The credibility of NATO’s deterrence posture rests heavily on the solidarity and cohesion of the Allies. A potential adversary is more likely to refrain from aggression if he believes—as Article 5 of the Washington Treaty states—that the Allies will indeed consider an armed attack against one or more of them to be an attack against them all.
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Six years after Russia annexed Crimea, a number of articulate and influential people in the West have become firmly convinced that a way out of the impasse must be found.
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The word “dialogue” comes from Greek and means “speaking through”. Dialogue among states in various formats is usually understood as the means to communicate directly between governments in order to settle differences, relieve tensions and pave the way for solving disputes or conflicts through negotiations to reach agreements.
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In 2019, the European Union’s Russia policy was under a lot of pressure. The rapidly changing balance of power in global politics calls for Europe to reconsider its position and act more strategically. However, the EU member states do not agree on what this would mean for EU-Russian relations.
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Some of Europe’s leaders have recently talked big about improving relations with Russia. Success is unlikely to follow, as the tensions between the West and Russia have deep-rooted causes that cannot be expected to be resolved any time soon.
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ICDS Research Fellow Kalev Stoicescu and Non-Resident Fellow Maxime Lebrun made a thorough analysis of the defence cooperation and partnership between Estonia and France.
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France and Germany taking “one step” is welcome and needed, but it is crucial that they also take a step with the rest of the EU.
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The French call it l’Europe de la Défence. At first glance this seems to suggest, at least to non-French observers, a concept based on the complementarity and synergy of NATO’s military muscle and hard security guarantees, and the economic might and soft power (and capacity for resilience) provided by the European Union.
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The enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Estonia will welcome its third French rotating contribution during 2019.
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The term “European strategic autonomy” has been around for a while, but it gained more attention with the publication of the EU Global Strategy in 2016 and president Macron’s continuous use of the phrase since.
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