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With the number of countries and players interested in space capabilities growing, outer space risks being exposed to additional strategic competition and even conflict – with threats ranging from anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) to “hybrid” operations and cyber-attacks.
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Beyond the economic dimension, Russia's energy projects are meant to support the Kremlin's political and military-strategic actions. By exploiting the growing need for natural resources, in particular, "clean" fossil fuels (natural gas) of the European Union (EU) states, Moscow succeeds in bringing into dependency some EU states, especially Germany, action with repercussions the EU bloc and towards transatlantic relations. As for Romania, although the need for oil imports is decreasing, the share of Russian natural gas imports being on a downward trend, the strategic projects of the Russian Federation may lead to the blockage of natural gas exploits from the Black Sea continental shelf, amid the drop in interest of international companies to exploit the existing natural gas and oil fields, in the conditions of their failure to assure their exports. Through the Nord Stream 2 and Turkstream pipelines, Russian gas will "flood" European market, being the main competitor for the Romanian gas extracted from the Black Sea continental shelf. If Moscow will deliver gas at a lower price than gas extracted from the Black Sea, there is a possibility that the extraction companies and consumers (states) refuse the offer. At the same time, positive developments in bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and countries such as Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and Greece will favour the implementation of Russian strategic projects, to the detriment of the Romanian ones.
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Taking into account the recent developments in the study of security culture and given the focus on its cyber dimension, this paper aims to explain the importance of the combined concept of a cybersecurity culture. The internet is today more than what they hoped it would become back then, in 1962 - „a galactic network”. As studies show, there are more than 4.3 billion users around the world. It’s more than a way of live for most of the people, being used to communicate and get informed, to learn and teach others, to socialize, to play or work, to buy and sell things, to do business etc. Its future is already about the internet of things. But the internet came with a lot of risks and threats that the users, at any level, have to deal with. These threats originate in different types of hacking – from small cybercrimes, to cyber war, cyber terrorism or cyber espionage. Most of them target information – personal or secret data, both valuable to the potential victims. The cybersecurity culture concept is not only about the community or society level of knowledge related to security threats and risks, and the prevention ways valid in every case, but also how the individual can or must act in such a situation. In fewer words, the cybersecurity concept is about making the internet user both security receiver and provider.
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A very important and complex element of the scientific evolution from the past century was the development of the nuclear technology. In this field, Romania starts from the year of 1955 to be interested in the subject of atomic energy and creates the Nuclear Energy Committee which in only two years enabled the nuclear reactor for research VVR-S in Măgurele town.The very tumultuous events from the 2nd part of the 20th century made that the two opposite and combatant military blocs of the Cold War, the USA and the USSR, to develop this new technology in a very alert rhythm, but with destructive purpose, by producing at a large scale the nuclear arsenal and also, this phenomenon fastened the well known Cold War Arms Race. However, the very high number of nuclear weapons possessed by the both actors in their process to destabilize the power balance in the world in their own benefit made that these weapons to never be used in fact, because the risk that a total war degenerate in a very destructive confrontation for the whole planet was imminent. Starting from the premises that the nuclear security consists in two aspects: one being military and the other one being civilian, the article aims to present a thesis of the fact that the usage, in peaceful means, of the nuclear energy can contribute to the long lasting development of the Romanian society and to the exercise of the subjective right to a healthy environment with the help of the regulations and efficient control of the nuclear activities, by respecting the nonproliferation treaty. For these reasons, Romania intends to create a Regional Centre of Excellence in the nuclear field, as a integrated centre of preparation, on one hand for Romanian specialists and on the other hand for the foreign ones. This centre is supposed to be a institution with expertise in the environment security, taking into account the civilian component of the nuclear security, and as well in the military diplomacy of defense against the nuclear weapons, taking into account the military component of the nuclear security. Formulating the hypotheses that “The development of the greatest center for studies and preparation in the nuclear energy field, with civilian as well as military destination from the Eastern Europe on the Romania’s territory would be a real diplomatic challenge, would improve the nuclear security, the physical protection and the radioprotection of the populace and would contribute on a long term to the decarbonisation of the energy system in safe, efficient and secure conditions” has as main arguments the fact that Romania is a trusted member of NATO proved by the well defined strategic partnership with USA and the establishment of the Ballistic Missile Defense System from Deveselu, this being the result of Romania’s participation to the development and extension on the east flank of NATO of the US Ballistic Missile Defense System. We also took into account that Romania consistently acts to increase the experience exchanges and international cooperation with the support of the International Agency for Atomic Energy, promoting the international partnership, as an efficient mean to attract nuclear capital and respect the NPT by it’s all signatory entities. The following websites of companies active in the nuclear field have been used: NuclеarЕlеctrica ЅA - httр://www.nuclеarеlеctrica.rо/, CNЕ Cеrnavоdă - httр://www.cnе.rо/, Nuclear and radioactive waste agency - httр://www.agеntianuclеara.rо, ICNРitеşti - httр://www.nuclеar.rо, CNCAN - httр://www.cncan.rо, Agency AIЕA - httрѕ://www.iaеa.оrg/ as well as articles published in specialized journals. In order to disseminate results with a high fidelity, several people with high decisional influence in this field were interviewed. This has been done in order to establish the national and international importance of a Center for Excellence in the field of nuclear safety in Arges county, with international support which would attract technical manifestations (workshops, trainings, seminars)
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Water Security is a vast field and comprises many factors. One important factor is “Water Resource Security” which is directly related to the social and regional issues. The issues related to “Water Security” can cause “Regional instability”. “Water Security” is also related to the economic stability of a society. In recent years, the concept of security has gone beyond the notions of sovereignty and military capability embracing the issue of water security. The competition for transboundary water resources at regional and international levels along with environmental problems exacerbates the threat to international security. The distribution of water among the riparian states of a river basin causes conflicts all over the world. The chances for conflict are created by geography and the location of nation states in close proximity. In this paper, the region of South Asia is taken as a case study to discuss the regional instability caused by the issue of water security.
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This Paper introduces the concept of Hegemonic Instability as a possible causal factor for “Security Dilemma” under a constructivist framework. For the above purposes, the Paper starting by re-examining the concept of “Security Dilemma” and its core constituent elements through the prism of Constructivism and argues that these notions can be better explained through the constructivist line of argument. Following up on this course of narrative, the Paper then charts a paradigmatic shift from the oft quoted “Hegemonic Stability Theory” and argues that rather than contributing towards stability, the Hegemonic State, owing to its revisionist and expansionist tendencies, nurtures instability in its system/region thus inviting in its wake, a counter-response from the weaker/dominated States, who mostly tend towards an extra-regional power, as a deterrence against the existing Hegemon and for countering its hegemonic ambitions. The paper concludes with the argument that the action-reaction dyad generated by the Hegemonic State’s destabilizing maneuvers and actions within its region therefore lead to the generation of “Security Dilemma”.
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A review about the security of the European Union, with a short introspection in its allies, its enemies, its military and economic power. The latest threats regarding the EU's energetic and military security. Russia and the United States of America – allies and enemies of the EU (who is who). Strengths and weaknesses. Internal and external political overview
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: A brief review of the conceptualization and contextualization of contemporary security. The etymology of the security notion. A historical overview of the security concept. New threats to contemporary security. State security, regional security, international security. Globalization –acting as a foundation in creating security or as an impediment. The strengths and weaknesses of the new security paradigm. The metamorphoses of international contemporary security. Political overview. Realism and sociological institutionalism. The multilateralism of human security. Conclusions about the contemporary security.
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The toppling of the Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011 led to the disappearance of a completely original regime and order, the Jamahiriya, which was built in the 42-year leadership of the "Leader of the Revolution." The specific structures of power, had been violently destroyed during the events from 2011. They were replaced by the new political, military, social, economic - both exogenous and indigenous – actors, who are since, in a fierce competition and rivalry to control power and resources in this African country situated in a dangerous proximity of the European Union. One of the consequences of what is seems as a never-ending conflict in Libya after the fall of Gaddafi, is that it transformed into a constant transited state by (illegal) migrants towards Europe, one the one hand, and at a serious source of instability with all the ingredients specific to contemporary conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa region, on the other. Thus, the aim of this paper is to understand why a political unity or reaching a consensus, prove to be almost impossible tasks to accomplish by international and national actors in post-Gaddafi period, mostly by having a look into the modern history of this African state. A subsequent objective is to identify measures taken to counter the illegal migration flows towards Europe by local, regional and international entities, giving the fact that there was/is a critical lack of a legitimacy of any of the (self proclaimed) government/s within the Libyan territory.
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This paper proposes a critical and analytical analysis of the implications of the energy component in Romania, in the current geopolitical climate. The methodological approach refers to the size of the energy impact on the functioning and involvement of the National Uranium Company in energy security.
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In the meantime, the new security threats are refering to the regional security and the ones against the common interests, all together of every states viewed like separate entities, into its esamble. Those toward to the need of a regional and a global action plan for the promotion of security interests, though clearly understanding the major implications of regional and global security against national security based on the new types of threats, such as hybrids ones.
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This paper’s purpose is to provide an overview of the regional security situation and Romania’s possible approaches in order to improve security in this area. Russia’s military intervention in neighboring states, as well its continuing military buildup, have worried all of the other countries around the Black Sea including states who are members of NATO. Particularly, Romania has good reasons to be concerned about security and stability in the region. As a member of both, NATO and the EU, Romania must be able to fulfill its commitments to defend its territory and interests in this edge zone. The role of Romania in regional security is essential in order to improve security in this area by exercising more significant leadership in regional security. The best way to do this is by combining multilateral diplomacy with NATO and strengthening the bilateral relationship with the US.
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Developing the national intelligence system and strengthening the response capacity in conflict and crises is both a theoretical branch and a strategy within the framework offered by the International Relations studies. As the scope of regional threats continues to grow, Romania and the actors in the region need to develop programmes to strengthen the national security assessment system and the capabilities to gather intelligence to discourage and counteract elements of security destabilisation. Because of the changes in the regional security environment, the intelligence system is in high demand, requiring a new cultural design and pragmatic capabilities. Thus, the purpose of this article is to briefly assess the national elements of information analysis in a regional context and to propose, against the background of the current security environment, a model of transformative paradigm for strengthening the capacity to respond to threats.
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The Pivot to Asia first signaled and then the December 2017 US National Security Strategy ushered in the era of renewed great power competition, a global strategic environment in which great powers compete for influence and in which the leveraging of new and disruptive technologies, globalization, climate change and a global pandemic have added to the complexity and fluidity of strategic imperatives of nation states and alliances. The nature of war has remained the same, nevertheless, the character has evolved, perspectives on what constitutes war in its entire spectrum have taken on different meaning for different actors. One particularly complex dimension of great power conflict is cognitive warfare in all its manifestations. The article is looking to analyze the way the framing effect, a cognitive bias, has been everaged as a means of perpetrating cognitive warfare in the Black Sea by reframing historical events of the last century in order to influence both individual and group beliefs and behaviors to favor or legitimize tactical as well as strategic objectives in great power competition.
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The slowness with which the European Union asserts its role as a mediator in the international sphere must not be Romania’s own policy. Many EU member states ororganisations have developed their own systems to provide stability as a facilitator for peace processes or have developed early warning and conflict prevention mechanisms. Romania’s membership in various external structures enables it to use international expertise in creating and implementing internal structures capable of involving the state in the prevention andresolution of conflicts in the Black Sea region or in other areas of the world. The article analyses Romania’s potential to act regionally as a mediator and to generate stability and security if such a conflict approach is embraced.
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At the level of European leadership in Brussels, it has been developed, based on preserving and affirming the European culture and civilisation, the idea of creating the conceptual and actional premises for “Europe ad integrum” to represent a “maritime force”. In this context, the Integrated Maritime Policy is a comprehensive approach to all European Union maritime and related policies. Basically, the Integrated Maritime Policy is the European Union’s response to develop the sustainable implementation of maritime governance, a concept in which maritime security plays a key role.This paper deals with the principles of maritime policies formulated at European Union level,which, in conjunction with the provisions of the European Union Maritime Security Strategy and Action Plan, form the European concept of maritime governance and security.
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From immemorial time, information has been an indispensable and decisive element in winning the war. Although the morphology of conflicts evolves according to military capabilities, technologies, procedures and combat techniques, as well as the space in which they take place, the communication architecture of the battlefield remains a constant presence. Contemporary conflict can be characterised by increasing hybridity and the increasing role of information, both in the physical space itself and in the virtual space. With the digitalisation ofthe information environment (it directly affects the operational environment), the information sphere has become not only a crucial element, but also the battlefield in which the war takes place. In modern warfare, many of the tactics and techniques used by the armed forces have the role of informing/influencing and not destroying. Taking into account the diversity of participants (combatants, non-combatants), we can assert that the civilian population plays a preferential role. Therefore, interaction with a state’s own population and the population inthe area of responsibility is essential to ensure the support of participation in the conflict aswell as the acceptance of forces in the field. Nowadays, information operations (INFO OPS) are considered a force multiplier in the whole spectrum of military operations, and through technology, actions can be initiated to influence the target audience. The aim of this articleis to identify the role of information operations during NATO’s longest and most challenging mission: the International Security Assistance Force/ISAF, in Afghanistan.
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In almost seven decades of existence, NATO adopted seven strategic concepts, which consolidated significantly the role of this organisation in ensuring Euro-Atlantic security. The priorities promoted through these documents derived from the implementation of the North-Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, in April 1949. Furthermore, it provides the framework for continuous adaptation of the way in which NATO is working, while optimising the Alliance approach towards security evolution. From this perspective, the radiography of the past decades indicates the existence of several decisive stages in the overall development of NATO strategic approach. The outcome of this process has become visible both in the maturityof the organisational profile as well as in the comprehensiveness of the tools developed for providing collective defence. In this vein, the strategic concepts have represented the landmarks of NATO’s transformation process providing the practical and conceptual tenets, which have contributed to the efforts of maintaining the stability in Europe and to the consolidation of the activity of this organisation in the field of crisis management.
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