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Transnational challenges

There is a growing overlap between the EU’s internal and external security problems. Terrorism, organised crime and unregulated migration not only pose a threat to European internal security, but also have a serious impact on the stability of Europe’s immediate neighbourhood. Very often, they find their roots in conflicts and instability further abroad in Africa or Asia.

For some time, the European Union has been active in international debates on the governance of these challenges, and has created new policy instruments of its own. Already in the early 1990s, the EU successfully linked its home-affairs priorities with its Common Foreign and Security Policy. The 2015 migration crisis showed the limits of that approach, and has sparked a new wave of reforms.

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    08March 2017
    Trends in terrorism
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    Although it is not the first time that Europe has experienced terrorism, for many Europeans, the phenomenon appears to be the most dangerous form of political violence today. So what is old and what new about today’s terrorism?

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    02March 2017
    Counter-terrorism cooperation with the southern neighbourhood

    Since the EU adopted its Counter-Terrorism Strategy in 2005, it has focused on forging closer ties with third countries in the fight against terrorism. This study outlines and contextualises current counter-terrorism activities in the region.

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    22February 2017
    Women in peacebuilding: the EU & others
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    Since the 1990s, the EU's gender mainstreaming strategy has spread to its foreign policy, including its CSDP. What concrete steps has it taken to promote women in the field of peace and security?

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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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    10November 2016
    Managing migration abroad – Why, where, what and how?
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    Because of the intertwining of internal and external security matters, the EU’s model of dealing with crisis is being challenged. This Brief looks at how integrating different approaches and distinct practises across the EU may come to represent the key change for policymakers.

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    10November 2016
    Civilian CSDP: what next?
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    Civilian CSDP missions were downsized in 2016, paradoxically at a time when security needs are growing – with threats largely of a non-military nature. This Brief shows how these changes call for renewed investment in civilian CSDP so that it can find its place in the evolving global crisis management architecture.

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    03November 2016
    Cybersecurity and democracy: Hacking, leaking and voting
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    As they enter a period of critical elections, the US and European countries are being confronted by a series of threats from cyberspace. Electronic voting infrastructure and networks of political groups have recorded repeated intrusion, while strategic leaks of compromising documents have sought to influence public opinion.

  • 28October 2016
    Towards an integrated border management strategy

    On 28 October, the EUISS and the European Policy Centre (EPC) organised a small closed-door session with a view to contribute to the debate regarding a new EU Integrated Border Management (IBM) strategy, the design of which was assigned to Frontex in the agency’s recently expanded mandate.

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    21October 2016
    The internal-external nexus: cross-border criminal justice
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    This Brief looks at the quite remarkable extent to which criminal justice cooperation has deepened – both within Europe and in the EU’s external relations. What mechanisms are in place to facilitate cooperation and avoid clashes in this highly sensitive policy area?

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    21October 2016
    The internal-external nexus: re-bordering Europe
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    The EU previously envisaged expanding its border-free travel area to create a single space across its neighbouring regions. Now it is witnessing the reappearance of geopolitical blocs and zones. What is the EU doing in the face of the need for a new border diplomacy?

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    15June 2015
    Women & Armed Conflicts and the issue of Sexual Violence

    This report derives from a colloquium on the theme of ‘Women & War’ organised jointly by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) which took place on 30 September 2014 in Brussels. The proceedings of this colloquium have been written by the speakers or by the Delegation of the ICRC in Brussels on the basis of audio recordings of the event.

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    05June 2015
    The threat of state-sponsored industrial espionage
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    Industrial espionage – i.e. the theft of trade secrets, intellectual property, and scientific know-how from enterprises and research centres – is on the rise worldwide. This Alert assesses state-sponsored industrial espionage in peacetime, and seeks to highlight the threat it poses to national and economic security.

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    24April 2015
    The EU and the NPT: drawing lines
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    45 years after its inception, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) faces old and new challenges. This Brief surveys recent developments ahead of the 2015 Review Conference of the Treaty. As a microcosm of the regime, the European Union is uniquely positioned to bridge the NPT’s main divides.

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    15April 2015
    A new climate for peace
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    This independent report commissioned by members of the G7, identifies seven compound climate-fragility risks that pose serious threats to the stability of states and societies in the decades ahead. Based on an assessment of existing policies on climate change adaptation, development cooperation and humanitarian aid, and peacebuilding, the report recommends that the G7 take concrete action to tackle climate-fragility risks and increase the resilience of states and societies to them.

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    13March 2015
    Asia: disasters as opportunities?
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    What progress has been made in Asia with regard to Search and Rescue (SAR) and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations since the aviation disasters of last year? Can anything positive emerge from the tragedies?

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    13March 2015
    Arctic matters: in from the cold?
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    With the next summit of the Arctic Council expected to deal with the EU’s pending application to become a recognised observer in the organisation, this Alert takes a look at the cooperation efforts – and tensions – in the far north.

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    30January 2015
    Cyber jihadists and their web
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    This Brief explains how the internet has increasingly become a tool for extremists to recruit new members, raise funds, and conduct new types of attacks. What can be done to stop the rise of cyber jihadism?

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    30January 2015
    State-sponsored hackers: hybrid armies?
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    With the virtual and physical worlds becoming ever more blurred, and the links between such hacker collectives and governments still unclear, is it still possible to set rules for governing cyberspace?

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    16January 2015
    Can ISIL be copied?
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    The first EUISS Brief of 2015 explores the possibility of other jihadi groups evolving along the lines of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). What explains the organisation’s spectacular rise? And what elements are required for other groups to replicate ISIL’s achievements?

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    19December 2014
    Riding the digital wave – The impact of cyber capacity building on human development
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    This report on cybersecurity seeks to promote a development-focused approach to the issue. The authors address security not as an end in itself but rather as a means towards social, economic and political development, and argue that cyber capacity building is a developmental issue which requires cooperation among different policy communities.

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