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Transnational challenges

There is a growing overlap between the EU’s internal and external security problems. Terrorism, organised crime and unregulated migration not only pose a threat to European internal security, but also have a serious impact on the stability of Europe’s immediate neighbourhood. Very often, they find their roots in conflicts and instability further abroad in Africa or Asia.

For some time, the European Union has been active in international debates on the governance of these challenges, and has created new policy instruments of its own. Already in the early 1990s, the EU successfully linked its home-affairs priorities with its Common Foreign and Security Policy. The 2015 migration crisis showed the limits of that approach, and has sparked a new wave of reforms.

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    17June 2015
    Arctic security matters
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    The Arctic region is currently undergoing major and rapid transformation, both environmentally and economically. This report, the outcome of a EUISS Task Force, examines how these changes carry significant political implications, and highlights the new security challenges that are emerging in the region.

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    15June 2015
    Women & Armed Conflicts and the issue of Sexual Violence

    This report derives from a colloquium on the theme of ‘Women & War’ organised jointly by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) which took place on 30 September 2014 in Brussels. The proceedings of this colloquium have been written by the speakers or by the Delegation of the ICRC in Brussels on the basis of audio recordings of the event.

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    05June 2015
    The threat of state-sponsored industrial espionage
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    Industrial espionage – i.e. the theft of trade secrets, intellectual property, and scientific know-how from enterprises and research centres – is on the rise worldwide. This Alert assesses state-sponsored industrial espionage in peacetime, and seeks to highlight the threat it poses to national and economic security.

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    24April 2015
    The EU and the NPT: drawing lines
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    45 years after its inception, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) faces old and new challenges. This Brief surveys recent developments ahead of the 2015 Review Conference of the Treaty. As a microcosm of the regime, the European Union is uniquely positioned to bridge the NPT’s main divides.

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    15April 2015
    A new climate for peace
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    This independent report commissioned by members of the G7, identifies seven compound climate-fragility risks that pose serious threats to the stability of states and societies in the decades ahead. Based on an assessment of existing policies on climate change adaptation, development cooperation and humanitarian aid, and peacebuilding, the report recommends that the G7 take concrete action to tackle climate-fragility risks and increase the resilience of states and societies to them.

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    13March 2015
    Arctic matters: in from the cold?
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    With the next summit of the Arctic Council expected to deal with the EU’s pending application to become a recognised observer in the organisation, this Alert takes a look at the cooperation efforts – and tensions – in the far north.

  • 13March 2015
    EU-China Strategic Dialogue 2015

    On 13 March, the EUISS and the China Institute for Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) held their annual exchange of views in Beijing.

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    13March 2015
    Asia: disasters as opportunities?
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    What progress has been made in Asia with regard to Search and Rescue (SAR) and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations since the aviation disasters of last year? Can anything positive emerge from the tragedies?

  • 23February 2015
    Cyber NEEDS and development: identifying the needs of Networks Enhancing the Economy, Development and Security (NEEDS)

    On the 23-24 February 2015, the EUISS and the European Commission DG International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) organised the international conference on cyber capacity building in Brussels.

  • 17February 2015
    Arctic security matters

    On 16 February, the EUISS hosted a workshop to explore the increasing importance of the Arctic.

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    01December 2002
    International terrorism and Europe
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    The events of 11 September moved all Europeans but were never understood for what they really were: the return of war to the most developed societies. The emotion thus quickly gave way to the belief that this had been an isolated event, or at least one that would not be repeated on the same scale.

  • 01September 2002
    US: going nuclear?
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    It has become commonplace to say that the events of 11 September have changed international affairs dramatically. With regard to nuclear affairs, this is also partly the case. The terrorist attacks themselves had no direct nuclear implications, but they gave new impetus to ongoing change in the nuclear landscape.

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    02July 2001
    Nuclear weapons: a new Great Debate
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    In nuclear matters more than in any other political area, perceptions have the force of law. The most concrete nuclear technology would count for little without the extremely sophisticated theories of uncertainty that form the basis of any nuclear deterrence strategy. Yet for the last few years both the technological and intellectual worlds of deterrence, as mankind has known it since 1945, have been in turmoil on all continents.

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    01May 2001
    Le MTCR face à la proliferation des missiles
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    Le Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) est à l’heure actuelle le seul dispositif politico-juridique international de lutte contre la prolifération des missiles. Il a été mis sur pied en 1987 par les 7 pays les plus industrialisés, et regroupe aujourd’hui 33 Etats.

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    01September 2000
    National Missile Defence and the future of nuclear policy
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    The first session focused on threat perceptions and threat assessments. The key question was whether a threat exists that justifies NMD deployment. Do the so-called ‘countries of concern’ really intent to threaten the US homeland and, even more importantly, do they have the financial and the technological means to scale up their existing arsenal to true intercontinental range?

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    01January 2000
    The European Union and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons
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    In 1994-1995, one of the first joint actions by the European Union in the framework of the CFSP concerned the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. And it was successful: during the NPT Review Conference in April-May 1995, the member countries of the Union played an essential role in ensuring the indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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    01December 1998
    Towards a European intelligence policy
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    Decision-making is the essence of any authority, in terms not only of operational effectiveness but also, fundamentally, of political credibility. The task has become more daunting since, with the restoration of shared rules of cohabitation in Europe and hopefully world-wide, the number of actors in national and international relations, as well as of objective factors that transcend national boundaries, has increased exponentially. ...

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    01October 1997
    L'Europe et la dissuasion nucléaire
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    Pendant la Guerre froide, le facteur nucléaire a structuré et sous-tendu les relations internationales. Il était à la base des stratégies militaires du monde occidental, déterminant toutes les fonctions de défense.

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    01October 1997
    European Security: the new transnational risks
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    Broad security has become a self-explanatory concept in these times of transition which affect every country with the end of the Cold War and the advent of 'cyberworld'. The multi-disciplinary approach to security is nothing new; its globalization is. The combination has radically altered the signposts of human cohabitation. The terms of the social contract between the citizen and the state have been altered, as transnational phenomena multiply.

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    01May 1996
    Europe and the challenge of proliferation
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    This Chaillot Paper focuses on the main proliferation challenges facing Europe as a whole, and examines the policies which have been formulated by the main West European countries and their security organizations.

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