HCSS

article: Bevolking Kosovo merkt weinig van EU-missie

Christa Meindersma — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0100

column: How to embarrass NATO

Christa Meindersma — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0100

What NATO Secretary General Fogh Rasmussen asks the Dutch government is to contribute a new, smaller mission, focused on training, until 1 August 2011. Our lead role will end and otherwise we will continue to do a little less of what we were doing and a little more training. Rasmussen promises that another nation, “with which the Netherlands is familiar working,” will take over the lead responsibility for Uruzgan on 1 August 2010. Diplomatic sources I contacted wonder who that could be. Americans, Canadians and Brits are busy fighting the Taliban in Helmand.

New HCSS Publication: Social Networking: the security shakedown of shared information

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0100

In recent years, social networks have emerged as popular Web 2.0 applications. In the past year, social networking applications have demonstrated the ability to influence major events. Most recently, Twitter, a micro-blogging tool, played a major role in the upheaval following the 2009 Iranian election crisis. This has profound implications for the security realm. In an increasing number of areas, social networks pose a growing risk to information security, bring forth novel methods of information dissemination, intelligence collection and, lastly, reshape organisational activities. The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) reviewed the nascent debate within the security foresight community on this new phenomenon.

Navigating the CBRN landscape of 2010 and beyond: towards a new policy paradigm

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0100

In times of tightening security budgets, the way in which countries prepare for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents, deserves renewed scrutiny. This report seeks to inform both policymakers and the CBRN industry by analysing the nature and size of present and future CBRN-threats as perceived by the policymaking and the expert community. It also compares policy approaches in six countries (Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US)) and two international organisations (NATO and the EU).

column: Clouds collecting over Gaza

Rem Korteweg — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0100

The recent assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai represents a next step in the escalation between Hamas and Israel since the end of the Gaza War twelve months ago. An analysis of the dynamic makes clear that another large-scale military confrontation in the coming year is likely. The primary reason is that not much has changed since January 2009. Rockets still fall on Israel, Hamas remains committed to Israel’s destruction, the humanitarian hardship in Gaza endures, Palestinian disunity persists, and Gilad Shalit remains captive. Among the most explicit indicators is that commentators close to the Israeli military have hinted at its inevitability. Why is a new military offensive on the horizon?

column: Continuing conundrums: debates on Afghanistan and the feeling of ...

Tim Sweijs — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

In the 1993 motion picture Groundhog Day, a man wakes up every day to find himself reliving the exact same sequence of events. Debates on the future of Afghanistan remind me of Groundhog Day. The Afghanistan summit taking place this week in London is only the last in a long row of summits at which decisions are reached that amount to “too late and too little”, and in the end have little to no effect on the larger strategic objective of preventing Afghanistan lapsing back into the black hole it was before 9/11.

commentary: China heeft ze, wij hebben ze nodig

Michel Rademaker — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Scarcity of Minerals: a Strategic Security Issue

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:00:00 +0100

This report analyses whether minerals will be scarce in the future and examines the security and strategic implications. Will states use access to or possession of minerals as a strategic resource? Will relations between states that have access to minerals and those that don’t change due to scarcity? Are future wars about minerals rather than oil, territory or water?

Counterinsurgency and counterterrorism: Are counterinsurgency doctrines applicable to domestic ...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

What can we learn from counterinsurgency for the purposes of domestic counterterrorism? This question serves as the basis for an HCSS report commissioned by the Netherlands Coordinator for Counterterrorism, NCTb. Please access the report here (Dutch only).

Threat Analysis Economic Crisis

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

In the report Threat Analysis Economic Crisis (in Dutch), the Thinktank National Security provides an update on the consequences of the economic crises for national security and crisismanagement in the Netherlands.

The Hague Strategic Note: Venezuela and its Impact on Regional Stability

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

One of the least recognized neighbours of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This Hague Strategic Note discusses whether the policies of Hugo Chàvez are a source of regional instability and if they pose a challenge to Dutch interests. The Strategic Note covers six main issues: The Chàvez political agenda, domestic developments in Venezuela, Venezuelan military developments, regional developments, international developments, and the bottom-line for Dutch interests.