Defence and security

The Cyber Frontier

The cyber frontier perspective serves to explicate that the Global South’s participation in digitalization is not simply a matter of joining cyberspace. On the contrary, it is a matter of selective forms of global connection in combination with disconnection and exclusion. I contextualize security concerns by describing the trajectory of digitalization in the Global South. I proceed by exploring how “technological leapfrogging” can create new and unique societal vulnerabilities. By linking digitalization with security and economic growth, cybersecurity is seen in connection with development assistance and the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Finally, I hold that this triple knot (digitalization, security and economic growht) represents an opportunity for donors such as the EU to foster new types of development assistance building on a continued engagement in the Global South.

New Momentum for European Defence Cooperation

For better or for worse, the politics of Brexit, in combination with the implementation of the new EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy, have generated renewed momentum for European defence cooperation. EU member states have tabled a range of proposals. Some consolidation will be necessary, especially if effective defence integration is the aim – and that is the way to overcome current fragmentation. National forces can cooperate and be made interoperable with other forces in various formats simultaneously, but they can be integrated only once. Two levels of defence cooperation and integration must be addressed. At the level of the EU as such, and using EU incentives such as Commission funding for R&T, largescale projects for the development and acquisition of strategic enablers can be mounted, with the European Defence Agency acting as manager. At the level of state clusters, large deployable multinational formations can be created (such as army corps and air wings), with fully integrated maintenance, logistics and other structures in support of the national manoeuvre units that each participant can contribute. By pooling all-too-limited national military sovereignty in this way, defence cooperation and integration can revive sovereignty, understood as the capacity for action, at a higher level.

Belgrade Security Forum Op-Ed: Can Democracy Survive Global Disorder?

The question posed by this year’s Belgrade Security Forum is an important one: the pressure on democratic institutions are felt worldwide. Many of these pressures can rightly be described as disorders: Global migration, state collapse in the Middle East and Central Africa, the violent terror of the IS, and climate change are some of these disorders that are challenging to respond to. In worst case they may threaten to undermine our democratic institutions as well.

Hva er truslene?

NATO’s Role in the Refugee Crisis: Building Bridges with the EU

The activities that NATO has undertaken to address the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean focus on intelligence and surveillance, and are designed to complement the efforts of the EU and Turkey, writes Nina Græger. She argues that the operation builds on years of informal cooperation between the EU and NATO, and that the current partnership could lead to an easier relationship between them.