The EU Strategic Compass provides an opportunity to pre-empt the logjams that have held EU foreign policy back for too long. But one should never underestimate the debilitating capacity of the EU to divide itself. However, the EU’s firm response to Russia’s full-blown war in Ukraine is a welcome and much needed change from such practices.
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Russia’s approach toward Ukraine does not seem to be the result of well-considered foreign policy calculations, rather it represents constant improvisation, as evidenced by numerous inconsistencies in the Kremlin’s actions.
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The EU’s approach to a post-Brexit security partnership with the UK is intended to address common concerns, such as the fight against terrorism and the spread of cross-border organised crime. A continuing mutual interest in enhanced operational co-operation in internal security and cross-border law enforcement, means that separate EU-UK agreements will need to be developed.
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The ICDS fresh study on EU-NATO cooperation is explained by the authors, the ICDS research fellows, Kristi Raik and Pauli Järvenpää. They are interviewed by Erkki Bahovski, the Editor of Diplomaatia.
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At the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, NATO allies decided to establish an enhanced forward presence (eFP) on the territory of the Baltic states and Poland “to unambiguously demonstrate, as part of our overall posture, Allies’ solidarity, determination, and ability to act by triggering an immediate Allied response to any aggression”. The implementation of this historic decision has now resulted in the first-ever stationing of combat-ready troops from other Allied nations in the Baltic region.
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The challenges confronting both the European Union and NATO today are severe and complex: e.g. terrorism, refugee and migration crisis, hybrid and cyber threats, and a Russia willing to break international law and other treaties and agreements, thus undermining the post-World War II international order.
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On 13-17 March, the Netherlands hosted one of the events of Nimble Titan 2018 – an integrated air and missile defence experimentation campaign led by the United States (US) Strategic Command.
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The result of the UK’s June 2016 referendum on continued membership of the EU was unexpected and its consequences may be wide-ranging and grave. This report considers the impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union (‘Brexit’) on the security of Estonia, the Baltic Sea region and Europe more widely. Its focus is hard security – military security and defence.
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Research Fellow Henrik Praks spoke on November 22 in Riga at the public discussion organised by the Latvian Institute of International Affairs (LIIA) in order to mark the publication of its book – “The Baltic Sea Region: Hard and Soft Security Reconsidered”. He contributed to a panel which focussed on the hard security aspects of the region in the wake of NATO Warsaw Summit and the following developments, including the election of Donald Trump as next US President.
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