Interoperability Between European Armed Forces in 2022

The security environment in Europe has and is still experiencing significant changes in its configuration. If the 2016 referendum and the United Kingdom’s exit from the Europe- an Union – the so-called Brexit – significantly altered the nature and level of defence cooper- ation on the continent. Seemingly in the long term, the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine reminded all Europeans how not cooperating with countries sharing the same values and principles was not a strategically sensible approach and even created unneces- sary risks for the concerned nations.

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Modernising Recruitment and Retention Strategies

The military as an institution is currently experiencing a state of great flux. Prior to recent developments, one could observe a general reorientation in the objectives of professional European armies. However, the consequences cannot yet be sufficiently evaluated, for many policymakers and some military officials the end of the Cold War signaled the obsolescence of traditional military objectives. Such concerns were replaced with a plethora of multilateral ‘peace’ missions. Soldiers would now not only fight but also enforce or build peace and nations.

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Drones and Land Forces

In the last decades, drones have become quite famous: they can be seen doing a wide variety of actions, from taking spectacular aerial photographs and high-definition videos to counter-terrorism missions. Drones’ low procurement cost, according to the United Nations (UN), is facilitating their quick proliferation. Their compact size and precise skills make them more likely to be weaponised and deployed surreptitiously by state and non-state actors in violation of transparency and accountability rules.

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Battling Moral Injuries

Servicemen and women in land forces around the world often confront a number of duty-related mental, emotional, and physical hardships. War can inflict many different manifestations of ethical and psychological distress, which fall under the umbrella of ‘moral injury’. Moral Injuries (MI) were first discussed in relation to military personnel transgressing moral beliefs and values during war, but it has since expanded to include equivalent emotional experience by healthcare professionals, first responders, rescue workers, and everyone facing similar complex emotions as a result of actions taken or observations made throughout traumatic circumstances. While moral injury and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been seen to share several symptoms, military, soldiers, clinical psychologists, as well as chaplains are concerned about PTSD’s incapability to account for the substance of moral and ethical distress that battlefields may generate. Modern warfare produces new challenges to the personnel. With the advent of new technologies and the use of drones, the author of a particular action does not directly see the consequences of what he/she has done. This may cause different types of moral injuries since the handler will take longer before realising the magnitude of his gesture.

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The Military Role of United States Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe

The term ‘non-strategic nuclear weapon’ (NSNW) includes nuclear warheads for all delivery systems such as gravity bombs for aircraft other than nuclear-capable heavy bombers, nuclear warheads for naval cruise missiles and torpedoes, and nuclear warheads for anti-ballistic missile (ABM) and air defence systems. The NSNWs term would also capture any nuclear warheads for surface-to-surface missiles with less-than-50 kilometres ranges, and nuclear artillery shells.

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