European Sky Shield Initiative: Reinforcing Europe’s Air Defences
The European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) seeks to develop a common air and missile defence system to defend NATO and European airspace.
- Swasti Rao
- December 28, 2022
The European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) seeks to develop a common air and missile defence system to defend NATO and European airspace.
Russia’s military action in Ukraine has negatively impacted the cooperative engagement architecture of the Arctic Council.
Kremlin’s increasingly assertive stance on the troop build-up along the Russia–Ukraine border can be viewed as not just prompted by Ukraine’s potential NATO membership but also as Russia underscoring its place as a stakeholder in shaping European security architecture.
‘Security’ and ‘status’ complexities are critical impediments for any state’s foreign policy; and India is no different. This article argues that as the China threat looms large, New Delhi will not be in complete repudiation of an ‘Asian NATO’ (or “Indo-Pacific NATO”), despite strategically refraining from being party to a definitive military alliance and an age-old non-alignment principle. However, India’s support will be contingent on the future trajectory of its ties with Beijing.
The Joint Communique issued by the recent NATO summit, held on July 8-9 in Warsaw, appears to have sown the seeds of a renewed confrontation with Russia.
Regardless of the spin and gloss that Pakistan puts on the decision to re-open NATO supply lines to Afghanistan, it was in large measure the result of sustained US economic, political and diplomatic pressure.
Where does Pakistan figure in ‘Afghan good enough’ if Pakistan’s centrality in the Western approach is taken into account? Not working towards a ‘Pakistan good enough’ would simply mean that ‘Afghan good enough’ is not ‘good enough’.
An expanded role beyond its borders, including R2P, needs to be included in NATO’s concept to ensure its future relevance.
After Lisbon, the next step for NATO and Russia should be addressing issues relating to deployments of arsenals and arms control.
The much awaited NATO Russian Summit meeting is taking place on November 19-20, 2010 in Lisbon. Will it signify a major thaw in East-West relations, or will existing differences thwart a major rapprochement between the United States, Europe and Russia which could herald a new era in international relations.