Briefings


Briefings 1 to 20


17/10/2020
The Security Situation in Hong Kong and Global Implications of China's Assertive Regional Posture
China’s “one country, two systems” model initiated with Hong Kong’s handover in 1997 after a century and a half of British colonial rule. Twenty-three years after the handover, China seems to have abandoned its promise of a separate system for Hong Kong.
22/04/2020
The use of innovative technologies in the fight against COVID-19 and its political implications
The wide use of innovative technologies in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic that started in December 2019 could threaten fundamental liberties, undermine the values of democratic governments and alter political dynamics.
21/04/2020
The Balochistan Insurgency: A major security issue for Pakistan and its impact on Chinese interests in the region
Between economic interests, socio-political issues, and ethnic tensions, Balochistan has been a region subject to insecurity for more than 60 years, where insurgencies are continuous and in which a myriad of actors have diverging and often conflicting interests.
16/03/2020
West Papua Pro-independence Movements and their impact on the security situation in Indonesia
In West Papua and Papua, often referred to collectively as West Papua, pro-independence movements emerged in 1969. These movements have, since then waged a persistent low-level insurgency in West Papua against perceived Indonesian occupation.
26/01/2020
The European Union of Security and Defence: What has changed in the last four years
In recent years, the European Union (EU) has been facing increasingly challenging security threats, ranging from growing armed conflicts in Europe’s neighbourhood, Russia’s increasingly aggressive posture, a worsening situation in both the Middle East and North Africa and Trump’s intimations of a new American isolationism to the rise of terrorism and violent extremism, hybrid warfare, including cyberattacks against the EU’s vital infrastructure and disinformation campaigns. Since the approval of the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy in 2016, the combination of a unique political momentum and the sense of urgency created by the above-mentioned threats, led the EU to substantially step up its efforts towards a stronger cooperation and coordination of its security and defence policies.
02/09/2019
Corruption and organized crime in Central America's countries
The Briefing examines the current political situations and ongoing organized crime operations on Central American's countries that have impacted security in the region and the Migration Crisis.
30/08/2019
The evolution of the terrorist threat in DR Congo
The Islamic State has showed its presence in Central Africa, and particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the group has claimed a new province province in a territory already occupied by a dangerous group, such as the ADF. The presence of the group in this specific territory raises question of a possible collaboration between the 2 groups.
29/08/2019
THE ROLE OF HTS IN THE CURRENT STRATEGIC SCENARIO IN THE SYRIAN CONFLICT
Hayʼat Taḥrīr al-Shām, (BBC, 2017) "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee", commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham and abbreviated HTS (ITCT, 2018), is classified as a Salafist jihadist terrorist group involved in the Syrian conflict. HTS currently stands as the largest Salafist entity in the Idlib region, making it a direct threat for all external and internal actors involved in the strategic management of the Syrian conflict and especially - considering their geographic proximity - for the Turkish and Syrian Government. The following brief analyses the presence of the HTS and its relationship with other groups within the Syrian scenario. It further aims to portray the gradual development of the group within the Syrian conflict and the geographical expansion of its influence. In order to thoroughly examine the organisation, the present analysis will be broken down into 5 distinct yet interrelated sections. Additionally, specific cases via the ESISC database are examined as examples in order to portray a more solid visualisation of the group in the contemporary condition of the Syrian conflict. Finally, this report will argue why HTS should be perceived as one of the most important internal actors in the Syrian conflict.
12/11/2018
Ethiopia: Recent turmoil in the Somali State region risks to jeopardize the security and political situation as ethnic tensions spread across the country
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most-populous country, has suffered military rule, civil war, and cata-strophic famine over the past half century. Yet, in recent years it has emerged as a beacon of stability in the Horn of Africa enjoying one of the world’s fastest economic growth and an increasing strategic importance in the region. However, starting from 2015, a surge in political turmoil rooted in an in-creasingly repressive ruling party and in the disenfranchisement of various ethnic groups threatened the country’s progress.
17/07/2018
Yemen: The battle for Al-Hudaydah as a turning point in the civil war
On June 13, 2018, pro-Hadi government forces with the backing of the Sau-di Arabia and the United Arab Emirates entered the city port of Al-Hudaydah in an effort to dislodge Houthi forces. Due to the risk of a human-itarian crisis, the United Nations has attempted to secure an agreement with the Houthis to place the port under UN control, but has been unsuccessful.
04/07/2018
ESISC and WSIC: transatlantic cooperation for two think-tanks
ESISC, based for the past 16 years in Brussels, the European capital, is pleased to announce it reached an agreement with the Washington Strategic Intelligence Center (WSIC), a new American think-tank based in McLean (Virginia, USA).
24/05/2018
Transmigration in Belgium: An issue crossing borders
The issue of transmigration is literally and figuratively crossing borders. In the recent years, due to do the dismantlement of the Jungle migrants camp in Calais (France) and a general increase of migrants traveling to Europe, the number of transmigrants has been steadily increasing in Belgium. As a consequence, the concerns regarding the security challenges of transmigration have been growing.
27/11/2017
Quelques réflexions au sujet de la tragédie de Bir al-Abed
L’attentat commis contre une mosquée dans le petit village de Bir al-Abed (2500 habitants), non loin d’el-Arish, dans le Nord-Sinaï est effrayant à plus d’un titre. D’abord, bien entendu, il s’agit de la pire attaque terroriste de l’histoire égyptienne : samedi matin, le bilan, toujours provisoire, était de 305 morts (dont 27 enfants) et d’au moins 28 blessés. Il est un niveau auquel les chiffres se valent et il est vain de comparer ou de tenter d’établir un sinistre palmarès de l’horreur terroriste - un mort, bien entendu, c’est déjà un mort de trop – mais disons seulement, pour bien donner l’ampleur de cette tragédie que 305 morts, c’est, en une seule frappe, davantage de victimes que l’ensemble de celles tuées en Europe depuis le 7 janvier 2015 par le salafisme djihadiste.
16/11/2017
Radicalization, polarization and xenophobia: the growing influence of the Nordic Resistance Movement in Sweden and Finland
Europe has seen a steady increase in far-right movements in recent years, gaining prominence in politics and becoming more vocal and violent in protests and tar-geted attacks. The same phenomenon can be observed in Finland and Swe-den, where a salient shift in both the ideology and conduct of Neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) indicates an increasing radicaliza-tion in the far-right movement. Observed in tandem with an increase in popularity, the development indicates a growing polarization in society.
04/10/2017
Europe: Private solutions to secure public spaces evolve in response to increasing vehicular attacks
Since July 2016 vehicular attacks have fast become the deadliest and most widespread type of terrorist attacks in Western Europe, representing nearly 80 percent of fatal casualties in all terrorist incidents that happened at that period. Although this trend is far from new - Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch had encouraged its Western recruits to use trucks as weapons as early as 2010 - the phenomenon has proliferated since the Nice promenade truck attack on July 14, 2016, which killed 84 people and maimed 434 others, becoming an ‘inspirational exam-ple’ for the Islamic State propaganda and its followers
29/06/2017
The diplomatic crisis in the Persian Gulf as a symptom of the shift in regional power dynamics
The diplomatic crisis in the Persian Gulf, initiated by the severance of diplomatic and economic relations with Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt, has rapidly escalated into the most serious rift among the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) since its creation in 1981. While marking the culmination of long-standing tensions between Qatar and its GCC neighbors over security and energy matters, the diplomatic crisis underscored the Iranian-Saudi rivalry in the region and highlighted the Iranian-Turkish role in the upcoming shift in power dynamics in the Gulf.
15/06/2017
Germany and nuclear power: who lives by the sword, dies by the sword
In 2011, the German government imposed a tax on processing nuclear fuel amounting to 145 euros per gram to be paid by the nuclear producers. The decision has now been declared unconstitutional and forces the government to pay a 6.3 billion euro refund.
07/06/2017
German working parents’ struggle for Kindergarten places
In the last few years, German working parents have had to fight to get their children a place in one of the childhood care institutions. The State’s efforts to cope with the problem have been undermined by massive immigration and have left the country’s citizens in utter dismay.
02/06/2017
Social inequality is not an issue for German retirement system
The German pension system is only an average performer among OECD countries and has to go through further reforms. A good starting point might be erasing the privileges of the civil servants.
18/05/2017
The re-emergence of Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis in Egypt illustrates the internal divisions of the IS Wilayat Sinai
On May 3, a senior leader of the jihadist group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis (ABM) Abu Hashem al-Tarbani issued an audio statement in which he criticized the ongoing conflict between the IS-affiliated Wilayat Sinai and the Tarabin tribe in North Sinai governorate. This statement underscored the recent return of the ABM group to the Egyptian jihadist scene and further disproved the notion of Wilayat Sinai being the only jihadist actor in the region.
Briefings 20-40 »

Keywords

Abu Sayyaf Afghanistan Alberto Caballero Algeria Alicia Jensen Al-Qaeda anarchist Andre Burstin Ansar Al-Islam Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis Ansar Dine Ansarullah anti-Balaka AQIM AQIS AQMI Argentine Arthur de Liedekerke Australia Axelle Vandendriessche Azerbaijan Bangladesh Belgique Belgium BIFF Blaise Ortiz Boko Haram Brazil Burkina Faso Burundi Cadente Copper Cameroon Canada CAR Central African Republic Central Asia Chili China civil unrest civil war Claude Moniquet Colombia Compaoré Coree Cosa Nostra coup Defence Denmark Di Natala Diplomacy Dos Santos DRC drones drugs Egypt Egypte Eliska Puckova ELSE energy ESISC Etat Islamique Etats Unis Ethiopia ETIM Europe European Union Evgenia Gvozdeva Extremism FARC far-right Finland Foteini Fragkou France Genovefa Etienne Germany green economy Guerrero hacking Human Rights India Insurgency Intelligence Iran Iraq Islamic State Islamism Israel Italy Japan jihad Kashmir Kazakhstan Kieran Doyle Korea Koweit Lashkar-e-Taiba Lazarevic Leah Kazar Leandro Di Natala Lebanon l'Etat Islamique Lhoussain Azergui Liban Libya Loucheur Louise Schabelmann Mali Mapuche Mattia Caniglia Mexico migrants MILF Mohamed Fahmi Morocco Morsi NATO Nieto Nigeria North Africa nucleaire Olivia de Fouchier Olivier Loucheur Olympic Games Organised crime Pakistan Palestinian territories Paris Pauline Ravillard Peru Petrobras Philippines Pierre-Alexis Quenot piracy Pluspetrol Political risk Politics Post-Soviet Countries President Pierre Nkurunziza protests Qatar Rachel Larned Raphaël Ramos Rauf Tuzun refugees Russia Rwanda Sahel Sarah Baudinet Saudi Arabia sectarian violence Seleka shipping Sinai Solene Jomier Solène Metais Somali state Somalia South Africa Spain Stefano Sarsale Sudan Suez Canal Sweden Syria Syrie Tajikistan Taliban Terrorism terrorisme terrorist terrorists Tia Maria project Tunisia Tunisie Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United Nations United States Uyghur Uyghur Muslims Venezuela video Vietnam waterway William Racimora Xinjiang Yeme Yemen Yuliana Lefevre
© 2012 ESISC - European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center Powered by Advensys