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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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    22March 2017
    Organised crime and fragile states: African variations
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    Little effort has been made so far to acquire a comprehensive understanding of transnational organised crime, its political economy and its ambivalent, non-linear relationship with political violence and system stability. This Brief takes a theoretical approach to explain the phenomenon in Africa.

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    15March 2017
    World trade and Trump
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    Upon taking office, President Trump signed an executive order formally ordering the withdrawal of the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This Brief examines the implications of Trump’s protectionist trade policies: the opportunities for third countries, as well the potential of sparking a trade war.

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    08March 2017
    Preventing terrorism in the south
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    To step up the fight against terrorism, the EU is looking to forge closer ties with strategic countries in its Southern Neighbourhood. The Union’s initiatives to set up counter-terrorism dialogues in the region have, however, been met with a hesitant response. How can the EU overcome different interpretations of what effective counter-terrorism should look like?

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    22February 2017
    The EU: from comprehensive vision to integrated action
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    The recent EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS) introduced the idea of an ‘integrated approach to conflicts and crises’. This Brief examines the concept of an ‘Integrated approach’, and explains how it differs from the EU’s ‘Comprehensive Approach’.

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    15February 2017
    China's Road: into Eastern Europe
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    China’s endeavour to establish new economic corridors in the region covered by the block’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) policy poses both opportunities and challenges. What are the best policy solutions to achieve synergy between European and Chinese projects in the region?

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    15February 2017
    China's Road: into the Western Balkans
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    Four years after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the ‘New Silk Road’ initiative in 2013, the main thrust of the infrastructure projects has been in Asia. However, the Western Balkans is also becoming increasingly involved in related discussions and projects on its western end.

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    08February 2017
    The refugee-development nexus
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    In a marked shift from previous policies, many advanced economies are creating labour market integration initiatives for refugees. This Brief argues that although this might seem a shortcut to a more progressive strategy, it risks undermining the integrity of refugee policy and repeating the mistakes of the 1990s.

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    31January 2017
    European defence: the year ahead
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    The European Union ended 2016 having agreed to a number of fresh initiatives designed to articulate (and act on) a new level of ambition for security and defence. This Brief assesses Permanent Structured Cooperation (PeSCo) as a potential game changer in the way EU member states cooperate on security and defence.

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    09December 2016
    Winter is coming – Chilly winds across northern Europe
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    Russia’s recent actions in eastern Europe and significant military build-up along its Western border and in the enclave of Kaliningrad has rattled many nerves. This Brief explores how, as a consequence, all the countries in the Nordic-Baltic region are now rearming.

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    02December 2016
    Africa uprising? The protests, the drivers, the outcomes
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    The number of popular protests in Africa has increased significantly since the mid-2000s, reaching its peak in recent years. To what extent can this surge challenge sitting governments or even be the harbinger of broader social and political change on the continent?

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