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This Week at the ISN

Our Weekly Content Roundup

1216 October 2015

JUMP TO Editorial Plan | Security Watch | Blog | Video

// Security Watch

This week, our hard power-centered Security Watch (SW) series examines the UK's upcoming Strategic Defence and
Security Review (SDSR); the lethal power of Pakistan's Tehrik-e-Taliban; the next round of NATO enlargement; the
military component of the EU's Operation Sophia; and the United States' proposed 'Places, not Bases' strategy. Then, in
our second, more wide-ranging SW series, we look at the failure of the democratization movement in Belarus; the
influence of criminal violence on political radicalization; Indonesia's growing alienation from ASEAN; the dangers posed by
radical Islam in Russia's Ural Federal District; and the status of world peace 40 years after the Helsinki Summit.

The 2015 UK Strategic Defence and Security Review and Beyond

12 October 2015

What guiding principles should help direct the UK's next Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR)? Our partners at
Saferworld recommend that London should 1) rethink its 'hard security' responses to political problems; 2) promote
responsible arms transfer controls; and 3) strengthen its strategic partnerships. More

Coordinating Democracy Promotion: Lessons from Belarus

12 October 2015

Nicolas Bouchet believes that it's time for democracy advocates outside of Belarus to understand why they've failed to
help reform the county's politics. Learning the right lessons, after all, will help them to improve like-minded efforts in
Russia and other 'politically restricted' spaces. More

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Evolves under Pressure

13 October 2015

Tehrik-e-Taliban's recent attack on a Pakistan Air Force facility demonstrates that it has lost none of its lethality, writes

The Politicisation of Violence: An Alternative to Radicalisation

13 October 2015

Many of the perpetrators of recent terrorist attacks in the West have or had criminal backgrounds. Hmm, so what does that
mean? To Ann-Sophie Hemmingsen and her colleagues, it suggests that we need to overhaul our understanding of how
people become radicalized. A criminal past can indeed be a spur to political violence. More

NATO Enlargement - Back on the Agenda

14 October 2015

Now that NATO enlargement is back on the agenda, which states are most likely to be invited to join the Alliance prior to
next year's Warsaw Summit? After sifting through the candidates, Karsten Friis believes that only one applicant will
receive a formal invitation Montenegro. More

Realist Indonesia's Drift Away from ASEAN

14 October 2015

Indonesia's assertive foreign policy may soon test the institutional resilience and collective resolve of its ASEAN partners,
writes Vibhanshu Shekhar. Worse still, it might also weaken the push for a multilateral solution to the territorial disputes
now bedeviling the South China Sea. More

Operation Sophia: Tackling the Refugee Crisis with Military Means

15 October 2015

Thierry Tardy thinks that Operation Sophia the military component of the EU's new anti-migrant smuggling campaign is innovative on a
number of levels. It is, for example, the first time that Brussels has brought its internal and external security agendas together. More

The Rise of Nontraditional Islam in the Urals

15 October 2015

What steps should political and religious leaders take to blunt the growth of radical Islam in Russia's Ural Federal District?
Alexey Malashenko and Alexey Starostin's recommendations include instituting youth education programs and proactively
regulating the growing number of migrants in the region. More

Making Places, Not Bases a Reality

16 October 2015

How can the United States compensate for the dwindling number of overseas military bases it has that can maintain its
combat aircraft? The answer, according to Michael Pietrucha, might come in the shape of a new strategy "Places, not
Bases" that capitalizes on existing facilities owned by allied and partner nations. More

From the CSCE to the OSCE: Is the World Safer Now?

16 October 2015

Pere Vilanova thinks that today's security challenges share a striking resemblance to those that surrounded the 1975
Helsinki Summit. He's convinced, for example, that a primitive version of the Cold War has returned and that European
security has once again become as an essential condition for global stability. More

// Blog
Kim Jong Un's Popularity, Explained
12 October 2015

Is Kim Jong Un's popularity with ordinary North Koreans merely attributable to his forbearers? Not according to Andrei
Lankov. The first three years of his rule have also seen a growth in the country's unofficial economy and a wave of purges
that nearly always target the country's dubious elite. More

Has Liberalism Gone Missing in East Central Europe, or Has It Always Been Absent?
13 October 2015

James Dawson and Sen Hanley aren't unduly surprised that East Central Europe's "liberal democracies" have gone
missing just when they are needed most. After all, the region remains under the influence of an illiberal political culture that
survived the region's push for EU membership. More

The Emperor's New Clothes: The Self-Delusions of American Naval Power

14 October 2015

Why is it time for the US Navy to make some hard choices about the overall future of its fleet? According to Robert Rubel,
it can't remain a globally relevant force without making significant changes to its size and capabilities. More

Making Peace in a Divided World: New Roles for the United Nations?
15 October 2015

Richard Gowan believes the UN needs to work harder at reducing great power competition and violent extremism. As he
sees it, if the world body fails to be more engaged in these areas it will only marginalize itself further on the world stage.
More

Rethinking Secession: Why Spain and Catalonia Should Not Take Stability for Granted
16 October 2015

Catalonia's secession from Spain would be quick, painless and trouble-free, right? Wrong, says Ranj Alaaldin. As things
currently stand, separation would trigger a host of problems that neither of these parties, nor the European Union, could
resolve. More

// Video

NATO's Next Steps: Warsaw and Beyond

In today's video, NATO's current SACEUR, General Philip Breedlove, discusses the critical problems now facing both
Europe's and the Alliance's security, including those that might be addressed at the latter's Warsaw Summit next summer.
More

GCC Economic & Political Outlook

In today's video, Adnan Shihab-Eldin discusses the economic status of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries,
particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring and declining oil prices. He additionally focuses on 1) the political and economic

history of the GCC and its members since WWII; 2) the Council's human development achievements, particularly at the
local level, etc. More

Thinking about Military History in an Age of Drones, Hackers, and IEDs

In this video, FPRI's Paul Springer discusses 1) the history of past revolutions in military affairs and how they've helped
limit conflicts; 2) how warfare changed in the 20th century and how robotic and cyber technologies are changing it now;
and 3) what the US can do to place limits on how the latter tools are used in future conflicts. More

// Multimedia Content
Here is a selection of this week's additions to the ISN Digital
Library:

Publications More
// Diversion of Arms and Ammunition in Peace Operations More
// Crumbling States: Security Sector Reform in Libya and Yemen More
// The Assad Regime's Hold on the Syrian State More

Videos More
// What to Do About Cyberattacks More
/Deflating
/
Bubble in China? Lessons from Japan?More
/
/ The Future of Britain and EuropeMore

Audio / Podcasts More

// There and Back: North African Fighters in Syria More
// A Conversation with Giorgi Margvelashvili More
// ECFR's World in 30 Minutes: Is ISIS Putin's Saviour?More

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