The PLA has carefully studied the use of network-centric militaries such as the US Army and observed the reliance of those organisations upon information as a key element of their technological superiority. A theoretical representation of the centrality of information to western methods of warfare is provided by the Observe, …

Semi-autonomous and remotely controlled weapons systems are established military tools, and several armed forces are experimenting with quadrupedal robots to carry equipment. But should we be concerned about efforts to arm doglike robots with lethal weapons? Norbert Neumann explores the current state of quadrupedal systems and their capabilities. Service robots …

Defence researchers have been experimenting with quantum technologies for decades, with some results and capabilities proving more promising than others. The question is not whether quantum will proliferate the defence world, but when and to what extent. Norbert Neumann investigates what quantum computing and sensing mean for militaries. A NATO …

Over the next few decades, a reduction in the use of fossil fuels worldwide presents a bigger problem for Russia than climate change itself. As Russia masses military forces on the borders of Ukraine, Western governments are consumed with trying to decipher President Vladimir Putin’s intentions and predict his next …

Sending anti-tank weapons to Ukraine will not alter the military balance or moderate Russia’s behaviour. It is time for a serious approach to supporting Ukraine, one that accounts for the Russian way of war. The UK and US have been the most prominent military supporters of Ukraine since the conflict …

With climate security gaining ground as a topic of global discussion, the French armed forces are developing their own approach to climate change at the national level. As shown by the recent failure of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on the security implications of climate change and …

Given the lack of joined up thinking by China’s geopolitical adversaries, the biggest threat to China’s growing economic and geopolitical dominance may actually be itself. For a country considered by many to have been the source of a global health pandemic resulting in over 5.3 million deaths globally, it is …

The US and Europe will need to work together to prevent Russian attempts to fundamentally redefine the European security order by force. In late 2021, European Council President Charles Michel declared 2022 the ‘year of European defence’. He was referring to a burst of planned activity from the EU: a …

In November 2020, the Moroccan government sent its military to the Guerguerat area, a buffer zone between the territory claimed by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The Guerguerat border post is at the very southern edge of Western Sahara along the road that goes …

What War in Ukraine Would Look Like—and How America Should Respond Despite a flurry of meetings in recent weeks, the United States, NATO, Ukraine, and Russia have not moved any closer to a diplomatic solution or a reduction of tensions on the Ukrainian-Russian border. Although Russia has not completely abandoned …