Security - Defense

Facing threats on all its borders as well as social, economic and religious tensions, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are now under significant pressure in accomplishing their core mission: the survival of the State of Israel.

Facing threats on all its borders, as well as social, economic and religious tensions, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is now under significant pressure for ensuring its core mission: the survival of the State of Israel.

Cyberspace, as a major but intricate field of action, represents both a challenge and a great strategic advantage. At a time when information technology affects all relationships at a global level, states are destabilized by growing dependence on computer data which puts their militaries at risk.

Since the end of the Cold War, the international security environment has been transformed and nuclear weapons have been marginalized in the West. However, the NATO security policies remain almost unchanged: deterrence is still considered as a principle guiding the Atlantic Alliance, even though the actual policy statements lack target, direction and urgency.

The context of budgetary constraint offered a strong incentive for the 2010 Coalition Government to improve its management of defence equipment.

While French military expenditures have remained relatively constant over the last ten years, equipment production tended to decrease, resulting in capability gaps. This situation highlights the increasing costs of both acquiring and maintaining highly complex modern military equipment. 

In the long standoff regarding its nuclear ambition, Iran has cultivated ambiguity and been loath to reliably assure the international community of its ultimate intentions, complicating Western efforts to understand, let alone constrain, Tehran’s endeavors.

The 2011 insurgency in Libya brought about the demise of Supreme Leader Mouammar Qadhafi. A NATO-led coalition operated to meet a unique United Nations mandate including an arms embargo, no-fly zone, and the requirement to protect the population from armed attack.

Although defense spending is the fourth budget item in France, it is rarely a matter of public debate. During the past three decades, defense has been affected in turn by the desire to rip the benefit of the post-Cold War “peace dividend”, the professionalization of 1997, and the increase of overseas operations after September 11, 2001.

In December 2003, Japan decided to be the second country in the Asia-Pacific to deploy a ballistic missile defense (BMD) system.

Strong states often fail to deter vastly weaker competitors. This paper explores some reasons of this failure and identifies factors that can increase the prospects that deterrence will succeed in these situations.

A central piece of national security during two centuries and an essential link between the military and the people, the French reserve forces have considerably decreased over the last decades.

After its rapid military victory over the Taliban, the international community underestimated the resources, time and work that would be required enforce to Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Afghanistan. Even though the Afghan population was supportive of the coalition’s efforts at first, the light footprint approach, fostered by the Europeans, failed to provide with satisfying results as the insurgency made its way through popular frustration.

Created on the 10^th July 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244, UNMIK was responsible for restructuring the institutions of a country devastated by war and establishing democratic governance. The security of people and goods and the existence of a legal system trusted by the population were two crucial prerequisites to the state-building process.