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141. The Russian Bear: Russian Strategic Culture and What it Implies for the West

Author:
Norbert Eitelhuber
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
This essay identifies the nature of Russia's strategic culture: it is its propensity to use force to achieve strategic objectives. It argues that Western policymakers have consistently misperceived the reasons for Russian foreign policy behavior, as they fail to take into account the enduring nature of Russia's strategic culture. This article claims that Russia has a strategic culture that is fairly stable, although significant changes occurred after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Most importantly, Russia's imperial ambitions vanished, along with the desire to spread an ideology. The role of military strength as a source of power declined, while the prominence of economic power increased. In the post-Cold War era, Russia has aimed at restoring its status within a great power order, improving the standard of living for its people, and developing (or revising) its national identity. At the same time, the strategic culture that prevails in Moscow makes Russia particularly sensitive to actions taken by the West. The article concludes by examining opportunities for accommodation and constructive engagement with Russia. To attenuate the tensions that currently exist, the West should react assertively but moderately to rhetorical saber rattling and other provocations, and engage in constructive cooperation on both contemporary security threats and economic issues, including pursuing close cooperation to mitigate the effects of the international financial crisis on Russia. In the near term, the West should focus on working with Russia to develop a new concept for long-term security and stability in Eurasia. Future research should thus focus on forward-looking networked diplomacy approaches that may be suited to overcome a Cold War mindset oriented toward bloc confrontation.
Topic:
Cold War
Political Geography:
Russia

142. Corruption in Lithuania

Author:
Raimundas Urbonas
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The negative impact of corruption on a country and its population is tremendous. It affects state politics, economics, administration, the legal and social sphere, and precipitates a negative international perception of state prestige. The purpose of this article is to describe the status of corruption in Lithuania in comparison with other European Union member states and other counties, discuss achievements in the creation of an anti-corruption legal framework, analyze how corruption affects democracy in Lithuania and, finally, assess corruption in Lithuania by comparing cultural conditions in Lithuania versus selected European Union countries.
Topic:
Corruption
Political Geography:
Europe and Lithuania

143. Montenegro's Strategic Priorities on the Path of Euro-Atlantic Integration

Author:
Gordana Djurović
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Euro-Atlantic integration is the best framework for ensuring the long-term stability and security of the countries in the Western Balkans, and is the precondition for their economic development. Euro-Atlantic frameworks provide mechanisms for establishing confidence between countries in the regions, as well as strengthening cooperation and understanding, in the area of security and in many other fields. This is the reason why Montenegro fully supports the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of its neighbors, with a focus on regional cooperation and participation in all regional initiatives that are based on a good-neighbor policy. Montenegro's strategic priorities on the international level are building positive relations with its neighbors, increasing the level of regional security, and contributing to peacekeeping and stability in the world through participation in international missions and operations led by the UN, the EU, and NATO. At the same time, practical and efficient realization and implementation of a range of Partnership for Peace mechanisms have enabled Montenegro to gain access in a very short period of time to the Intensified Dialogue with NATO, and to begin the initial stages of the Membership Action Plan. Montenegro is ready to respond as rapidly as possible to all challenges that might arise in its path toward NATO membership, and looks forward to working in consultation and assistance with NATO, its neighbors, and other member states of NATO and the PfP.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe and United Nations

144. Security Sector Reform

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
This paper provides Department of State, Department of Defense (DoD), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) practitioners with guidelines for planning and implementing Security Sector Reform (SSR) programs with foreign partner nations. SSR refers to reform efforts directed at the institutions, processes, and forces that provide security and promote the rule of law. Over the past decade, the U.S. Government (USG), along with like-minded bilateral and multilateral donors, has begun to develop a more comprehensive approach to SSR by better integrating its defense, development, and diplomatic tools and resources. The objective of this new approach is to assist partner governments to provide effective, legitimate, and accountable security for their citizens. In so doing, SSR assists these governments to respond appropriately to threats within and outside their borders.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
United States

145. Countering Air Terrorism

Author:
Stanisław Zajas
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Air terrorism is an international phenomenon, and one that is not at all new to the global scene: the first example of a politically-motivated jetliner hijacking happened in July 1968, and the first bomb attack on board a plane occurred in May 1949. Until 1967, the number of terrorist attack s directed against civilian aviation was minimal. From 1967–77, however, the frequency of these terrorist attacks increased rapidly. The highest numbers of terrorist acts against civilian airliners was recorded in the years 1977–86. The current annual frequency of such events represents a decrease of about half from the high-water mark in the early 1980s, but the potential effects of contemporary air terrorism attacks are more dramatic and tragic. Terrorists' targets in such operations are passenger planes, airports, or airline offices. The events of 11 September 2001 have shown that terrorists can suddenly strike against key facilities—private buildings, government properties, military installations, etc.—in any place on earth. The destruction of symbolic objects can weaken the confidence of citizens in a nation's government, because the state is not able to secure the safety of their own people. And the attacks of 9/11 also proved that at least some terrorists will not hesitate to use jetliners as “human missiles” to accomplish their aims.
Topic:
Terrorism

146. U.S. Climate Change Policy: A New Chance for Leadership

Author:
Samiksha Nair
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
U.S. climate change policy has been glacial in its progress over the past fifteen years, as its development has been subject to significant economic and political forces. Even though there has been a gradually narrowing global consensus in the great debate on climate change, a distinct impression exists that the United States, as one of the principal producers of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world, has delayed signing on to the leading international accords that seek to reduce and control their harmful effects. U.S. policy regarding climate change over the past eight years has been subject to the less-than-friendly approach of the recently completed Bush Administration, but a new, almost diametrically opposed stance is now expected from the Obama Administration. While wholesale reversals of policy are predicted, realists see less of a policy shift in the offing, and in fact expect to see the continuation of earlier policies in many areas.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
United States

147. Political Dimensions of the Northern Afghanistan Resupply Routes

Author:
Gregory Gleason
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
A series of insurgent attacks in Pakistan targeting U.S./NATO supply lines took place during the latter half of 2008 and early 2009. As much as 75 percent of the cargo to support military operations and development programs in Afghanistan previously had been shipped through Pakistan, passing through a small number of precarious transport corridors, constrained by chokepoints and subject to disruption. As a result of insurgent attacks, carriage of supplies through the Khyber Pass along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was repeatedly interrupted for brief periods. These events in Pakistan shifted Allied attention from the southern routes to Afghanistan's northern access routes. The existing transit routes for supplies entering Afghanistan from the north passed across European and Eurasian countries and then through the Central Asian countries. This combination of port, air, rail, and road facilities came to be referred to within the framework of Afghanistan's normalization operations as the NDN-the "Northern Distribution Network."
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and Central Asia

148. Energy and the 3 Levels of National Security: Differentiating Energy Concerns within a National Security Context

Author:
Phillip E. Cornell
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The past several years have seen a renewed interest in the confluence of energy security and national security policy. Defining the intersection between such wideranging policy areas has been predictably inconsistent, and highly dependent on respective national and agent-based interests. At both national and multinational levels, conflicting objectives and definitions have driven confused attempts to develop singular "energy security" policies within an international security context. Since 2006, NATO has been engaged in a concerted if arduous and controversial process of defining the value the organization adds to the security environment. The new U.S. administration has put energy security front and center on its agenda, particularly in relation to foreign and security policy, but a confused interagency jumble has left many hands on the rudder of foreign energy policy. In the media as well as policy circles, cut-offs of Russian gas, Somali piracy, SCADA system vulnerabilities, terrorist attacks on Middle East pipelines, nuclear safety, and volatile gasoline prices have been too often lumped together.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
United States and Middle East

149. Russia's Asymmetric Wars in Chechnya since 1994

Author:
Martin Malek
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Historically, symmetrical warfare was not the norm, but rather a European anomaly. Today's protracted low-intensity wars seem to point back towards the era of asymmetrical warfare. This development is obviously closely linked to the phenomenon of state failure in Third World countries, in southern regions of the former USSR, and in the Western Balkans.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

150. Enhancing Diplomatic Effectiveness: A Common-Sense Risk Management Approach to Counter-terrorism

Author:
Raphael Perl
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Effective counter-terrorism efforts require practical and realistic risk management decisions. Since our resources are limited, clearly we should allocate them in sensible proportions and on parallel tracks in order to achieve optimal results over the long term. Unfortunately, while we are good at mobilizing resources to defend against perceived imminent threats, we often neglect or underfund other important activities, such as enhanced diplomacy, which could reduce those threats in the future.
Topic:
Diplomacy and Environment