Read more about the article The nexus between climate change and terrorism: An analysis of ISIS’ weaponization of water in Syria and Boko Haram activities in the Lake Chad Basin
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The nexus between climate change and terrorism: An analysis of ISIS’ weaponization of water in Syria and Boko Haram activities in the Lake Chad Basin

The MENA and Sahel regions are suffering from climate-induced phenomena that are accelerating societal tensions and translating into insecurity. These regions are safe havens for violent extremism and non-state actors, who easily recruit young men willing to engage in behavioural radicalisation to sustain their families. Whilst in Syria, ISIS has been weaponizing water and resources to intimidate populations and coerce their enemies, in the Lake Chad Basin Boko Haram is recruiting members of local communities deprived of their harvest and fishing due to climate unpredictability and the disruption of the water cycle. Foreign actors, as well as regional authorities, should act now to revitalise the ecosystem, educate local communities, empower the youth and women, and frame strategic responses against terrorist activities.

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17 January 2023
Read more about the article Airbus and VDL Group Team Up to Manufacture Aircraft Laser Communication Terminal
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Airbus and VDL Group Team Up to Manufacture Aircraft Laser Communication Terminal

Airbus and the Dutch industrial supplier VDL Group struck a partnership on January 10th to develop and manufacture a laser communication terminal for military aircraft. The communication terminal, known as UltraAir, would allow for more significant amounts of data sharing between ground terminals, satellites, and crewed aircraft or autonomous drones. The two organisations will begin preparing a prototype and aim for a first test flight in 2024 (Airbus, 2023).

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16 January 2023
Read more about the article Diplomatic Means of Preventing Global Conflicts
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Diplomatic Means of Preventing Global Conflicts

Wars are considered to be dangerous and this is why preventive diplomacy is practised by a majority of states. Prevention diplomacy is commonly thought to be an indirect instrument for avoiding conflict and global disasters. A frequent question is raised in practice: “Is preventive diplomacy effective?”. This question aims to point out its importance and its tactful applicability. Many studies have shown the essence of what prevention diplomacy means. Some of the research considers it to be an “art of conducting relationships for gain without conflict” (Freeman et al., 2022). The purpose of preventive diplomacy is to strengthen the state or the nation. In consequence, if this measure fails, then war may ensue, even though diplomacy is useful even during a war.

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16 January 2023
Read more about the article Progress Made on Leopard 2 Shipments to Ukraine
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Progress Made on Leopard 2 Shipments to Ukraine

Several European governments have decided or have seriously been considering sending tanks to Kyiv as more intense fighting is expected with the coming of spring. In particular, there have been discussions regarding the German Leopard 2 main battle tank. Polish President Duda seems to have already determined that “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of building an international coalition” (Kancelaria Prezydenta, 2023).

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16 January 2023
Read more about the article The Future of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after February 24th: Implications for Russia’s Hegemony in Post-Soviet Asia
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The Future of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after February 24th: Implications for Russia’s Hegemony in Post-Soviet Asia

Since February 24th, the world seems to live every minute of the war on Ukraine to its fullest. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only sent shockwaves through the rest of Europe but also shattered the widely held belief that the horrors of the Second World War were a thing of the past. Since then, powerful undercurrents of change have been at work in the new understanding of the security challenges of the twenty-first century. Very few in the West were able to predict that Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea would durably transform the entire international system into an increasingly bipolar confrontation between newly emerged military blocs. Even fewer strongly warned against the temptation of thinking that the world was right back on the track of the old Cold War logic.

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13 January 2023