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Briefs

Raising awareness of both existing and emerging foreign and security policy challenges facing the European Union, EUISS Briefs provide key information in a concise, focused format.

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    07June 2013
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    Europe: spread (not lost) in space

    Since the launch of its two ‘flagship programmes’ in the late 1990s, the EU has been increasingly involved in space activities. But despite the new competences as a result of the Lisbon Treaty, the temptation to compare EU space activities and policies with those of other spacefaring nations should be avoided, and its success in overcoming various hurdles seen as a considerable achievement.

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    03June 2013
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    The usual surprise? Iran’s presidential elections

    This brief explores the presidential campaign underway in Iran, examining the chosen candidates and the internal power struggles of a divided country and highlighting how the tight control of the electoral process is posing a serious challenge the regime’s own commitment to the notion of popular sovereignty.

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    22May 2013
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    Fighting piracy in the Gulf of Guinea - offshore and onshore

    Following a spectacular decline in the Gulf of Aden, incidents of armed robbery at sea and piracy are now on the rise in the Gulf of Guinea. Given the region's importance for the EU, are there lessons that can be learned and usefully transferred from Gulf to Gulf?

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    22April 2013
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    The American sequester - and us

    Budget cuts in the US are causing concerns not only because of their effect on security and defence spending, but also because of the particular way in which much of them are set to be administered. This brief argues that as a result of sequestration, the EU would do well to identify and take seriously its strategic interests and to invest in its own operational capabilities.

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    15April 2013
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    Nuclear multilateralisation - and Europe’s role

    Although considerable progress has been made regarding the implementation of multilateral nuclear approaches (MNAs) over the past few years, the drive appears to have already lost much momentum since its reinvigoration a decade ago. There is much potential in this realm for the EU to play a constructive role and for its internal diversity to become a foreign policy asset.

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    08April 2013
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    Global commons: between cooperation and competition

    Shared rules regarding the usage of - and access to - the global commons encourages their peaceful and cooperative use. With the rise of non-Western powers, questions must now be asked regarding the durability of the existing processes for managing the global commons. Are new processes required to address new threats and challenges, in particular in the realm of cyber security?

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    19March 2013
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    La révolution tunisienne deux ans après – est-elle réversible ?

    Deux ans après les événements qui ont conduit à la chute du régime de Ben Ali, la crise sociale et gouvernementale actuelle amène à poser la question de l’irréversibilité de la révolution tunisienne. Quelles étaient ses demandes ? Quelles réformes substantielles le gouvernement doit-il encore mettre en œuvre pour garantir une rupture définitive avec le passé ?

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    08March 2013
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    L’Instrument de Stabilité – au service de l’approche globale de l’UE

    Au cours des dernières années, si l’IdS a indéniablement gagné en importance, il demeure encore méconnu comparativement à la PSDC. Leur histoire est pourtant parallèle et leurs activités complémentaires, de façon à renforcer l’approche globale prônée par l’UE dans la Stratégie européenne de sécurité.

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    04March 2013
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    Good cop or bad cop? Sanctioning Belarus

    Sanctions seem to have become one of the EU’s weapons of choice to effect change beyond its borders and the case of Belarus testifies in particular to the Union’s ambition to conduct coercive diplomacy. Yet, despite the various steps taken by the EU over the past years, little lasting success has been achieved so far in enforcing meaningful change in Europe’s ‘last dictatorship’.

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    20February 2013
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    Strategic foresight - and the EU

    With various political and institutional initiatives across the Union indicating a growing interest in the analysis of trends and factors that may affect Europe’s position in the years and decades to come, the EUISS Director digs deeper into the nature, practice and record of strategic foresight.

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