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Read more about the article The Acceleration of Command and Control Through Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for European Land Forces

The Acceleration of Command and Control Through Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for European Land Forces

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an ever more important part of command and control (C2) and the decision-making connected to it. AI systems are crucial in supporting commanders in their decision-making, allowing them to act on data and the information it carries faster and more efficiently than ever before. These systems are complex, their results are often difficult to understand or verify, and they struggle with ethical considerations. To offset these disadvantages, humans need not concur with every decision AI makes, but they should retain control and be able to intervene and stop certain decisions as they see fit. Given the faster speed that AI gives C2 activities, continuing to exercise this control will prove challenging for commanders and their staff.

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5 June 2025

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NORDEFCO – A Blueprint for Regional Defence Cooperation?

This paper examines the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) as a case study in pragmatic, regional defence collaboration. Despite being founded by states with divergent political alignments and defence doctrines, NORDEFCO has evolved into a flexible and low-threshold framework that promotes operational efficiency, logistical coordination, and strategic interoperability among its members. By tracing NORDEFCO’s institutional structure and historical development, the study assesses the model’s successes and limitations. While NORDEFCO’s achievements, such as multinational exercises, intelligence sharing, and education programmes, demonstrate the value of voluntary, sovereignty-conscious cooperation, its replicability is constrained by the unique geopolitical and cultural cohesion of the Nordic region. The paper further aims to provide an outlook into NORDEFCO’s possible avenues of expansion and prospective transformation following the NATO membership accession of all its members. The study concludes that NORDEFCO-NATO coalescence is crucial to overcome the agreement’s limitations to achieve real Nordic defence integration, arguing that NORDEFCO is likely to retain its relevance under NATO command thanks to its region-specific capability enhancement projects.

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3 June 2025

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Climate threats as justifying derogations under Article 15 ECHR?

This paper examines whether Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) can serve as a legal foundation for addressing security threats arising from climate change. Through doctrinal analysis and case-based comparisons, it explores how climate-driven crises may justify rights derogations under Article 15. The findings show that while such an approach aligns with the EU’s Joint Communication on the climate-security nexus, it risks reinforcing coercive, state-centric responses. The paper concludes that a shift towards a human security framework offers a more ethical and effective path, emphasising individual protection and structural climate justice over militarised solutions.

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22 May 2025

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From Cape to Kazan? Russia’s Contemporary Use of Colonial Warfare in Africa

The scale of the war in Ukraine has overshadowed Russia’s other overseas military ventures. This includes the multiple operations across Africa which began with Libya in 2016, and has since expanded to Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Sudan, among others. Such operations were a key source of notoriety for the Wagner group before its deployment to Ukraine, which has since dominated coverage and analysis of the group’s conduct. Hence, in comparison to their conduct in Eastern Europe, the modus operandi of Russian state and private forces in Africa has received comparatively less attention. This paper aims to fill this lacuna and provide a taxonomical framework for this conduct, arguing that the military methods utilised by Russia in Africa are classifiable as colonial warfare, akin to the warfare waged by Europeans in the region two centuries earlier. It will elaborate on colonial warfare as a distinct practice of violence and how Russia’s conduct fits in with this framework. Furthermore, this paper will elaborate on the risks that the use of these methods directly and indirectly poses to European security.

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21 May 2025

Read more about the article European Union military engagement in the Western Balkans: peacekeeping or strategic containment? EU’s mission EUFOR Althea case study

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European Union military engagement in the Western Balkans: peacekeeping or strategic containment? EU’s mission EUFOR Althea case study

The European Union’s military involvement in the Western Balkans, particularly through European Union Force (EUFOR) Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is grounded in a multilayered legal framework that draws on EU treaties, international law, and regional peace agreements. Established under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1575 (2004), Althea represents a rare example of EU-led military deployment with a UN mandate. It is the largest mission launched by the European Union to this day. While the mission plays an important role in supporting public security and implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement, it also reveals the EU’s limited legal and institutional capacity to address structural issues like constitutional dysfunction, ethno-nationalism, and secessionist threats. The reliance on soft power and minimal military presence reflects the EU’s constrained ability to enforce durable peace, while the continued necessity of EUFOR underscores both the fragility of the region’s stability and the limitations of existing legal instruments in securing long-term constitutional cohesion.

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20 May 2025

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