Phd Thesis
Azure Forum Adjunct Senior Fellow Gareth Prendergast recently submitted his PhD research thesis on counterinsurgency in Cork during the Irish Civil War. His research analyses the counterinsurgency strategy practiced by the National Army in Cork during the Civil War. Read more…
Policy Report
Research Fellows Matthew O’Neill and Mark Williams, alongside Executive Director, Caitríona Heinl, contributed a chapter on the Irish ecosystem to the inaugural report by the Australian National University’s Tech Policy Design Centre entitled ‘Tending the tech-ecosystem: who should be the tech-regulator(s)?’. The report draws upon international comparisons to consider who is best placed to implement and oversee a new era of tech regulation. Read more…
Edited Volume
The Azure Forum for Contemporary Security Strategy Research Fellows Matthew O’Neill and Mark Williams, alongside Jonathan Carroll, are co-editors of a forthcoming Palgrave Macmillan edited volume on the Irish Defence Forces entitled “The EU, Irish Defence Forces, and Contemporary Security.” Read more…
The Enhancing Security Cooperation in and with Asia (ESIWA) project together with the hosted a closed-door Track 1.5 Dialogue between the EU and India at the Raisina Dialogue in April . Participants exchanged information and discussed the respective EU and Indian positions on key global cybersecurity cooperation questions. Read more…
Commentary
There has been much debate over the years about the likelihood of a ‘splinternet’ and so-called ‘balkanization’ or fragmentation of the global Internet. A key concern has been that the “open, globally connected Internet we all use splinters into a collection of fragmented networks controlled by governments or corporations”. In fact, several countries, such as China, Iran, and Russia, have previously taken steps in this direction, albeit not completely disconnecting from the global Internet. Read more…
Policy Report
The Azure Forum for Contemporary Security Strategy, with the support of the British Embassy Dublin, has published a new report on Serious and Organised Crime across Ireland and the UK. “Exploring Serious and Organised Crime across Ireland and the UK: Towards a Shared Understanding of a Shared Threat” provides a strategic-level, qualitative assessment Read more…
Commentary
As the EU strives to strengthen its cyber resilience, it becomes ever more important for its institutions to have coherent advice on the cybersecurity implications of legislative and regulatory decisions. Current practice, including in the context of the Digital Market Act (DMA), suggests action is needed. Read more…
Commentary
The war in Ukraine has so far seen very little engagement from the cyber diplomatic community. While the international community focuses on stopping Russia’s invasion and ending the conflict, the contribution of cyber diplomacy to these efforts has been limited to the usual offers of assistance to deal with cyber incidents. Read more…
Strategic Insight
The current geopolitical situation has highlighted the need for a comprehensive response to both cyber and hybrid threats. Finland’s model of comprehensive security also supports our overall resilience against these threats. The goal is to protect all of society’s vital functions through a collaborative approach involving authorities, the private sector, civil society organisations, academia, and private citizens. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Paddy McGuinness lays out four recommendations to combat ransomware attacks. First, treat ransomware as criminality and address it separately from the conflicted and glacial diplomacy to address state cyber action. Read more…
Policy Report
The Azure Forum for Contemporary Security Strategy was commissioned by the Irish Defence and Security Association (IDSA) to produce an independent report on the Irish defence industry. The report, the first of its kind in Ireland, was designed to provide the IDSA with a high-level, state-of-play overview of the industry in Ireland. Read more…
Policy Report
Caitríona Heinl was appointed as a member of the Irish government’s Commission on the Defence Forces which began its work on 15 December 2020. Over a period of 13 months, the Commission focused its work on considering the appropriate capabilities, structures and staffing of both the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) and Reserve Defence Force (RDF). Read more…
Strategic Insight
Aonghus Kelly argues that if the EU wishes to become a heavyweight in international diplomacy, it must first focus on CSDP mission reform. Ireland must be forcefully involved in those reforms. Read more…
Strategic Insight
This paper examines ways to enhance security cooperation between the European Union and India, with a focus on counter-piracy and cooperation through ASEAN. This piece is the revised version of the original paper produced in March 2021 for the EU India think tanks twinning initiative 2020-22. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Zoe Stanley-Lockman explores the stakes of governing technology for peace, security, and defence, before identifying the stakeholders who have a responsibility to shape the emerging international technology order. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Jack McCarthy argues that identity politics and extreme nationalism have once again emerged as challenges to modern democracies. He writes that for extreme actors and for the uninformed public, the Irish foreign policy of military neutrality is inextricably linked to a traditional concept of Irish identity. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Alexander Chance explores the multilevel dynamics of the ongoing Islamist insurgency in Mozambique, arguing that international donors need to step up and tackle the root causes of the conflict. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Trisha Ray examines growing technology cooperation between Quad members India and Australia. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Information security expert Steve Honiss explores the spike in state-sponsored cyberattacks linked to COVID-19. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Jens Hillebrand Pohl argues that the pandemic has activated our imagination and helped us realise that there are certain societal interests that prevail over purely economic interests and that the benefits of collective action rely on trust and reciprocity. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Michael Murphy argues that has strategic autonomy has been installed without roadmaps or metrics or justifying evidence bases. Moreover, it will be shaped for national ends and in the context of defence, it is about giving control to national defence champions. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Daniel Fiott writes that the pandemic has encouraged the EU to take its strategic autonomy more seriously and it has led to a wider reflection on what more the Union can do to protect its citizens. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Ben Tonra writes that the pandemic has underlined the challenges to deeper security and defence cooperation while again highlighting its urgent necessity. He argues that the Union needs to embrace its own nature as a multi-sovereign polity rather than speaking the foreign language of ‘power’. Read more…
Interview
Executive Director Caitríona Heinl interviewed Tobias Feakin, Australian Ambassador for Cyber and Critical Technology, and Johanna Weaver, Australian Representative to the UN GGE and UN OEWG on Cyber. This was published as a part of the EU Cyber Direct project. Read more…
Strategic Insight
David Ramirez examines the economic and geopolitical difficulties countries face as they attempt to rebalance their economy and decouple from China. Read more…
Strategic insight
Edward Burke examines opportunities for Irish-British bilateral security cooperation in the Common Travel Area. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Lt. Col. Gareth Prendergast discusses increased dependency on strategic reserves and supply chain redundancies in the wake of a global pandemic like Covid-19, arguing for a need to review the pooling and sharing policy now being advocated at EU level. Read more…
Strategic Insight
Winston Ma writes that the global tensions around foreign takeovers have been on the rise in recent years and are exacerbated by the Covid- 19 crisis. One major driving force is the emergence of a new set of powerful investors – the sovereign investment funds, which have become pivotal players in global financial markets thanks to their enormous capital base.Read more…
Strategic Insight
Paddy McGuinness examines the threat of foreign takeovers in strategic sectors. He warns that the use of new regulation to tackle this issue, requires capacity, capabilities, partnerships and a culture which are not yet in place in EU Member States including Ireland. Read more…
Commentary
Executive Director Caitríona Heinl writes on the development of Irish security strategy and the need for alignment with Ireland’s core interests and values.Read more…
Journal Article
Executive Director Caitríona Heinl published a journal article focusing on the contribution of the Defence Forces to national cyber deterrence in the Defence Forces Review 2019. Read more…
