATO did not develop during the Cold War, though both were US allies, sharing fundamental values and facing the Soviet Union as a common threat. Indeed, during the Cold War period NATO as an alliance had no substantial relationships with non-members, nor did it see the need for partnerships. This was largely because there was no reason for it to seek external help in achieving its core mission of defending the Allies.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, Europe, Washington, Asia, and Moscow
40. Not only "Containerspotting" - NATO's Redeployment from Landlocked Afghanistan
- Author:
- Heidi Reisinger
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- On 31 December 2014, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, the largest military mission of NATO, will be history. In line with the political decision taken at NATO's Lisbon Summit in 2010, ISAF troops will be leaving. With them will go all their equipment: a range of items, from weapon systems and armored vehicles to chairs, kitchens and fitness centers used by more than 100,000 troops and approximately the same amount of civilian personnel. This is a gigantic project. If one thought getting into Afghanistan was difficult, getting out is a lot harder. It represents the biggest multi-national military logistical challenge in modern history. Millions of tons of material have to be de-militarized, dismantled, handed over, sold, scrapped, recycled, donated to the Afghans and/or third nations, or transferred home. More than 125,000 containers and 80,000 military vehicles have to be disposed of or brought back home to NATO nations and NATO partner countries. If the containers and the vehicles were placed one after the other, end to end, they would form a line as long as the distance from Berlin to Paris.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, NATO, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Europe, Paris, Asia, and Berlin