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by Dr Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués, inRESPONSE Principal Investigator 24 February 2025 marks the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the United Nations, since the conflict began in 2022 more than 42,000 civilians have been wounded or killed – including 2,500 children, 6.9 million Ukrainians have registered as refugees and a further 3.7 million are…
by Laura Sparascio, inRESPONSE Researcher Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest regional security organization, has faced an existential crisis. Deep geopolitical polarization has paralyzed its decision-making, with Moscow and its allies systematically using their veto power to stall core activities. Yet,…
by Raffaele Mastrorocco, Researcher at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the European University Institute Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Italy faced a fundamental question: how to navigate the changing European security context amid renewed military threats from the East? Traditionally, Rome’s security priorities focused on the Southern neighbourhoods of…
by Dr Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués, inRESPONSE Principal Investigator The return of Donald Trump to the White House, after his clear victory in the 2024 United States presidential election, has caused some trepidation in various European capitals. The strident campaign rhetoric by the President-elect gives an indication that Trump is set on picking up right where he left…
Picture. Source: Flickr, NATO – Creative Commons.
Dr Nicolò Fasola, Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the University of Bologna In response to the perceived challenges of the new international environment, NATO is exploring new ways to secure an edge over near competitors, while retooling pre-existing policies and instruments. Partnerships are one such instrument. They consist of joint activities at the politico-strategic…
by Cecilia Duncan, inRESPONSE Researcher The Russian invasion of Ukraine has upset the security order across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February 2022 to expand Russian territorial gains and sever Ukraine’s ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This “special military operation” is in contravention of…
by Hanna Ojanen, Research Director, Tampere University & inRESPONSE Researcher Finland’s newly elected President Alexander Stubb recently paid his first state visit to Stockholm, as per tradition for Finnish presidents. This time a lot has changed: now the two countries are in NATO. Understandably, NATO was one of the central topics during the visit. In his…
by Francesca Leso, PhD Candidate at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona & inRESPONSE Researcher When Russia invaded Ukraine at the dawn of February 24, 2022, one of the Kremlin’s main strategic goals was to secure Ukraine’s notorious ‘neutrality status’. Two years into the war, it would appear that Russia has achieved exactly the opposite. Public support…
by Elena Simanschi, PhD Candidate at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona & inRESPONSE Researcher Moldova’s security landscape underwent a drastic transformation following Russia’s full-scale military aggression against its neighbor Ukraine in February 2022, resulting in 850,000 Ukrainian refugees crossing the border from 24 February 2022 to July 2023. Additionally, missile and drone incidents on Moldovan land…