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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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    20February 2013
    Strategic foresight - and the EU
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    With various political and institutional initiatives across the Union indicating a growing interest in the analysis of trends and factors that may affect Europe’s position in the years and decades to come, the EUISS Director digs deeper into the nature, practice and record of strategic foresight.

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    18February 2013
    The shale gas ‘revolution’: challenges and implications for the EU
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    The recent boom in ‘unconventional’ oil and gas in the United States has raised many questions regarding the impact it will have on global energy markets, the security of energy supplies, the fight against climate change and even the global balance of power. Is it now time for Europe to develop its own resources?

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    18February 2013
    Water as a stress factor in ­sub-Saharan Africa
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    Despite Africa’s rainy equatorial zone, long rivers, great lakes and vast shores, water is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity. Convincing policy responses are required in order to alleviate growing pressure on water resources that could eventually lead to domestic unrest, exacerbate existing inter-state tensions and even constitute a source of armed conflict.

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    18December 2012
    UNSCR 1540 and the EU: reinforcing national responsibilities
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    For nearly a decade now, the EU has provided decisive support to international efforts to combat WMD proliferation. This policy brief illustrates the added value of EU support to existing international instruments dealing with non-proliferation, while recommending concrete steps to improve EU efforts to foster greater international cooperation.

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    30November 2012
    EU engagement in the Sahel: lessons from Somalia and AfPak
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    This policy brief looks at the prospects for the proposed EU training mission in Mali and examines what lessons might be learned from the EU’s previous contribution to international peacekeeping efforts in Somalia as well as the exent to which the fragile security situation in Northern Mali has the potential to become another Afghanistan.

  • 29November 2012
    After austerity: futures for Europe's defence industry
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    Europe's defence industry currently remains fragmented both across countries and business sectors. Yet given the downsizing of defence budgets, greater consolidation can now be expected through a mix of Europe, NATO, extra-EU and purely national solutions.

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    15February 2011
    Security developments in East Asia: what implications for the EU?
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    Recent security developments in East Asia have raised questions about peace and stability in a part of the world accounting for over a quarter of EU global trade. This Policy Brief assesses the changing power relations in East Asia and highlights potential implications of the region's security flashpoints for the EU.

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    20December 2010
    A new farewell to arms: viewing disarmament in a new security environment
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    Advocates of disarmament have long maintained that non-conventional weapons are so destabilising to international peace and security that they should be eliminated altogether. This policy brief provides an overview of the disarmament question and examines how it is entering a new phase in a radical new context of globalisation and rapid technology diffusion.

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    17December 2009
    Strength in numbers? Comparing EU military capabilities in 2009 with 1999
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    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.

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    17December 2008
    Scanning the future: American and European perspectives
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    This policy brief reviews the recent US National Intelligence report on global trends in 2025, which predicts a more multipolar and heterogenous world, characterised by non-state actors and rising powers with different priorities such as China, India and Russia. In a world where Europe risks losing its clout, the brief urges the US and the EU to work together in reforming multilateral structures, developing common strategies to engage the new global players, and facing new environmental, demographic and economic challenges.

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