Alerts

In the final alert of 2013, EUISS Director Antonio Missiroli offers his take on the Conclusions of the European Council on defence. Can its outcome be considered a turning point for European defence? And what developments lie on the horizon of a debate that is far from over?

Despite the progress made since the presidential elections earlier this year, serious disputes remain over the status of the regions in northern Mali. With extremists beginning to take advantage of the situation, this alert explains why the country must break the current political deadlock and begin the long-overdue process of reconciliation.

This alert assesses the state of play of politics in the Union’s eastern neighbourhood in the aftermath of the Vilnius Summit. How should the EU proceed with Ukraine following its dramatic refusal to initial an Association Agreement? And how can it ensure the other Eastern Partnership countries stay on track in the face of both domestic and foreign pressure?

As some of the BRICS countries – heralded at the turn of the millennium as the new drivers of the global economy – experience declining growth, this alert examines who might replace (or integrate) the BRICS as the motor of future dynamism in the world economy as well as in the geopolitical arena.