We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
This study analyses the context in which the Security Sector Reform (SSR) has taken place in Albania since the fall of the communist regime. It has been conceptualised in three main periods, based on the social, political and economic perspectives that featured each phase during the process of Security Sector Reform. In this perspective, the beginning of the first period coincides with the collapse of communist regime in 1991 and ends with the 1997 crisis. Although Albania was never involved in the armed conflict and border reshuffle that featured the Former Yugoslav countries during the 90s, it largely suffered from backwardness and isolation, a legacy from the Cold War. This period was mostly characterised by the establishment of first generation reforms: the establishment of new institutions, structures, and chains of responsibility for the security sector. Nonetheless the process of first generation reform was not nalised, due to the crisis in 19971 which led to the collapse of the government. This represents the beginning of the second period: from 1997 to 2000. The third and final period efforts, namely the period from 2000 until 2009, seem to be more benefiting and realistic for the country considering the pace of SSR, contributing in the consolidation of the security sector institutions and governance.
More...
Państwa zachodnie zaczynają wykazywać nadzwyczajną, nieraz graniczącą z nadwrażliwością, troskę o sprawy bezpieczeństwa. Mamy do czynienia z przyspieszoną ewolucją i rozbudową instytucji, a także instrumentów zapewniania bezpieczeństwa międzynarodowego. Państwa szybko zmieniają swe doktryny, stale tworząc nowe rodzaje sił zbrojnych i służb specjalnych, których zadaniem jest reagowanie na zmieniające się i coraz bardziej złożone zagrożenia ich bezpieczeństwa. Po zimnej wojnie ze szczególną siłą zaznacza się w tej sferze – nie zawsze pozytywna – rola biznesu, mediów i think tanków. Pojawia się też nowe, niepokojące zjawisko prywatyzacji bezpieczeństwa. To wszystko znajduje odzwierciedlenie w bogatej literaturze, niezliczonych monografiach, raportach, policy papers, często wartościowych, niekiedy jednak bałamutnych. W prezentowanej publikacji studenci politologii i stosunków międzynarodowych oraz eksperci i komentatorzy otrzymują po raz pierwszy w naszym kraju, syntetyczny podręcznik akademicki do studiowania bezpieczeństwa międzynarodowego, spełniający rygory gatunku. Książka została przygotowana przez pracowników Zakładu Studiów Strategicznych Instytutu Stosunków Międzynarodowych WDiNP Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Zespół składa się z autorów mających za sobą bogatą praktykę w siłach zbrojnych, organach administracji państwowej odpowiedzialnych za bezpieczeństwo oraz świetnych, a przy tym młodych badaczy akademickich.
More...
Ukraine is deeply divided internally, although as a result of the changes that have taken place since its independence, the country’s internal divisions now have less and less to do with territorial divides, and the split into historical ‘sub-Ukraines’ has become less pronounced, especially for the younger generation. Ukraine is not a country of two competing regional identities, one in the west, the other in the east. The western identity, in which the unity of Ukraine is a key value, coexists with the multiple and diverse local patriotisms of the different regions in the east and the south of the country. The present protest movement has consolidated the country’s sense of unity. Its opponents have also been championing the indivisibility of Ukraine, even while they demanded a thorough decentralisation of the country, which was often mistaken for separatism. Russia has been stirring up separatist tendencies in Ukraine, but with little success. Crimea is an exception here, because in most respects it has remained unaffected by the dynamics of the social processes transforming mainland Ukraine – separatist tendencies are indeed deeply rooted in the peninsula.
More...
The Kurdish issue remains a serious challenge to the stability and security of both Turkey and much of the Middle East. Over the last ten years, however, the region has witnessed substantial major changes (including, Turkey’s socio-political transformation, and the wars in Iraq and Syria), which have altered the conditions under which the so-called ‘Kurdish problem’ has been approached.The new context has fuelled the ambitions, the potential, and the capacity to act not only within Turkey but also among the Kurdish people. Alongside the historically-motivated mutual distrust, hostility and repeated tensions, new opportunities for dialogue and effective cooperation have emerged between the Turkish state and the Kurdish people (particularly the Iraqi Kurds). // The situation in the region is dynamic and the geopolitical limitations faced by Turkey and the Kurds remain significant. It is therefore impossible to prejudge the future shape of the relationship between the two sides. Nonetheless, a notable breakthrough in Ankara’s approach to both the Turkish Kurds and the Middle East, coupled with the consolidation of the Kurds and a deep crisis in the region, indicate that the relations between Turkey, the Kurds and the Middle East will not return to the geopolitical paradigm which dominated much of the twentieth century.
More...
Kwestia kurdyjska stanowi wciąż wyzwanie dla stabilności i bezpieczeństwa zarówno Turcji, jak i znacznej części Bliskiego Wschodu. Jednocześnie jednak trwające od dekady zasadnicze przewartościowania w regionie (m.in. transformacja Turcji, wojny w Iraku i Syrii) zmieniły uwarunkowania, w jakich tzw. problem kurdyjski dotychczas funkcjonował.Na fali przemian m.in. znacząco wzrosły ambicje, potencjał i możliwości działania nie tylko Turcji, ale też Kurdów. Obok ugruntowanej historycznie wzajemnej nieufności i wrogości oraz kolejnych napięć wyraźnie zarysowały się – co stanowi istotne novum – pola i gotowość do dialogu oraz efektywnej współpracy Turcji i Kurdów (przede wszystkim irackich). // Sytuacja w regionie jest dynamiczna, a ujawnione w ostatnim czasie ograniczenia Turcji i Kurdów znaczne, nie można więc przesądzać przyszłego kształtu relacji. Jednak swoisty przełom w myśleniu tureckim o Kurdach i Bliskim Wschodzie, konsolidacja Kurdów i głęboki kryzys w całym regionie wskazują, że relacje w trójkącie Turcja–Kurdowie–Bliski Wschód nie powrócą do schematów funkcjonujących w XX wieku.
More...
Pretpostavke na kojima je počivala aktuelna međunarodna politika prema Bosni i Hercegovini i posljedična promjena stava od početka 2006. godine glavni su faktori u stvaranju sadašnjeg političkog i društvenog okruženja. Nespremnost da se održe i primijene dejtonski mehanizmi za provedbu i izvršavanje – OHR i EUFOR – te da se pređe na pristup ‘blage sile’ stvorili su okruženje u kojem nema pravila i u kojem se političari osjećaju slobodnim da bez ustezanja rade na ostvarivanju svojih neostvarenih ciljeva. Iako je jasno da sadašnji pristup ne funkcionira, nema kolektivne političke volje za preispitivanjem njegovih temelja. Rezultat takve situacije su sve veće podjele unutar Upravnog odbora Vijeća za provedbu mira između članova koji vjeruju da će instrumentarij EU-a za proširenje biti dovoljan da se spriječi daljnje pogoršanje situacije (Njemačka, Francuska, Italija, Španija, Rusija te same institucije EU-a) i onih koji su sve više skeptični i frustrirani zbog takvog pristupa (SAD, Velika Britanija, Turska, Japan, Kanada i povremeno Holandija).
More...
If history teaches us what life is all about, and this is true, then books are testimonies assisting history to show to the next generations where we are and why we have made mistakes instructing us not to stumble twice upon the same obstacle. "Military Secret" is a testimony which came to existence by a concurrence of peculiar circumstances and thanks to my own aspiration to expose entirely and at any cost the position and the role of the top military brass in preservation of an insane regime, alien to both the Serbs and the Montenegrins, at the beginning of the 21st century. Having been drawn into the games of big security services, dragged out of anonymity and motivated by my personal hardships and suffering, but also thanks to good people from the military and the police, I was in a position, amongst other things, owing to kindness of other people, to influence, perhaps, certain currents of history in, judging by everything, now former Yugoslavia. I am aware of the fact that the state is grateful to an individual only while it needs him/her.
More...
“It is not easy to predict the future course of events, which will depend to a large extent on the overall political situation in the USSR” is the cautious evaluation of the confidential expert report for the North Atlantic Council in October 1989. In 1988‒1991, the relationship was fundamentally transformed between the Western alliance system led by the United States and the East European socialist bloc dominated by the Soviet Union. The military, political, cultural, and ideological confrontation – with the weakening of Moscow and the collapse of its empire – was replaced during a few months by a new type of cooperation of the parties separated previously by the Iron Curtain. The eight reports from the NATO Archives (formerly classified confidential), published in the present volume for the first time in English, illuminate the East European events of these four eventful years from the perspective of expert advisors of the alliance. How were these dramatic changes in Eastern Europe perceived and interpreted in Brussels?
More...
This second volume of Readings in European Security vividly reflects the continuing changes that profoundly affect the factors shaping the security of the European continent. For a historian in the future, thework undertaken by the CEPS-IISS European Security Forum since 2001will appear in sharp contrast to the sort of issues that were at the heart of security concerns during the 1970s and 1980s, dominated by East-West confrontation.This second volume of Readings in European Security contains the complete set of working papers commissioned by the CEPS–IISS European Security Forum in 2003 (Nos. 10-15), during a period of profound change in the international security environment. These papers illuminate the big issues in European security such as the recently unveiled European security strategy, pre-emptive military action and the future of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In-depth analysis is provided on Europe’s approach to regions such as Turkey and the Greater Middle East. Independent experts present EU, US and Russian viewpoints on each topic. Each set of papers is prefaced by an Introduction by the Chairman, François Heisbourg, Director of the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique in Paris.
More...
Notwithstanding considerable differences in geography and in economic and demographic potential, Poland and Norway are close security policy partners, with their cooperation in the field resting on a solid foundation of similar threat perceptions and well-defined strategic interests, shared by both countries. The most important of those interests is to keep the North Atlantic Alliance strong and able to effectively provide security to member states, primarily through the credible capability of direct defence of their territories, and then later through crisis-management operations and cooperative security. It is precisely within the NATO framework and at the political level that the Polish-Norwegian cooperation has grown most dynamically, especially with increasing instability in the European security environment following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. And yet, the potential for closer collaboration between Poland and Norway and for sharing one another’s experiences is much larger than current practice would indicate. The present report analyses key aspects of Polish and Norwegian security policy, where both countries could benefit from the other party’s good practices and experience, and where they could establish closer cooperation. The research covers areas representing three broad dimensions of security policy: national, regional and European. These are also the three levels of governance, as they are proposed in the methodological framework of the GoodGov project.
More...
Pomimo dzielących Polskę i Norwegię istotnych różnic – wynikających choćby z położenia geopolitycznego oraz odmiennych potencjałów ekonomicznych i ludnościowych – oba państwa są bliskimi partnerami w dziedzinie polityki bezpieczeństwa. Ich współpraca opiera się na mocnym fundamencie, utworzonym przez podobną percepcję zagrożeń dla Europy oraz dobrze zdefiniowane, wspólne dla obu krajów interesy strategiczne. Najważniejszym z nich jest utrzymanie silnego Sojuszu Północnoatlantyckiego, zdolnego do zapewnienia bezpieczeństwa państwom członkowskim, przede wszystkim poprzez wiarygodną zdolność do bezpośredniej obrony ich terytoriów, a dopiero w następnej kolejności przez zagraniczne operacje reagowania kryzysowego i współpracę polityczną (bezpieczeństwo kooperatywne). Właśnie w ramach NATO, a zarazem na poziomie politycznym, oba państwa współdziałają ze sobą najintensywniej, zwłaszcza w sytuacji wzrostu niestabilności europejskiego środowiska bezpieczeństwa, zapoczątkowanego konfliktem rosyjsko-ukraińskim. Jednak potencjał współpracy Polski i Norwegii oraz ich wzajemnego uczenia się od siebie nie jest jeszcze w pełni wykorzystany. W raporcie przeanalizowano najważniejsze problemy polskiej i norweskiej polityki bezpieczeństwa, w których rozwiązaniu mogłoby obu państwom pomóc wzajemne czerpanie ze swoich doświadczeń lub podjęcie ściślejszej współpracy. Do badań wybrano zagadnienia reprezentujące trzy podstawowe wymiary polityki bezpieczeństwa: narodowy, regionalny oraz europejski i transatlantycki; są to zarazem trzy poziomy rządzenia wyróżniane w metodologii projektu „GoodGov”.
More...
In recent years, Russia has intensified work on new types of weapons for all parts of its Armed Forces. By introducing the new weapon types, Russia wants to base its strength not only on its nuclear forces, which in many cases is completely ineffective as a deterrent, but also on conventional forces. This goal has resulted in the need to replace obsolete equipment and has been financed by the economic prosperity of the country, thanks mainly to high oil prices. With the higher inflows to the country’s budget, Russian authorities managed to increase funds for rearmament. The current economic crisis, however, and in particular the fall in the price of crude oil, the sales of which form the base revenue of Russia’s budget (amounting to about 45%), may result in a loss of funding for the rearmament programmes. The plans may be further limited by technological deficiencies in Russia’s military industry, exacerbated by sanctions introduced by the EU and U.S. in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and which prevent the acquisition of Western technology, especially military-grade electronics. In the short- and medium-term perspectives, Russia’s financial problems may result in the need to select priority technologies and choose between the armed forces that will be equipped first. Considering the amount of new equipment introduced by Russia and ongoing research projects on new types of weapons, the most important is the Russian Air and Space Forces, as well as its Strategic Rocket Forces. The country will also invest in weapons for ground troops and naval aviation. A number of changes will also affect the navy, but in this case the reason is mainly the poor technical condition of Russian Federation assets.
More...
On 20–21 February 2014 in Warsaw, the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) in cooperation with the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO RAN) organised the workshop: Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures Related to Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Cost-Benefit Matrix. The workshop sought to advance the informal dialogue on information-sharing and transparency and confidence-building measures (TCBMs) regarding non-strategic nuclear weapons (NSNW) in Europe. The idea behind the workshop was based on the concept of a Joint TCBM Cost-Benefit Matrix, outlined in the final report of the 2013 Warsaw Workshop: Prospects for Information-Sharing and Confidence-Building on Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe.
More...
The security climate in Europe has chilled considerably. While we are far from a threat of a military confrontation, worst-case assumptions are frequently being made about the intentions of “the other.” A fundamental change of the climate of the relationship is possible if the West and Russia work together to increase mutual trust in the military field. Trust-building in the anarchic international environment is inherently difficult, but three approaches stand out: graduated reciprocation (a sequence of limited conciliatory steps), costly signals (bold concessions aimed at showing trustworthiness), and reliance on inter-personal dynamics, especially contacts between leaders. In the NATO–Russia context, only a combination of these three approaches aimed at reaching specific, realistically selected arms control aims can bring about notable progress. Mutual restraint and increased transparency should be the guiding principles.
More...
The Yemeni conflict has been witnessing essential information warfare and propaganda front. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Houthi movement has been aware of the importance of the internet. Notably, they avoid adopting an aggressive sectarian lexicon on social media. Instead, following drone and missile strikes, the Houthi-associated accounts frequently emphasize IRGC-assisted game-changing military capabilities. This focus seems to follow Iranian priorities in Yemen, namely promoting the militarized political movement and portraying it in a less sectarian but more patriotic and battle-hardened fashion. This approach likely emanates from the different characteristics of the Shia faith in Yemen compared with the rest of the Middle East.
More...
In this report, several of Russia’s strategic military exercises come under the spotlight to explore the messages and implications of these activities. A nation’s military exercises, especially strategic, are a form of important communication to a wide array of audiences including adversaries, allies, partners and the nation’s own population. This type of communication provides a better understanding of the scope and scale of a country’s military capabilities and readiness. It also provides valuable insights into a nation’s interests, operational art and strategic thinking. Military exercises support political, military and geopolitical intents as well as demonstrating capabilities and challenging our ways of thinking beyond the current framework of traditional military ‘modus operandi’.
More...
This report aims to present the evolution of the EU’s security and defence policy since 2016. Public debate on this issue often comes down to slogans about a ‘European army’, which in reality no‑one intends to create, or ‘European strategic autonomy’, a concept which has no clear definition. Discussions on the EU’s security and defence policy are much less often based on actual knowledge of the activities the EU is undertaking in this area, or the interests of individual actors.
More...
The monograph analyzes the military, economic and political power of selected countries. It contains case studies especially on those actors of international relations who either aspire to the role of great powers or have come to terms with their rank of "middle power". The potential of the European Union or India predestines them to strive for a place among the most significant actors on the international arena. Japan, Canada and South Korea, in turn, being aware of the limits of their power, focus rather on strengthening the existing international order or balancing between great powers.
More...
In April 1941, during the fragile lull between the Finnish Winter War and the Continuation War, an inconspicuous book signed under the pseudonym Nauticus saw the light of day. This Finnish-language work, first published in Sweden, was added to the list of banned books shortly after the war and did not return to the shelves of shops and libraries until almost 70 years later, this time under the author’s real name. In his comprehensive, openly anti-Soviet reportage, Mika Waltari describes the conditions prevailing in the Baltic countries in the period between the autumn of 1939 and the summer of 1940, when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were struggling against the ever-increasing influence of the Soviet Union, and the subsequent fall of all three countries into its vassalage. The author makes full use of his journalistic experience and extraordinary literary talent, and his ability to tell compelling stories. The book is complemented not only by excerpts from propaganda materials and speeches by state officials, but also by contemporary political anecdotes, which underline the ironic and sometimes almost bittersweet character of the otherwise straightforward text. The book is an invaluable testimony of the situation in the Baltic states when these countries were shrouded in darkness and isolated from the rest of the world. Waltari’s gloomy testimony thus becomes another piece in the mosaic of European war history.
More...