A Humanitarian Crisis With Catastrophic Outlooks: The Impact Of The Lachin Corridor Blockade Within The Armenian-Azeri Conflict Over Nagorno-Karabakh

Since hostilities revamped in September 2020 after a long latency period, the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh has suffered from inhuman and degrading treatment by the Azeri forces trying to restate control over the contended province. Notwithstanding the presence of Russian peacekeepers and the conditions imposed by the ceasefire agreement reached after the Second Karabakh War, Baku restricted locals’ freedom of movement with measures like the blockade on the Lachin Corridor, which represents the only road connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

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Are Drones A War Game Changer? The Ukrainian Case

We cannot ignore or underestimate any more the increasingly important role that drones play in contemporary wars. The argument for which the usage of drones is dramatically changing historically deep-rooted war dynamics and allowing for quick military takeovers by those who more largely recur to these technologies still does not find a general consensus. However, the fact that their use is surging and having an impact on the conduct of modern warfare is undisputable.

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Eastern EU Members Rearm after the Russian Invasion: Soaring Military Expenditures, Tank Modernisation and Two New Rising Axes of Army Interoperability

After the annexation of Crimea, every EU country that was either associated within the Warsaw Pact or part of the Soviet Union became a founding member of the Bucharest Nine (B9) initiative to discuss defence concerns in yearly summits. In those countries, now increasingly referred to as ‘Europe’s eastern flank’, allied military presence increased sevenfold to 300,000 units just four months into the Russian invasion. Their unyielding defence intent, stated during NATO’s summit in Vilnius, is reflected in B9’s growing military spending, which is bound to shape NATO’s most prominent defence transformation and modernisation effort since the Cold War. 

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European Main Battle Tank: Momentum for Interoperability

The land forces operations paradigm demands a series of cornerstones to be effective on the ground. In that context, a crucial feature is the tank, a weapon that has proven to be fundamental in the ground force realm since its creation. The future of Europe is to operate in collaborative frameworks thus, creating a tank collaborative framework is essential. However, the reality shows that there are problems in pursuing this objective. 

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Restructuring the European Defence Industry: Consolidation and Internationalisation

Defence constitutes a rather atypical industrial sector. Due to the sensitive nature of its products, it has long been strictly protected by states and ‘placed outside the bounds of free-market economy’. Countries with a relevant industrial base have traditionally sought self-sufficiency in arms production for national security. States’ control over their domestic industry has frequently slowed or even hindered attempts at cross-border European cooperation. This has ultimately resulted in a significant fragmentation of the European defence industry. 

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