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Alerts

Designed as short, rapidly-produced and easily-readable publications, Alerts offered succinct responses to the most pressing external challenges facing the Union and/or brief analyses of emerging issues.

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    24July 2015
    Asylum flows to the EU: blip or norm?
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    In May 2015, the EU-28, Switzerland and Norway received the highest number of asylum applications on record. What is the EU doing to address the matter? And will these refugee pressures remain a permanent feature of world affairs?

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    24July 2015
    China: reshaping the global order?
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    Beijing's foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific is based on the firm belief that its economic weight will eventually convert into political and strategic clout. This Alert examines how the creation of regional and global institutions has become a key objective to support this strategy.

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    23July 2015
    Sanctions: moving targets and goalposts
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    This Alert makes the point that sanctions regimes are not static: the relative importance of crises for a foreign policy actor can evolve over time, as domestic, regional or global politics change. As a responsive sanctioner, the EU, too, has displayed its ability to hit moving targets in this regard.

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    23July 2015
    Adding fuel to the fire? Arming the Kurds
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    The decision by EU member states – and others – to supply the Iraqi Kurds with weapons in the face of an onslaught by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seems logical. But what unintended future consequences could this have?

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    16July 2015
    EU sanctions: exit strategies
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    The EU stands out as a responsive sanctioning actor. This Alert argues that by signalling its commitment to reward compliance through a phased exit strategy, the Union lends credence to the reversibility of sanctions.

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    03July 2015
    Defence: solidarity, trust and threat perception
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    Is the mutual solidarity between EU and NATO member states strong enough to collectively defend Europe if worse comes to worst? And what could be done to assure European allies, especially in the east, about the transatlantic alliance’s ironclad guarantee to defend them?

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    03July 2015
    COP21 en route to Paris: the state of play
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    With the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) on climate fast approaching, hopes for finally clinching a robust global climate deal are running high. This Alert assesses the current state of play of the negotiations and looks at the remaining key challenges to be tackled in the run-up to summit.

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    26June 2015
    The dark side of the web: ISIL’s one-stop shop?
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    With law enforcement agencies pooling resources to counter ISIL's online propaganda, this Alert seeks to raise awareness of the jihadists’ use of the so-called ‘Dark Web’, the hidden underbelly of the little explored Deep Web.

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    26June 2015
    Stranded at sea: the Rohingya
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    Much like the European Union, several ASEAN countries are now facing a migrant boat crisis. But mindsets and attitudes towards the issue differ markedly. What are the root causes of the plight of the Rohingya? And what obstacles are there to addressing their suffering in a comprehensive manner at a regional level?

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    26June 2015
    Transit Niger: migrants, rebels and traffickers
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    Niger is increasingly becoming a major hub for drugs and arms smuggling in the Sahel region, as well as for clandestine migration across the desert, into Libya, and eventually Europe. Can Niger block these irregular migration and smuggling routes – and if so, will it?

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