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Briefs

Raising awareness of both existing and emerging foreign and security policy challenges facing the European Union, EUISS Briefs provide key information in a concise, focused format.

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    10January 2014
    Quenching India’s thirst for energy
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    With India struggling to meet its domestic energy demands, the country is now engaging in a more active – and more overt – form of energy diplomacy. What challenges face the rising giant in pursuit of this strategy, and how will it reconcile development goals with climate change concerns in a region that continues to suffer from a lack of integration?

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    19December 2013
    Reforming Arab security sectors
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    This brief highlights the need for greater security sector reform (SSR) in the Arab world. But in a region where altering status quo often means overhauling the entire system of governance, how can the obstacles blocking the path to reform be overcome?

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    06December 2013
    Mali, Centrafrique : les contours d’une réponse multiforme
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    L’envoi de troupes françaises en République centrafricaine est une étape d’une approche qui rappelle celle gouvernant la gestion de la crise malienne. Mais les parallèles entre ces deux processus soulignent certaines difficultés, notamment les relations difficiles entre organisations régionales et sous-régionales, les carences de l’approche régionale et la faiblesse des acteurs africains. Quelles solutions existe-t-il, et l’UE est-elle en mesure d’apporter des solutions?

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    06December 2013
    What economies of shale for US foreign policy?
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    This brief explores the impact on US foreign policy of the so-called ‘shale revolution’. With an ever-decreasing dependence on foreign energy producers, is the US on course to become independent from world energy markets? What impact will this have on the (often politically unstable) regions upon which the US has hitherto relied and, perhaps more unsettlingly for Europeans, on the transatlantic partnership?

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    29November 2013
    BRICS – what’s in a name?
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    This brief analyses what impact the five BRICS countries are likely to have in global politics in the years to come, and what future trajectory the grouping might take. The BRICS ‘club’ may or may not last – in its present or another formation – but its rise is a wake-up call for the EU to deepen its bilateral relations with individual BRICS and possibly reconsider its own position in the emerging system of global governance.

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    29November 2013
    Upgrading the Union’s response to disasters
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    Against the background of ongoing discussion about the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty’s solidarity clause and member states’ responsibilities in terms of mutual assistance, this brief provides an overview of the EU’s mechanisms for dealing with disasters.

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    22November 2013
    The Moscow riots, Russian nationalism and the Eurasian Union
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    With an increase in the number and scale of acts of vigilantism by semi-organised nationalist groups, the Russian authorities now find themselves –and their political system – under serious pressure. But in addition to a significant mutation in Russian nationalism, what wider trends are at play? And what effect will this rising xenophobia have on Russia’s foreign policy goals?

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    22November 2013
    What EU citizens think about European defence
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    On the face of it, there is overwhelming support in Europe for a common foreign and defence policy. But is there agreement on what a 'European defence policy' might actually mean? Or do EU citizens only favour common action when it is 'common' on their own terms? To provide some answers, this brief takes a detailed look at the polls on the matter and explores the assumptions that underlie them.

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    15November 2013
    EU Battlegroups – ready to go?
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    The EU Battlegroups (BGs) reached full operational capability on 1 January 2007. However, they have never been deployed since, raising serious doubts about the viability of the overall initiative. This brief examines how, if the EU member states really want the Battlegroups to be Europe’s flagship military rapid response tool, they may have to address the challenges that continue to plague the BGs’ credibility and effectiveness.

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    15November 2013
    Ten years of EU military operations
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    On the eve of the European Council´s summit on defence, the EU´s six military operations to date can be considered to have been carried out with a certain degree of success. This brief examines how the Union still has room to grow as a European security provider in the context of an international division of labour for military crisis management.

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