NATO Activates Response Force For The First Time

Recently, NATO activated the Alliance’s Response Force (NRF) for collective defence and deterrence for the first time. This measure comes as a response to “Russia’s massive military build-up” says NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. As Russia pushes deeper into Ukraine, units of the NRF, led by France, have already arrived in Romania and remain on high alert.

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A Step Forward for the North Korean War Industry: Hypersonic Missiles

In January, North Korea carried out six missile tests. 2019 was the last time it did so many tests. However, what is worrying is what they have been testing, rather than the number of tests. According to experts and North Korean media, the missiles tested on the 5 and the 11 January would be hypersonic weapons. If these claims are authentic, the balance of power in East Asia will change dramatically

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5G: What Opportunities for the European Union?

Although the European Union (EU) has been caught between the United States (US)-China military and economic rivalry over the last decade, it is now starting to find its path, exploiting new technological opportunities arising. In detail, in the past few years, the EU has oriented its efforts towards several emerging technologies, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) and last but not least, 5G. According to the European Commission, “5G provides virtually universal, ultra-high bandwidth, and low latency ‘connectivity’ not only to individual users but also to connected objects”. From the civilian perspective, the fifth-generation wireless technology can be applied to many different sectors, for instance, to connect automated mobility, eHealth and energy management. By accelerating and making connectivity more flexible, this generation will be at the centre of the future digital economy

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Social Media App TikTok the New Military Tool for Military Defence and Cooperation?

In today’s age of social media and Generation Z (Gen Z) "taking over" the world, there is a new modern approach to military defence. Ordinary citizens record military activities on their phones and post videos on social media. The social media app TikTok, which is often associated with dance trends, is currently being used to watch a very different kind of choreography: the movement of military forces that could be on the brink of a new severe conflict on European soil (Britton and Mulligan, 2022). The app has recently come into the spotlight as tensions between Russia and Ukraine have led to what could be called "the first TikTok conflict" (Bowman, 2022). Videos of Russian troops gathering at the borders of Ukraine are widely distributed on TikTok (Sonne et al., 2022).

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EDA Live Cyber Exercise for Military CERTs in its Second Edition

The second live-fire cyber exercise of the European Defence Agency (EDA), specifically dedicated to improving European cooperation between member states’ national military Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) has reached and concluded its second edition in the last days of January 2022. Even though European countries have established mechanisms and processes to exchange information between civilians of the CERTs over time, cooperation and communication channels are much less developed in the military domain due to the high sensitivity of the information. Therefore, many stakeholders have decided to extend the information sharing practices used in civilian circles to military CERT and their operations. Through this Info flash, we will briefly investigate the birth of this project, the two editions carried out and conclude with a perspective on the future.

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