Preventing the Next War (#EDINA III): Germany and NATO Are in a Race Against Time (#EDINA III)

With its imperial ambitions, Russia represents the greatest and most ­urgent threat to NATO countries. Once intensive fighting will have ended in Ukraine, the regime in Moscow may need as little as six to ten years to reconstitute its armed forces. Within that timeframe, Germany and NATO must enable their armed forces to deter and, if necessary, fight against Russia. Only then will they be in a position to reduce the risk of another war breaking out in Europe

NATO's two percent illusion: Germany needs to encourage greater efficiency within the alliance

In order to plug the gaps in NATO's defence capabilities, Europeans - and Germans especially - need to increase defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP). The United States especially has been insistent on compliance with this target, which was set in 2002. But this benchmark has long been known to be an illusion, one many European NATO member states are neither willing nor able to implement. In any case, the 2% benchmark focuses on expenditures rather than improved outcomes. The federal government should develop its own concept of how NATO can apply its financial resources more efficiently - and it could use output criteria and specific contributions to convey its concept. (author's abstract

Post-election Tunisia: security issues as a threat to democratisation: Germany should help reform and strengthen the security sector

Tunisia is the only Arab state currently undergoing a democratic transition. But this process is unfolding under increasingly difficult conditions. The economic crisis and the security challenges posed by armed Islamists are exacerbating one another. If Germany does not wish to see a reversal of the political achievements in which it has invested so much, and in order to uphold Tunisia as a beacon for the region, it will have to considerably expand its cooperation on both economic and security issues. Broad and rapid measures aimed at increasing the efficiency and accountability of the security sector could present a positive counterexample to last-ditch arms deliveries to conflict regions. (Autorenreferat

Security, Industry, and the Lost European Vision (#EDINA II): How Russia's War in Ukraine is Changing the European Defense Technological and Industrial Base

The DGAP, in collaboration with the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation, initiated the EDINA project to examine the post-2022 European Defense Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Drawing insights from defense experts across NATO members, the study highlights the evolving European defense landscape, emphasizing security of supply concerns and the balance between national and EU initiatives. The report underscores pivotal forthcoming decisions in Europe's defense amidst changing geopolitical dynamics

Upgrading Europe's Civilian Crisis Management: a Strategic Planning Process in Ten Steps

The European Union sees civilian CSDP missions as a hallmark of its foreign policy. But these missions are implemented ad hoc, without any kind of systematic or strategic planning. As a result, the EU does not have the right capabilities to address essential challenges. Capability-based planning organized into a ten-step process offers a much better way. Existing EU initiatives can be used to kick-start a new approach

Germany's Role in NATO's Nuclear Sharing : the Purchasing Decision forthe Tornado's Successor Aircraft

Deutschland wird ab 2025 seine Tornado-Kampfflugzeuge ersetzen müssen. Bislang prüft die Bundesregierung den Kauf von US-Flugzeugen des Typs F-18 oder die Umrüstung des Eurofighter, nicht aber die Anschaffung hochmoderner F-35. Angesichts der Stationierung von neuen Mittelstreckenraketen im Westen Russlands muss diese Entscheidung überdacht werden.Germany will need to replace its aging "Tornado" combat aircraft from 2025. To date, the federal government is considering pur-chasing F-18 aircraft from the United States or refitting Eurofighter planes. Buying state-of-the-art F-35 planes has been ruled out. Given Russia’s deployment of new intermediate-range missiles on its Western territory, this decision should be reconsidered

The Framework Nations Concept: Germany's contribution to a capable European defence

With the Framework Nations Concept, which it introduced to NATO in 2013, Germany attempted to bring the topic of defence cooperation among NATO countries once more to the foreground. The development of multinational units would, in theory, increase sustainability and help preserve military key capabilities. Smaller armies could plug their remaining capabilities into an organizational backbone provided by a larger, "framework" nation. Politically, the concept represents a step towards transatlantic burden sharing. As the initiator of the concept, Germany must now not only show that the well understood obstacles to defence cooperation can be overcome; it must above all else reduce scepticism among those who would like to cooperate, but doubt Berlin's reliability as a military partner. (author's abstract

Germany's Defense Budget 2024: The Planned Increase Is Not Yet Enough

Germany's ruling coalition presented its draft of the 2024 federal budget at the beginning of July. This was preceded by months of wrangling to find a compromise between complying with its federal "debt brake" rule on the one hand and accommodating the diverse funding wishes of individual ministries on the other. Although Germany's defense budget was increased, that increase is still too low

Consent, Dissent, Misunderstandings: the Problem Landscape of Franco-German Defense Industrial Cooperation

Defense industrial cooperation between Germany and France is beset by difficulties. In a series of interviews, government and industrial stakeholders from both countries have described the differences and misperceptions concerning the strategic political framework, defense exports, and defense industrial policies. These interviews have resulted in a problem landscape which can help stakeholders find solutions

The Roles of the Virome in Cancer

Viral infections as well as changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota and virome have been linked to cancer. Moreover, the success of cancer immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has been correlated with the intestinal microbial composition of patients. The transfer of feces—which contain mainly bacteria and their viruses (phages)—from immunotherapy responders to non-responders, known as fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), has been shown to be able to convert some non-responders to responders. Since phages may also increase the response to immunotherapy, for example by inducing T cells cross-reacting with cancer antigens, modulating phage populations may provide a new avenue to improve immunotherapy responsiveness. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the human virome and its links to cancer, and discuss the potential utility of bacteriophages in increasing the responder rate for cancer immunotherapy