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511. Nuclear Issues for NATO After the Strategic Concept

Author:
Walt Slocombe
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
What Does the 2010 Strategic Concept Say (and Not Say) About Nuclear Weapons Issues? The Strategic Concept (SC) adopted at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010 includes a number of propositions that define NATO's future nuclear policy which, explicitly or otherwise, serve to highlight the questions that remain to be resolved. Most fundamentally, the SC, having enumerated NATO's "core tasks" as collective defense against attack, management of crises "that have the potential to affect Alliance security," and cooperation with others "to enhance international security," declares that "[d]eterrence, based on an appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional capabilities, remains a core element of our overall strategy."
Topic:
Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and International Security
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, and Lisbon

512. On Cyber Peace

Author:
Les Bloom and John Savage
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The best deterrence to cyber conflict is to aggressively pursue national and international risk mitigation at the same time that we explore a full-spectrum of cyber capabilities. Nations should strive to reduce the emerging cyber arms race by developing a basis for trust. The international community has already taken useful steps in this direction with, for example, the European Convention on Cybercrime and the UN report on cyber security which calls for a set of actions that would make information infrastructures more secure.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Science and Technology, Terrorism, War, and International Security
Political Geography:
United Nations

513. The Five Futures of Cyber Conflict and Cooperation

Author:
Jason Healey
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The word cyberspace is nearly thirty years old, and during that time, academics, theorists, and strategists have been considering how conflict will unfold in this new domain .As yet, though, little has been published on what kinds of different futures may await us .For example, many writers seem to imply that cyberspace itself is relatively static, when it is in fact constantly transformed through changes in usage and technology. Indeed, today's generation of digital natives has never known a world without the Internet, and their experience of cyberspace—especially in terms of security, privacy, and collaboration—will be very different from that of previous generations weaned on mainframes, modems, desktop computers, and AOL. If cyberspace is different and younger generations use it differently, then future conflict and cooperation in cyberspace may be unlike anything experienced or even envisioned by Cold War-era thinkers and strategists.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Science and Technology, Terrorism, and International Security
Political Geography:
North America

514. Naval Future: International Preponderance Through Naval Partnership

Author:
Martin Murphy and Lee Willett
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
In 2005 US Navy ship numbers fell lower than at any point since 1916 and little has changed since then. The Royal Navy now has fewer ships and sailors than Nelson had at Trafalgar. It is of course true that counting hulls is no longer a reliable way of assessing naval power yet numbers matter.
Topic:
Defense Policy, International Cooperation, International Security, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:
United States

515. Nordic-Baltic Security in the 21st Century

Author:
Robert Nurick
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Look at the security arrangements for the eight countries of the Nordic and Baltic region and two things are immediately apparent. The countries that have the greatest needs have the worst security. And the countries that have the strongest defense are divided.
Topic:
NATO, Diplomacy, Energy Policy, and International Security

516. CTTA: Counter Terrorist Trends and Analysis Year End Report 2010

Author:
Rohan Gunaratna Gunaratna
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Transnational terrorism is likely to remain the most profound threat in 2011. Politically motivated groups that seek to legitimize their thinking and actions by using, misusing and misinterpreting the religious text , will continue to dominate the global threat landscape. While homegrown and group terrorism are likely to remain at the forefront, homegrown terrorism in particular will continue to be a formidable challenge for security. There will also be more pressure for Western military troops in Afghanistan, both in combat and support roles, to return home due to the decreasing public support for the war and domestic political considerations.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Terrorism, International Security, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Pakistan and Afghanistan

517. Global Security and Regional Responses: Conflict Management in a Fractured World

Author:
Philipp Annawitt
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
On 13-14 December 2009 the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) co-hosted a workshop jointly with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington, DC, and the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Canada. The workshop was co-financed by the Swiss Government and the International Development Research Council, Ottawa.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Globalization, Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, International Security, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Kyrgyzstan

518. The Foreign Fighters Problem, Recent Trends and Case Studies: Selected Essays

Author:
Michael Noonan
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Abstract:
On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have confronted third-party national combatants. Known as “foreign fighters,” these individuals have gained deadly skills and connections that can be exported or exploited to devastating effect in other locations. Over the past two decades, the foreign fighters phenomenon has grown after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979—to the ethnically cleansed fields of the Balkans to Chechnya and beyond. But this is not a new problem. This report is the second volume of findings from an important series of FPRI conferences on the so-called foreign fighter problem. These conferences have brought together leading experts in the field to examine and discuss this phenomenon from different ideational and disciplinary perspectives. While the first volume dealt primarily with functional areas of the phenomenon, this edition focuses primarily on the case studies of al Qaeda franchises or allied affiliates in Somalia, the Maghreb, Yemen, and Afghanistan/Pakistan. Today, the outcomes of the geopolitical revolution unfolding across North Africa and the Middle East are far from clear, the problems associated with al Qaeda and its affiliated movement are likely to breed havoc for the foreseeable future across the region. Furthermore, the veterans spawned by such conflicts undoubtedly will present problems for international security writ large, too. The cases and phenomenon analyzed here may well provide important lessons for both those interested in the regions under examination here, but also for others who examine international challenges far removed from the study of radical extremism of the al Qaeda variety.
Topic:
War, International Security, Insurgency, and Violent Extremism
Political Geography:
Arab Countries and North Africa

519. NATO's Fight Against Terrorism: Where Do We stand?

Author:
Claudia Bernasconi
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Terrorism has played a major role in shaping the global security landscape over the last decade, one important manifestation of this being its consequences for NATO. The 9/11 attacks resulted in a considerable and unexpected commitment for the Alliance, which subsequently experienced a reorientation towards new challenges; within a very short time, terrorism reached the very top of NATO's agenda. A decade after 9/11 - and with the Alliance nourished by the lifeblood of the New Strategic Concept - it is time for a critical assessment. What has NATO done? What are the shortcomings of its actions? What is left to do? The role played by the Alliance, together with the goals thus achieved, will be brought into focus in the first part of this study. Following this, an investigation into the real limits NATO encounters in combating terrorism will lead us to ponder the efforts which are still to be undertaken, highlighting potential future recommendations.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, Terrorism, International Security, and Reform

520. Security Sector Reform: A Case Study Approach to Transition and Capacity Building

Author:
Sarah Meharg and Aleisha Arnusch
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Failing and failed states are not able to provide equitable safety, security, and justice to their people through the traditional state mechanisms of police, judiciary, courts, and penitentiaries. In such situations, state mechanisms are ineffective, predatory, or absent. Security sector reform, commonly referred to as SSR, emerged as an activity in the 1990s in recognition of the changing international security environment and the limitations of reform approaches among interveners working in failing and failed states. SSR is a relatively new discipline in the context of peace and stability operations, whether these operations are United Nations (UN)-led or otherwise managed and supported. The coherence of strategies is improving, but the 1990s and 2000s have been witness to unsustainable and inconsistent security sector reforms in places like Kosovo, Liberia, and Haiti, among others. As time passes, the meta-narratives of legitimacy, accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness influence SSR activities within the international community of states involved with such reforms.
Topic:
Security, International Security, and Governance
Political Geography:
Kosovo, United Nations, and Liberia