Security - Defense
As a result of global strategic competition, security and defense issues are marked by the return of major wars and nuclear deterrence, the transformation of terrorism and the race for military technologies.
Related Subjects
Conventionalizing Deterrence? U.S. Prompt Strike Programs and Their Limits
About a decade ago, the U.S. started to examine options to develop and acquire Conventional Prompt Global Strike capabilities. This move fits in an effort to conventionalize deterrence, an effort initiated decades before and undertaken for profound and diverse motives. Although it has been renewed under the Obama administration, which aims to reduce the U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons, this ambition has resulted in very little concrete progress.
Don’t Overhaul French Anti-terrorism
For the past two years, French experts on terrorism have felt anxious. They often emphasized: “The question is not whether France will be targeted by a terrorist attack, but when.” The dreaded attack took place on January 7th, 2015. That evening, various speakers across the media expressed their solidarity with the victims, but also criticized intelligence agencies for their failure, and asked for the implementation of a completely different strategy or the adoption of a new antiterrorist law. Never mind that the last one was only voted on a couple of months ago — the mere occurrence of the attacks shows that something went wrong somewhere. The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, didn’t hide this fact and asked for a thorough report. But let’s face it: No antiterrorist scheme is foolproof. The attack against Charlie Hebdo should not lead to an entire rethink of a French system that had become stronger over the years and now seems solid.
Syria and Beyond: The Future of the Chemical Weapons Threat
The use of chemical weapons (CW) in Syria and the decision to award the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reminded the international community that these weapons continue to represent a serious threat. The number of incidents of chemical attacks has been increasing in recent years, and efforts to curb CW programs – apart from the joint mission in Syria – have generally proven unsatisfactory.
On the Strategic Value of Ballistic Missile Defense
The strategic value of missile defense remains in considerable debate in Europe but less so in the United States.
The United States and the ‘Demilitarization’ of Europe: Myth or Reality?
The criticism leveled by Americans at Europe’s neglect of its commitment to defense is not new, and is often exaggerated.
Europe's Continuing Demilitarization
Beginning in the 1970s, becoming solidified with the “peace dividends” in the 1990s and finally accelerated by the financial crisis of 2008, Europe’s demilitarization is undeniable.
The French Army and the Military Revolution of the First World War
In 1914 the firepower of modern weaponry produced a massacre. To limit losses, the warring parties dug themselves into trenches. The French army was forced to innovate.
The Impact of the First World War on Strategy
The First World War helped redefine the notion of strategy, giving it a political dimension that it previously lacked.
The Legacy of the Great War: Sovereign States, Globalization and Regionalism
The Great War has shaped many 20th century practices and norms.
World War I, in Theory
The First World War gave rise to the emergence of the discipline of international relations, but it was the Second World War and the Cold War that fostered its development.
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