Read more about the article The 2022 Russia-Ukraine War as a Test of Resolve: Challenges in Deterring Future Russian Aggression
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The 2022 Russia-Ukraine War as a Test of Resolve: Challenges in Deterring Future Russian Aggression

The Russia-Ukraine War (2022) brought an unprecedented degree of unity and scale to the responses to Russia’s invasion among European Union member states and the United States, in a way that was incomparable to their responses to the Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (2014-2022) crises. A weak resolve – the firmness of those responses and the underpinning willingness to incur costs – in the preceding crises may have fostered an expectation in the Kremlin that Washington and European capitals' responses to future aggression would follow a similar path. Hence, this paper examines the challenges for resolve in responding to the Russia-Ukraine War (2022), in order to discourage future aggression. It finds that, throughout the three crises, concerns over escalatory risks and disunity in responses between European capitals and Washington constitute two persistent challenges. Maintaining unity can become increasingly fraught as the economic and political costs increase, especially in countries that have historically held closer cultural and economic ties with Russia.

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12 August 2025
Read more about the article Operation Midnight Hammer: Tactical Triumph or Strategic Illusion?
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Operation Midnight Hammer: Tactical Triumph or Strategic Illusion?

Operation Midnight Hammer unfolded during the night of June 21 and 22, 2025, as the United States launched a coordinated strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. The operation involved more than 125 aircraft, including seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and has been described as the largest and longest B-2 mission since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001 (D’Urso, 2025). According to General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the operation required “months of positioning and preparation” (U.S. Department of Defense, 2025, para. 3), moving “from strategic planning to global execution” within weeks (U.S. Department of Defense, 2025, para. 12). Deception played a critical role to preserve the element of surprise. Just hours before the strike, two additional B-2 bombers were dispatched westward toward Guam, serving as decoys (Holliday, 2025a). Their movements, including staged refuelling stops in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii, were intended to draw attention away from the real strike package (Holliday, 2025b).

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2 July 2025
Read more about the article Should the European States Reintroduce Conscription and Military Reserve Programs?
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Should the European States Reintroduce Conscription and Military Reserve Programs?

Modern-day threats, challenges and increased geopolitical tensions aimed at the European security landscape have made several European states reconsider whether to reintroduce conscription and military reserve programs to enhance their national defence capabilities. Although conscription offers a wide-range of benefits, such as ensuring a broader pool of trained individuals, enabling faster mobilisation and reducing dependence on limited professional forces it also implies many ethical, societal and economic issues. Due to this ambivalence, this paper seeks to outline all the positive and negative aspects in order to evaluate their necessity in national defence strategies.

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27 June 2025
Read more about the article Rwanda’s Campaign in Mozambique as a Counterinsurgency Case Study: A Radical Approach?
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Rwanda’s Campaign in Mozambique as a Counterinsurgency Case Study: A Radical Approach?

Rwanda’s campaign against the Islamic State in Mozambique since 2021 has attracted widespread praise from the international community. Characterised by civilian protection, its approach saw widespread success in pushing back jihadists in Mozambique. This was argued by some to act as a blueprint for future counterinsurgency campaigns, in stark contrast to recent Western efforts (ADF, 2023) and raises the question of whether Rwanda has adopted a radically different approach to counterinsurgency. This paper will examine the operations of the Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) in northern Mozambique as a case study of an effective counterinsurgency campaign. It will begin by overviewing Rwandan operations in Mozambique, before examining how their approach aligns with counterinsurgency theory and recent Western examples. Finally, it explores the RDF’s the longer-term chances of success as a further test of theory and as another point of comparison with Western operations.

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23 June 2025
Read more about the article Illusory or substantive? Analysing the European Union’s Support to the International Criminal Court
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Illusory or substantive? Analysing the European Union’s Support to the International Criminal Court

This paper explores whether the European Union’s support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) is substantive or illusory. By examining legal and policy commitments alongside the case studies of Ukraine and Libya, the research shows that EU support is context-dependent. In Ukraine, where judicial and political interests align, the EU provides tangible, substantive support. In Libya, stability and migration control take precedence, resulting in symbolic engagement and undermined cooperation. The paper argues that this difference stems from differing institutional logics: generally, the ICC pursues principles of justice and fairness, while the EU often prioritises political consequences.

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19 June 2025