Part V Global and Regional Security Mechanisms, Ch.53 The African Union: Security Governance under the African Peace and Security Architecture

This chapter describes the security regime of the African Union(AU) mandated to promote peace and stability under the AU: the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) established in 2003. The chapter charts the institutional development of the mechanisms under the APSA against a volatile threat matrix and the deployment of these mechanisms in situational exigencies. It also illustrates the nature of the APSA as a security regime complex by unpacking the dense network of partnerships that operate within it. The chapter next demonstrates the pillars on which the APSA rests by engaging with select interventions made under each pillar. While the chapter concludes that the APSA has been proven to be an indispensable mechanism in addressing some conflicts, it also partly mirrors the past, present, and potential future of the large and fragmented continent it was designed for. The APSA is therefore not the penultimate representation of a collective security apparatus, but an evolving work in progress.

Russia: arms control, disarmament and international security. IMEMO supplement to the Russian edition of the SIPRI Yearbook 2020

The volume provides IMEMO contributions to the Russian Edition of the 2020 SIPRI Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. It addresses the China’s military-political approach to relations with the US and China’s nuclear strategy, the prospects of military integration and “strategic autonomy” of the European Union, security issues in the Indo-Pacifi c region, the progress of the UN discussions on information security. The book also analyzes developments around the nuclear agreement with Iran under the new US administration, reviews the specifi cs of Turkey’s foreign policy and its involvement in Syrian, Libyan and Armenian-Azerbaijani confl icts, and security problems in the Middle East in the context of the Shiite-Sunni confrontation.

PESCO, CARD, EDF: Strategy, Analysis, and Financing in the European Union Security Guaratee

In the article the authors analyze the institutional basis for strengthening the EU security and the implementation of specific projects designed to expand cooperation between the Member States in the defence and security sectors. The point at issue is about Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO); the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the European Defence Fund (EDF). The relevance of the comprehensive study of PESCO, CARD, EDF, which activities are aimed at ensuring the strategic component of cooperation, the analysis of the defence sector and funding priorities in the security sphere of the Union have been proved. The authors claim that PESCO has become a key strategic initiative of the EU, CARD allows coordinating the development of military capabilities in the Member States; the EDF was created to coordinate, increase investment and improve defence interoperability between EU member states. The challenges faced within the functioning of these initiatives have been analyzed. It is alleged that a key challenge for the CARD is the unwillingness of Member countries to share national defence plans, as well as the available and potential coordination and harmonization of defence planning within NATO’s Defence Planning. The peculiarities of specific projects financed within the European Defense Fund (“Ocean 2020”, “Eurodrone”, “SPIDER”, “EuroSWARM”, “TRAWA”, “ACAMSII”, “Gossra”, “Vestlife”) have been analyzed. There is continued progress in the field of the EU security and defence: numerous defence projects have been initiated under PESCO; there is a synchronization of defence planning through the CARD; the investments in defence are stimulated by financing the defence research projects through the EDF, the improving military mobility is continuing; coordination of the EU-NATO cooperation is improving, etc.

MIGRATION IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: To What Extent Does The Migration Crisis Have An Impact on EU Security Threats?

Consequences of migration flows have put international migrationat the top of international, regional and national security agenda. Migrationflows are not a new phenomenon in Europe however characteristics ofthe current European Migration Crisis lay firm ground for a unprecedentedcrisis. Migration divided Europe along geographical and cultural lines. Eventhought the Migration Crisis does not directly impact the five EU securitythreats, the mismanagement of the phenomenon and disagreement over thestrategies of resolution resulted into a self-induced humanitarian crisis that asa consequence poses threat to European Union Security. In order to eliminatepossible threats posed by the Migration Crisis, European Union will have tolook towards the source of migration flows. Failing to resolve the problem atsource could pose a greater threat to global security and imminently to the securityof the European Union and its periphery. Therefore migrations impactinternational, regional and national environments, however they representan indirect threat to security only if the process is not handled through adequatestrategies.

Union Security, Race, and the Political Process: Some Reflections on Unions and Democracy

The article focuses upon developments in (1) so-called union security and fair share laws through which financial support of unions is obliged; (2) the cases and practices involving both union democracy and discrimination that have emerged with considerable frequency, particularly in the wake of comprehensive fair employment practices legislation; (3) involvement of the unions in the political process and the ways in which this has altered over the past century.