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The Strategic Compass and EU Space-based Defence Capabilities
The European Union relies on space for its economic sovereignty and security and defence. Without space-based capabilities, the EU could not enjoy any degree of strategic autonomy in security and defence. Since the adoption and endorsement of the Strategic Compass, space has only increased its relevance for the EU in the area of security and defence. Indeed, the Compass calls for a dedicated EU Strategy for Space and Defence. Yet space and defence is not a new avenue of policy for the EU and defence cooperation frameworks such as Permanent Structured Cooperation and the European Defence Fund already fund and advance space-relevant capability programmes. A major challenge facing the EU as it develops its space policies is how to ensure that the Union can develop a credible space and defence strategy, while also investing in the most appropriate space-defence capabilities.
European Parliament, 2022
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Europe and the South: the Maritime Dimension
Europe’s southern neighbourhood, for which the delineation varies according to the geopolitical and institutional frameworks considered, is critical from an economic and geopolitical perspective. Europe’s South remains affected by an arc of instability, running up from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the eastern fringes of the Middle East, encompassing several maritime spaces. For this reason, the EU has always approached its southern neighbourhood through a maritime security lens. At a time when all European States are anxiously monitoring developments on their eastern flank and seeking alternatives to Russian fossil resources, one should not lose sight of how Europe is meeting security challenges in the South and assess Europe’s ability to be a credible maritime actor in these vast regions.
Revue Confluences Méditerranee, 2022, Vol. 123, No. 4
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Relative Dominance: Russian Naval Power in the Black Sea
Russia is struggling in its war on Ukraine. Kyiv’s military advances have allowed the country to seize back more of its territory, vindicating Western efforts to deliver military equipment and weapons to Kyiv to stem Russian advances and to enable Ukrainian forces to retake territory Russia had annexed. In response, Russia has gone into a state of mobilization and formally annexed four territories, which President Putin has vowed to defend with whatever means necessary.
While it is difficult to determine how the war will end, it is possible to estimate how Russia’s forces may adapt, beyond threat of escalation. One such area concerns Russia’s naval forces in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, where despite successful Ukrainian attacks, Moscow still retains critical advantages.
These advantages could enable Russia to pursue a bastion strategy, wherein the Russian navy operates from relatively safe coastal areas, well-defended from outside attack, and uses these areas to launch long-range attacks into Ukraine on critical infrastructure. If Ukraine is able to push Russian-occupationforces further out of the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions, Moscow may intensify its use of the Black Sea as a strategic buffer to protect Crimea. As B.J. Armstrong wrote in this publication, naval strategy can be boiled down to a simple concept, command of the sea, and then using that command for a blockade, bombardment, or putting boots on the ground. Despite its setbacks, the Russian navy can still bombard targets in Ukraine and to continue its blockade of the country. Russia may well use the Black Sea to avoid an outright military defeat and to use its naval position there to coerce Ukrainian leaders and avoid making concessions during peace talks that could favor Ukraine.
War on the Rocks, 2022
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Rethinking the EU’s Approach to Space: The Case of Security and Defence
Russia’s attack on Ukraine has sent shockwaves across Europe and the world. While the current war is a geopolitical turning point, it remains unclear whether it will trigger a quantum leap forward for European defence policies and for the role of the European Union as a security provider.
This Report investigates whether we can expect a further convergence of European strategic cultures, and on collaboration among Europeans to generate the required military capabilities and integrate their forces. Most importantly, it finds that the timely implementation of the EU’s Strategic Compass will be a decisive test to establish whether Europeans are rising to the challenge of taking more responsibility for their security and defence.
Italian Institute for International Political Studies, 2022 (Edited by Giovanni Grevi and Serena Giusti
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L’Europe doit investir davantage dans la défense collective
Depuis le début de la guerre en Ukraine , la plupart des pays de l’Union européenne ont annoncé l’intention d’augmenter, dans les années à venir, leurs dépenses militaires d’environ 200 milliards d’euros. De telles hausses budgétaires représentent à la fois une opportunité et un défi pour l’UE.
Les Echos, 2022
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Collective Defence Investment: Europe Must do More and at a Faster Pace
If Europeans really intend to build a common defence industry that will allow them to face the new challenges ahead and become a credible player in the international security arena, they must do and spend more together, and they must do it now, a group of ten defence experts write.
Euractiv, 2022
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L’Union européenne et la Boussole stratégique : un moment décisif ?
En pleine guerre de la Russie contre l’Ukraine, l’Union européenne (UE) a publié en mars 2022 sa stratégie de sécurité et de défense tant attendue, appelé Strategic Compass, soit la Boussole stratégique. Ce document est le premier du genre pour l’UE et il peut être assimilé à ce que les États appellent normalement un Livre blanc sur la défense. À cet égard, la Boussole stratégique est le document à lire si l’on veut mieux comprendre les priorités de l’Union en matière de sécurité et de défense, et la manière dont elle entend garantir ses intérêts et ses valeurs dans le monde. Contrairement à la stratégie globale de l’UE, qui n’a reçu qu’un accueil relativement passif de la part du Conseil de l’UE en 2016, la Boussole stratégiquea non seulement été adoptée par les ministres des Affaires étrangères et de la Défense, mais les chefs d’État et de gouvernement de l’UE l’ont également approuvée. C’est important, car cela montre à quel point la sécurité et la défense sont devenues une question clé pour les dirigeants de l’UE.
Toutefois, face à la situation déchirante en Ukraine, peut-on raisonnablement penser qu’un seul document de 46 pages peut transformer l’UE en un acteur plus crédible et plus décisif dans les relations internationales ? Il est évident qu’aucun document stratégique unique n’a jamais été une solution miracle pour l’action. Néanmoins, la Boussole stratégique est un document hybride qui, d’une part, caractérise l’environnement international et les menaces auxquelles l’UE est confrontée et, d’autre part, détaille 81 points d’action spécifiques que l’UE et ses États-membres doivent mettre en œuvre d’ici 2030 au plus tard. Il convient d’examiner comment la Boussole peut contribuer à la construction de la souveraineté européenne dans les années à venir.
Revue Défense Nationale, 2022, No. 852
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European Maritime Strategies for the Middle East – Struggling for Relevance?
The Middle East is a major area of maritime trade, given the vast oil supplies in the Persian Gulf region and several gas exploitation and exploration projects in the Mediterranean. The development of these prospects and maritime trade, however, are threatened by acts of piracy and terrorist attacks in the waters between the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz. Such threats have frequently prompted insurance companies to raise their premiums for merchant ships that navigate these waters. In addition, the Middle East has been the arena of fierce competition not only among the external actors who have economic and strategic interests in the region but also among local powers aiming to position themselves as the uncontested hub for maritime freight. The papers in this series of Insights explore how the countries of the Middle East and key external actors envision their maritime strategies for the region.
Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, 2022, No. 282
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The Strategic Compass: A New Era for EU Defence?
In the midst of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the EU published its long-awaited securityand defence strategy called the “Strategic Compass”. This document is the first of its kind for the EU, and it can be likened to an EU “white book” on defence. The Strategic Compass is certainly the document to read if one wants to better understand the Union’s priorities and ambitions in security and defence1. Faced with the harrowing situation in Ukraine, however, it is clear that no single strategic document can – alone – boostEU security and defence.
Défense: Géopolitique & Sécurité, 2022, No. 212
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Solid Foundation, Rocky Future? Assessing Transatlantic Defence and Security Ties after NATO’s Madrid Summit
Russia’s war on Ukraine has raised serious questions about European security, but it has also led to much greater transatlantic unity. This Policy Insights paper argues that the war on Ukraine has given rise to a new consensus among large parts of NATO and the EU to reinvest in collective security.
Charting the progress made by both NATO and the EU, this paper looks at how transatlantic partners are addressing questions related to the so-called need to balance between Europe and the Indo-Pacific, EU strategic autonomy and the implementation of NATO’s Strategic Concept and the EU’s Strategic Compass, as well as the conclusions of the NATO Madrid Summit. It finds that there are several areas for enhanced EU-NATO cooperation, but issues pertaining to future US elections, defence industrial policy and NATO’s force posture could sorely undermine transatlantic unity.
CEPS Policy Paper, 2022 (written with Michael J. Mazarr).
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