Yemen’s history is tangled chronicle of separatism, war and underdevelopment: perfect conditions for terrorism. Houthi rebels and southern secessionists now pose a threat to President Saleh’s rule and to internal stability, paving the way for a stronger al-Qaeda presence and increased US military intervention. What role for the EU in addressing these challenges?

The EU's military planning capacity is in need of a major overhaul. The lack of a permanent operational planning headquarters undermines peacekeeping performance, and more broadly, the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). This Occasional Paper seeks to reconcile the need to address existing deficiencies in military planning and command and control with the general resistance to a permanent military operational headquarters.

The 1999 Helsinki Summit saw EU governments committing to a reform of their military capabilities, better equipping their armies for peacekeeping missions. In this latest EUISS Policy Brief, Daniel Keohane and Charlotte Blommestijn examine just how much progress has been made in the past ten years.

Revised in light of the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendum results, this second edition seeks to define Europe’s long-term security and defence ambitions, concluding with a ten-point ‘roadmap to 2020’ based on the premise that the European Union needs to build both a robust civilian and military capacity on the foundations of what has already been achieved.

'The Obama Moment' provides an authoritative analysis of the most topical global questions of our time: multilateralism, the economy, disarmament and climate change. Will the election of Obama facilitate enhanced transatlantic co-operation in dealing with these and other challenges?

Book launch: 20 January 2010

Iran is seeking nuclear technology that could be used to create weapons. But is the West justified in assuming that Iran’s nuclear aspirations extend to the acquisition of nuclear weapons, and to aggressive belligerence?

Rouzbeh Parsi challenges these assumptions, arguing that the strategic and political determinants of Iran’s nuclear policy are difficult to ascertain.

The devastating earthquake in Haiti tore apart the already impoverished nation, setting back recent development efforts by several years. But simply pouring money and personnel into the country will not secure its future. What Haiti desperately needs is its diaspora and a legitimate local leadership, writes Damien Helly.

Those holding out for a climate change miracle were sorely disappointed after the Copenhagen Summit failed to yield a binding international agreement. While the conference was big on effort, experts and expense, it was remarkably small on substance. But as Pawel Swieboda writes, it was not a complete failure.