In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced perhaps the most ambitious investment and infrastructure programme ever conceived. The ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) has since become the boldest expression yet of China’s global economic, diplomatic, and strategic ambitions. This report argues…

As the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession are transforming the global security landscape, the Gulf region finds itself in a particularly vulnerable situation. The region’s volatile security environment was already of significant concern to the Allies and the international community years…

COVID-19 first appeared in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region in January 2020 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since then the number of reported cases in the region has increased substantially. With the exception of Iran, infection rates in the region have not approached those of…

The Black Sea region is at once alive with economic potential and imperilled by division, rivalry and conflict ¬¬¬– all with implications for the international system as a whole. It is an area united by an important waterway that links the littoral countries and hinterlands to the global economy.…

The global community is currently undergoing the most consequential pandemic since the outbreak of Spanish influenza in 1918-19. Pandemics, however, are not as rare as many have thought. Indeed, there have been four major pandemics over the last 120 years when flu viruses genetically mutated, and…

The rapid rise of the People’s Republic of China in the last part of the 20th century and early decades of the 21st century represents a paradigm shift in global affairs comparable in magnitude to the collapse of the Soviet Union.  The confrontation between China and the Euro-Atlantic community is…

“A global pandemic is not a question of if, but when and how bad”. Variations of this statement have over the years been repeated by countless health experts, yet when in late 2019 a novel coronavirus  emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, much of the world found itself woefully ill prepared.…

This special report provides a brief overview of the challenges that the Alliance is facing on the defence innovation front and how member nations and NATO as an organisation have begun to tackle the issue. Your rapporteur also outlines some of the challenges Allies are facing in implementing…

The Alliance reacted swiftly and effectively to do its part to mitigate the impact of the spreading coronavirus early in 2020. It continues to contribute to the fight that will lead to its ultimate defeat. To date, NATO has coordinated well over 350 missions to transport medical personnel and…

The Gulf, like other parts of the Middle East, is both a source of friction and cooperation between Europe and the United States. This reflects both convergent and divergent interests in the region, but it is also emblematic of more enduring changes underway in the international system as a whole,…

This DSC report was adopted on Saturday 12 October 2019 by the Defence and Security Committee at the 65th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in London, United Kingdom.   The Committee’s 2019 General Report reviews the rapidly changing nuclear weapons environment and its impact on…