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Begin New Search Topic International Security Content Type Working Paper Publishing Institution NATO Defense College Publication Year within 25 Years

1. New Armies for a New Era Decrypting post-2011 Arab Military Reform Trends

Author:
Eleanore Ardemagni and Umberto Profazio
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Th e reaction of the Arab armies to the 2011 uprisings is a subject that has been frequently examined, but the evolution and reform of Arab armies is a neglected topic.2 In times of global interdependence, the Atlantic Alliance must be ready to understand and interact with a changing Middle East, since NATO Arab partners’ security is more and more NATO’s security, in terms of shared objectives, common threats and cooperative security. Arab armies have entered a new era: traditional obstacles to military reform, mostly due to their politicization, persist; other variables emerge from the interaction of domestic, foreign and transnational threats.
Topic:
International Security
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. The "Home Game" Counting Violent Extremism within NATO

Author:
Jacqueline Page
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
As the complex global security environment faced by NATO members continues to evolve in the coming years, terrorism – waged by actors both in and outside of their borders – will remain a vexing challenge. For over a decade, NATO's counterterrorism strategy has been built on taking the fight abroad. Member nations have been intimately involved in this effort as contributors to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, to the Multi-National Force in Iraq and in a variety of smaller missions around the globe. In recent times, however, there has been growing attention to the threat posed by “homegrown” terrorism and foreign fighters returning from Syria and elsewhere to their home countries throughout the Euro-Atlantic area.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, NATO, and International Security
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, and Syria

3. Five Long-Term Challenges for NATO beyond the Ukraine Crisis

Author:
Karl-Heinz Kamp
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Moscow's aggression against Ukraine has truly been a “game changer” for the Atlantic Alliance. Its implications for NATO's further evolution can hardly be over-estimated and after the likely shoot-down of a Malaysian civil aircraft over Ukrainian territory, controlled by pro-Russian rebels, the situation is even more unpredictable. Even if the catastrophe has put heavy political pressure on President Putin to reduce Russian involvement in Ukraine, Moscow is still not likely to revert the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. As a result, the crisis will dominate the international security debate for a long time to come. Thus, signs of resolve directed at Russia, measures to reassure the NATO members in Eastern Europe and indications of further cooperation with Ukraine will rank very high on the agenda of the NATO summit in Wales in September 2014. With the draw-down of the operation in Afghanistan, some Allies tend to see NATO's future role as primarily to preserve the territorial integrity of its member states. Hence, they argue in favour of a “back to basics” approach with an Alliance concentrated on its defence mission, according to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
Topic:
Security, Terrorism, and International Security
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Malaysia, Ukraine, Asia, and Moscow

4. From the Gulf of Aden to the Gulf of Guinea: A New Maritime Mission for NATO?

Author:
Brooke Smith-Windsor and José Francisco Pavia
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Later this year, the mandate of one of the most successful NATO maritime missions in history - counterpiracy operations off East Africa in the Gulf of Aden region - will expire. The question presently facing NATO's 28 members states is whether to subsequently retain a presence in a region where the threat is now considerably reduced, or alternatively, refocus resources to where they are conceivably needed more to secure Allied interests. This paper makes the case for judicious consideration of a potential rebalance to Africa's new maritime hotspot: the Gulf of Guinea to the continent's West where threats to regional, Euro-Atlantic and international security and prosperity are on the rise. While recognizing that any decision to realign strategic priorities is ultimately a political one, this paper explains why the factors to justify greater Alliance capacity building (Cooperative Security) in the Gulf of Guinea region already exist in four vital respects: (1) Allied interests at stake; (2) international legitimacy for action; (3) established strategic guidance for the employment of Allied maritime and other means outside NATO territory; (4) relevant Allied operational competencies and expertise.
Topic:
NATO, International Cooperation, International Security, Maritime Commerce, and Reform
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Guinea

5. NATO and Japan as Multifaceted Partners

Author:
Michito Tsuruoka
Publication Date:
04-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Japan and NATO are now partners on the international security scene, but they used to live in different worlds with little interaction between the two. The Cold War, as seen from Washington and Moscow, was undoubtedly a global conflict. Yet, in many respects, it was still regional in nature: United States allies in Europe and Asia faced different sets of threats and challenges which, more often than not, evolved separately. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that relations between Japan and NATO did not develop during the Cold War, though both were US allies, sharing fundamental values and facing the Soviet Union as a common threat. Indeed, during the Cold War period NATO as an alliance had no substantial relationships with non-members, nor did it see the need for partnerships. This was largely because there was no reason for it to seek external help in achieving its core mission of defending the Allies.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, and International Security
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Europe, Washington, Asia, and Moscow

6. Germany Is More Than Europe Can Handle: Or, Why NATO Remains a Pacifier

Author:
Sten Rynning
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Few people care today to make reference to the competition for power and prestige among Europe's great powers. Europe is a job well done - whole and free, as the saying goes. NATO, yesterday's custodian of regional order, has shifted its focus accordingly, concentrating on globalized security threats, crisis management, and cooperative security.
Topic:
NATO, Globalization, Regional Cooperation, and International Security
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

7. NATO's 2014 Summit Agenda

Author:
Karl-Heinz Kamp
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
New developments in the international security landscape require constant adjustments to be made by the Alliance, and NATO summits between heads of state and government have three very important and occasionally historic events. They also allow NATO's political leadership to give forward-looking guidance to the Alliance's bureaucratic and military apparatus and to agree on particularly relevant issues. Lastly, summit meetings tend to speed up decision-making processes in NATO, since an imminent gathering of the "big chiefs" sets a deadline for compromise and consensus, both at headquarters and in capitals.
Topic:
NATO, International Cooperation, International Security, and Governance

8. Not only "Containerspotting" - NATO's Redeployment from Landlocked Afghanistan

Author:
Heidi Reisinger
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
On 31 December 2014, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, the largest military mission of NATO, will be history. In line with the political decision taken at NATO's Lisbon Summit in 2010, ISAF troops will be leaving. With them will go all their equipment: a range of items, from weapon systems and armored vehicles to chairs, kitchens and fitness centers used by more than 100,000 troops and approximately the same amount of civilian personnel. This is a gigantic project. If one thought getting into Afghanistan was difficult, getting out is a lot harder. It represents the biggest multi-national military logistical challenge in modern history. Millions of tons of material have to be de-militarized, dismantled, handed over, sold, scrapped, recycled, donated to the Afghans and/or third nations, or transferred home. More than 125,000 containers and 80,000 military vehicles have to be disposed of or brought back home to NATO nations and NATO partner countries. If the containers and the vehicles were placed one after the other, end to end, they would form a line as long as the distance from Berlin to Paris.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, and International Security
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Europe, Paris, Asia, and Berlin

9. Smart Defense: A Critical Appraisal

Author:
Jakob Henius and Jacopo Leone MacDonald
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
The concept of "Smart Defence" has in the last few months gained a critical position within the political and technical debates surrounding NATO and its future prospects as a security provider. Secretary General Rasmussen has adopted the concept as one of the core objectives of his mandate, often describing it as a vital priority for the Alliance. According to the keynote speech he delivered at the Munich Security Conference in February 2011, Smart Defence can be defined as a specific approach capable of "ensuring greater security, for less money, by working together with more flexibility," ultimately cooperating with others "with the aim to pool and share resources so that [NATO members] can together afford to acquire the necessary capabilities."
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, International Security, and Reform

10. Beyond Afghanistan, NATO's Global Partnerships in the Asia-Pacific

Author:
Benjamin Schreer
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
One of the major issues on the agenda of NATO's next Summit in Chicago in May 2012 will be the ongoing transition in Afghanistan. The goal of transferring full security responsibility from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to Afghan forces by the end of 2014 also increases the necessity for the Alliance to define its future relations with what it calls 'partners across the globe' in the Asia-Pacific region. Until now, the focus of NATO's relations with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the Republic of Korea was very much on operational co-operation. In other words, the value of these partnerships has largely been these countries' contributions to the Afghanistan mission.
Topic:
NATO, International Security, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand