One of the highlights of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s March 2018 State of the Nation address was the presentation of two new nuclear delivery systems, which, he claimed, could evade US anti-ballistic missile defences. About 1 ½ years later, on 27 December 2019, Russia announced that Avangard…

[...] Today, NATO’s DCB initiative is an integral part of the core of NATO’s cooperative security outreach with partners. The programme allows NATO Allies to focus on working very closely with select partners to make their defence institutions, forces and capabilities stronger and more resilient.…

Clear messaging from policy declarations and actions signal Moscow is doing its best to assert Russia’s power in a multipolar world. Increasing Russian national levers of power will permit Russia to counterbalance US power in the Euro-Atlantic and beyond. Understood in Russian strategic policy…

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic which was first identified in China in late 2019 has expanded to touch nearly every corner of the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) assessed COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The speed and the scale of the virus’ global spread have been…

The contemporary global liberal order, established in the aftermath of World War II, and the values of individual liberty, democracy, human rights and rule of law that underpin it have formed the foundation of the Alliance since its creation. Using its expanding military capabilities, economic…

Despite significant efforts to stabilise the Sahel region, which stretches from Mauritania to Sudan and is home to 150 million people the security situation there is deteriorating. Insecurity is escalating and spreading across porous borders with dramatic repercussions for the region’s inhabitants…

In the almost two decades since the end of the large-scale use of force to change the territorial political reality in the Western Balkans, much has been accomplished. The majority of the states of the former Yugoslavia are now firmly entrenched in the Euro-Atlantic institutions. With the exception…

Urbanisation is one of the most prevalent global trends of the 21st century. Already today an estimated 55% of the world’s population live in urban areas. According to the 2016 United Nations World Cities report, two-thirds of the global population will live in cities by 2050 (Konaev and Spencer,…

The relationship between NATO and the European Union (EU) – arguably the two most powerful multilateral bodies in modern history – is a recurring theme in international political debates, not only in Europe but also in NATO. Indeed, some members of the latter – not least on the southern and western…

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…