The Strategic Planning of EU Military Operations - The Case of EUFOR TCHAD / RCA. IES WORKING PAPER 5/2008

On 28 January 2008 the European Union launched the military operation EUFOR in Chad and the Central African Republic. Its mandate was to contribute to the security of the civilian population, the numerous refugees from neighboring Darfur and the local presence of the United Nations. This paper describes and analyses the planning process of this operation at the political-strategic and military-strategic levels with the aim of understanding how the military instrument was intended to generate the desired political effects. The paper argues that, from a military perspective, the EUFOR operation is based on the concept of humanitarian deterrence: the threat of military force is used to discourage potential spoilers from targeting the civilian population. As with any military operation, the planning of EUFOR was plagued by various elements of friction. At least some of this friction seems to flow from the mismatch in expectations between the political-strategic and military-strategic levels. The various political and military-technical constraints within which the operation was planned resulted in an operational posture that is less decisive than what the political ambitions would have suggested.

Putin: The morally depraved degradation of a strong state leader. CEPS Commentary, 31 March 2015

In a new CEPS Commentary, Michael Emerson calls for an end to diplomatic euphemisms in describing Putin’s tragic degradation of Russia, its political regime and society. The assassination of Boris Nemtsov on February 27th signals one more step down this dreadful path.

The devil is in the details. Information warfare in the light of Russia's military doctrine. OSW Point of View 50, May 2015

By highlighting informational threats and giving them a military dimension, the authors of the Russian Federation's military doctrine have outlined the concept of information warfare. It is a kind of combat conducted by both conventional and indirect methods, open and concealed, using military and civilian structures. It has two dimensions: broader ("non-nuclear containment", i.e. combat waged on various levels - political, economic, diplomatic, humanitarian, military) and narrower (as an element supporting of action). An analysis of these issues enables us to identify several rising trends over the period 2000-2014 in Russian security policy. These boil down to a blurring of the boundaries between internal and external threats, introducing non-military methods and organisational structures to armed combat, and conferring an ideological character on this combat. This leads to a blurring of the contours of inter-state conflicts, which allows Russia to take part in armed conflicts in which it is not officially a party.

Pro-American non-alignment. Sweden and Finland develop closer military co-operation with the United States. OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 205/31.03.2016

Russia’s increasingly aggressive policy and its enhanced military activity in the Nordic-Baltic region has led to revaluations in Sweden’s and Finland’s security and defence policies and a rethinking of the formats of their military co-operation. While remaining outside NATO, the two states have been developing closer bilateral defence co-operation and working more closely with the United States, while at the same time developing co-operation with NATO. Sweden and Finland perceive the United States as the guarantor of regional and European security. From their point of view, the United States is currently the country that has both the necessary military capabilities and the political will to react in the event of a conflict between Russia and NATO in the Nordic-Baltic region, in which both countries would inevitably become involved despite their non-aligned status. For Sweden and Finland, intensified co-operation with the United States offers an alternative to NATO membership, which is currently out of the question for domestic political reasons. Meanwhile, the US has also become increasingly aware of the strategic importance of the two states, which, for the purposes of contingency planning, are in fact an extension of NATO’s north-eastern flank.

The implementation of the Gender Perspective in the EU civilian and military missions: Leadership wanted. Security Policy Brief No. 67, October 2015

Fifteen years have passed since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, through which time the EU has grown as a security actor. The keys to produce a change in implementing gender mainstreaming in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) are well known by member states; the EU and external implementation reports1 are repeated again and again, but real change requires real willingness on the part of member states, and leadership.

Cautious and rotational – US military engagement on NATO’s eastern flank. OSW Commentary NUMBER 216 | 05.07.2016

The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 put a stop to the gradual scaling down of US military engagement in Europe, a policy that the United States had pursued since the end of the Cold War. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict became a watershed for the US perceptions of European security as Washington started to see the threat of a conflict between Russia and a NATO member as more probable. The United States decided that – despite the mounting challenges in the Pacific region and its involvement in conflicts in the Middle East – it had to invest more in European security. The US has stepped up the intensity of joint drills with the allies and the activities of its forces in Europe. However, its support for the allies has been subject to various limitations and should be treated as a political signal to Moscow, rather than an element in a broader strategy. The future of the policy of strengthening the eastern flank will depend on the outcome of the US presidential elections in November and on developments in the bilateral relations between Washington and Moscow.

Elite municipal da Ponta do Sol: 1878-1886

A presente investigação desenvolve um estudo sobre o percurso histórico das elites municipais do concelho da Ponta do Sol, entre 1878 e 1886, inserindo-as no contexto global das regras definidas pelo suporte legislativo do Código Administrativo de 1878, bem como no espaço socioeconómico, onde detiveram um papel preponderante e decisivo nos destinos do mesmo. Esta dissertação analisa a realidade local na construção de uma identidade municipal, aplicando métodos e técnicas de investigação histórica. A partir de fontes manuscritas, como os recenseamentos eleitorais, este trabalho faz a inventariação do corpus eleitoral do concelho supramencionado, isto é, a caracterização socioeconómica dos cidadãos habilitados a votar (eleitores) e dos elegíveis, culminando nos eleitos para os cargos municipais. De igual modo, procurou conhecer as áreas de intervenção da Câmara Municipal da Ponta do Sol e respetivos espaços de atuação da elite dirigente camarária.

Entre el terror y la solidaridad : La influencia de la revolución haitiana en las independencias de Venezuela y Nueva Granada (1804-1825)

En este trabajo me propongo analizar la influencia de la revolución de Haití en las independencias de Venezuela y Colombia durante los años 1804-1825. Miintención es demostrar que las repercusiones del proceso haitiano fueron vastas, complejas y sufrieron importantes cambios durante el transcurso de los años. En líneas generales, la revolución generó pánico entre las elites criollas y peninsulares y esperanzas entre grupos de esclavos y pardos. Inicialmente los sectores criollos revolucionarios buscaron evitar todo contacto con la isla y eludir el modelo insurgente haitiano por considerar que produciría en la Tierra Firme una "guerra de razas" y una hecatombe similar a la que, en su opinión, allí había acontecido. Sin embargo, a partir de 1812-1813 debido a las dificultades de la guerra de independencia una fracción de la elite criolla comenzó a estrechar vínculos con la República del Sur de Haití a través de contactos diplomáticos y corsarios. Estas primeras relaciones, más bien tímidas, fueron la condición de posibilidad de un cambio importante que sobrevino en 1816. En dicho año, debido a la reconquista de la expedición realista, la mayoría de los líderes independentistas huyeron de Tierra Firme y tuvieron que exiliarse en Haití, uno de los pocos lugares donde encontraron refugio y apoyo. En aquel contexto, se dio el pacto entre Alexandre Petión y Simón Bolívar, por el cual el primero se comprometió a aportar armas, barcos y hombres a la causa patriota a cambio de la emancipación de los esclavos hispanoamericanos. Este acuerdo fue fundamental ya que no sólo posibilitó la exitosa contraofensiva independentista, sino que además le dio un cariz social al proceso revolucionario de Venezuela y Colombia. Así, a partir de 1816 y hasta 1821, se dieron numerosos contactos e incluso el gobierno de Jean Pierre Boyer (sucesor de Alexandre Petión) colaboró con otras dos expediciones a cargo de Gregor Mac Gregor para liberar Panamá y Río Hacha. Sin embargo, el cambio no fue total y aún durante estos años, los líderes criollos continuaron teniendo reparos frente al peligro de la explosión de un nuevo Haití en la Tierra Firme hispana. Por último, el fin de la guerra de independencia abrió un nuevo contexto en el cual aquellos miedos se intensificaron debido a la movilización social interna. Esto derivó en nuevo alejamiento y el gobierno de Colombia no sólo se negó a mantener relaciones con Haití, sino que incluso lo excluyó del Congreso de Panamá.

La basileía "revolucionaria" de Nabis

El rey Nabis de Esparta es caracterizado por las fuentes literarias antiguas como un tirano al haber emprendido una serie de reformas radicales que, particularmente en sus contenidos sociales, atentaban contra el orden establecido y ponían en peligro la supremacía en el Peloponeso de una conservadora liga aquea sostenida en las clases propietarias y respaldada por las imparables legiones romanas. Es el propósito del presente artículo analizar las bases de esa monarquía "revolucionaria" de Nabis, así como el alcance, los objetivos y la fortuna final de sus medidas, que supusieron un intento de acomodarse a la realidad de los estados helenísticos sin renunciar por ello a las señas de identidad y al acervo cultural espartano. La finalidad última era reconquistar parte de su pasado esplendor militar y lograr un lugar digno, si no hegemónico, en el complejo e inestable tablero geopolítico peloponésico, pero la elite aquea no cesó hasta acallar toda reivindicación socioeconómica en la sociedad lacedemonia.

U.S. citizens imprisoned in Mexico : hearings before the Subcommittee on International Political and Military Affairs of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, first session.

Hearings held April 29, 1975-

El Salvador : transfers of military assistance fuels : report to the Honorable Tom Harkin, U.S. Senate /

Running title: Salvadoran fuel transfers.

Chats on military curios,

Mode of access: Internet.

National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory : a leader in environmental radiation measurement.

Mode of access: Internet.