A Cohesive Response to the Belarus Border Crisis?

In August 2020, the Belarusian election was widely seen as fraudulent, rigged to ensure that the so-called “last dictator of Europe” remained in power, which led to widespread international condemnation. It also prompted the EU to adopt sanctions against the regime under Article 215 TFEU, aimed at securing the end of autocratic rule and the reorganisation of elections. This led to a heightened antagonism between the EU and Belarus, culminating in last month’s border crisis. Indeed, the Belarusian government relaxed its visa entry requirements in August (Loanes, vox, 2021) in an apparent attempt to incentivise migrants to privilege the Belarusian route into the EU and funnel in a large number of people in the hope of creating political difficulties within the Union, thus weakening it.

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DATA: The Future of Warfare

Over the last twenty years, the importance of the latest weapons in modern warfare has been called into question. Indeed, it has been largely debated that victory in future high-intensity conflicts may no longer be contingent on who possesses the best warships, planes, and tanks (i.e., the best equipment) but rather on who can better handle information to act faster and more effectively than their adversary (Work & Fabian, Breaking Defense, 2021). Future wars are expected to be short, precise, and decisive. This new kind of warfare may require decisions to be made within hours, minutes or potentially seconds, compared with the current multi-day process to analyse the operating environment and issue commands. That is the reason why last May, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the strategy document for the Defense Department’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control, paving the way to implement technology that shares data between the services to improve the quality and speed of tactical decision-making (Jasper, NextGov, 2021).

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The ESSOR project: Securing a new system of tactical communications for EU common defence

In the last decades, the birth of super-fast integrated computer systems and the role of artificial intelligence (Al) in information systems have deeply affected both the civilian sector and the defence and security sectors. Cybersecurity, surveillance systems, state of the art AI, and automated software have played a central role in combating terrorism and establishing effective communication between different organisations without being interfered with or intercepted by the enemy.

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Moscow’s military build-up over the Russia-Ukraine border: potential scenarios following the new incursion

Russia has raised the alarm in Ukraine and throughout the international community in recent days by massing its armed forces close to the Ukrainian border. The military build-up has raised fears of a possible Russian offensive that could push beyond the areas of eastern Ukraine currently under Kremlin control and lead to a dramatic escalation in the violent seven-year conflict between the two countries.

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The Franco-Italian Quirinale Treaty and the post-Merkel power balance: what is new for the European security and defence environment.

The long negotiations between Italy and France, started in January 2018 with President Macron’s visit to Italy’s Paolo Gentiloni, have reached their final act. After troubled years, the rise and fall of a Populist government in Italy, the pandemic, and various tensions between Italy and France, the Quirinale Treaty – named after the Italian Presidential palace in Rome – has been signed, signalling a new phase of bilateral cooperation between the two countries (Roberts, Leali, 2021).

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