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561. Developing an Innovation- Based Ecosystem at the U.S. Department of Defense: Challenges and Opportunities

Author:
Adam Jay Harrison, Bharat Rao, and Bala Mulloth
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Abstract:
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is looking at new ways to spur entrepreneurship and innovation among its stakeholders and related constituencies. We recommend creating a platform within the DOD focused on developing the Human and Relational Capital components of the innovation ecosystem such as the MD5 National Security Technology Accelerator, an initiative that develops innovators and human-centered networks that create high-tech “ventures” relevant to national security. The proposed ecosystem would not only facilitate the development of high-tech ventures in the national security interest, but also educate and build networks of innovators and entrepreneurs, both inside and outside of DOD, who would be equipped with the incentives, expertise, know-how, and resources required to continuously develop, commercialize, or apply technology relevant to military needs. A competency framework for developing such an ecosystem that would encourage venture-led, dual-use products that provide a sustainable, competitive advantage for the DOD and the national economy is presented and discussed.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

562. Russian Forward Military Basing in Armenia and Moscow’s Infl uence in the South Caucasus

Author:
Can Kasapoglu
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
In military history, bastions were defensive strongholds, mostly with a pentagonal outline, which off ered perfect combat emplacements for crossfi re. Th ereby, they off ered excellent advantages to defenders and enabled counter-balancing capabilities against besiegers’ artilleries. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, a famous French military engineer, Marshal of France (mid-17th to early 18th centuries), and a master of the bastion system along with other fortifi cations, even designed ‘bastioned towers’ to protect main walls by fl anking enemy fi re.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

563. The Western Balkans and the Revenge of History

Author:
Ian Hope
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Th e Warsaw Summit affi rmed Alliance interest in and commitment to many geographic regions and nations, without stating priorities. Th e Western Balkans drew attention, with Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro receiving specifi c mention in the Summit Communiqué.2 However, the Summit promoted a continuance of current NATO activity in this region, not a shift or amelioration. Implicit in this is that the status quo, a small NATO force in Kosovo to enhance security and several liaison offi ces to monitor partnership activity and the application of the Membership Action Plan in the other Western Balkans states, is suffi cient. Th is paper will argue that such eff orts are too small and disjointed to meet the growing challenges in the region, especially given NATO’s obligation to confl ict prevention in the wake of its signifi cant and successful interventions there in 1996 and 1999.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

564. NATO in the Black Sea: What to Expect Next?

Author:
Zviad Adzinbaia
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Black Sea security directly impacts the economic development, peace and stability of the Euro-Atlantic theater. NATO and the EU, as well as their members and partners, have immense interests in ensuring a secure and prosperous environment in the Black Sea, advancing trade relations through the East-West corridor, and further promoting the notion of a Europe “whole, free and at peace.”
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

565. Trust (in) NATO Th e future of intelligence sharing within the Alliance

Author:
Jan Ballast
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
On 21 October 2016, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) appointed its fi rst Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security (ASG-I&S), Dr. Arndt Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven.2 His appointment was the result of a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on 8-9 July 2016 in Warsaw, where the Heads of State and Government stated the requirement to strengthen intelligence within NATO.3 In doing so, the Alliance underlined that improved cooperation on intelligence would increase early warning, force protection and general resilience.4
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

566. The Evolution of the Hybrid Threat, and Resilience as a Countermeasure

Author:
Uwe Hartmann
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
The year 2014 marks a strategic ‘inflection point’ in world history. To make sense of the new security challenges, NATO offi cials and member states’ governments have used the term ‘hybrid warfare,’2 although some scholars have criticized it as a buzzword lacking a clear defi nition. However, since hybrid warfare is rather more about exploiting the vulnerabilities of statecraft than about destroying armed forces, states have slightly diff erent understandings of it consistent with their own specifi c security challenges. Consequently, for scientifi c research, as well as for security organizations such as NATO, finding a common definition is not easy and probably not useful.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

567. Winning Peace and Exporting Stability: Colombia as NATO’s next Global Partner?

Author:
Robert Helbig and Guillaume Lasconjarias
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Is Colombia going to be NATO’s next global partner? In June 2013, the question was alreaady worthy of attention, when Colombia and NATO entered into an “Agreement on the Security of Information” that was signed between then-NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow and Colombia’s Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón. While the deal encompassed not much more than sharing intelligence in areas of common concern, the agreement surely was “a fi rst step for future cooperation in the security fi eld” and Ambassador Vershbow remarked that “Colombia’s expertise in enhancing integrity in the military is precisely the kind of substantive contribution that exemplifi es the added value of cooperation.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

568. The future of NATO and R2P Ten lessons in norm formation

Author:
Brooke Smith-Windsor
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
To this day, a visit to NATO’s offi cial website paints a glowing account of its 2011 military intervention in Libya under United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973:2 Following the Gaddafi regime’s targeting of civilians in February 2011, NATO answered the United Nation’s (UN) call to the international community to protect the Libyan people … a coalition of NATO Allies and partners began enforcing an arms embargo, maintaining a no-fl y zone and protecting civilians and civilian populated areas from attack or the threat of attack under Operation Unifi ed Protector (OUP). OUP successfully concluded on 31 October 2011.3 While immediate operational goals may have been achieved, and urgent threats to lives in Benghazi and elsewhere averted, more than half a decade hence the post-intervention legacy is far from rosy. What followed the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in October 2011 is a Libya and neighbourhood still rife with instability and violence facing the spectre of widespread civil strife and even collapse
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

569. What Holds Some Terrorist Organizations from Joining al-Qaeda?

Author:
FARAS
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
Abstract:
The Sahel and Sahara region has witnessed, in recent years, the emergence of a number of terrorist groups that adopt extremist ideologies, but with- out engaging with major cross-border terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda despite developing strong ties with them. The situation prompted views that these new groups are undeclared branches of the mother organization due, on the grounds that their ideology is, to a large extent, identical to that embraced by al-Qaeda. Moreover, these new groups show support to al-Qaeda’s terror attacks, which raises questions about the reasons why there are such groups that operate under various names and are, at the same time, keen to set themselves aside from al-Qaeda.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

570. The Razumkov Center Newsletter

Author:
Razumkov Center
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Razumkov Centre
Abstract:
The next presidential election in Ukraine is set for 31 March 2019. The parliamentary election to the 9th Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will take place on 27 October 2019. According to the latest survey conducted in October 2017, the following parties would be elected to the Parliament: «Petro Poroshenko Bloc «Solidarity» (13.6%), «Batkivshchyna» (10%), «Civic Position» party (8.9%), «Opposition Bloc» party (8.6%), «For Life» party (6.8%), the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko (6.5%), «Self Help» Union (5.9%). Others would not be able to cross the 5% threshold.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus