Articles by Sven Bishop

For the external observer, the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is more equivalent to the long list of projects underway than to the 20 binding commitments, considered at the launch of this policy in 2017, as a before and after. At first glance, these 68 projects do not seem to pursue a single objective. Thus, it is worth asking, is the objective of PESCO clear even for those already initiated? In fact, it's not, and that remains the biggest obstacle to its success. At a time when a (second) strategic review of PESCO is being carried out, profound changes are required if it is to right its course. The objective of PESCO? Council Decision 2017/2315 establishing Permanent Structured Defense Cooperation (PESCO) stated that 'A long-term vision for PESCO could be to reach [Keep reading…]

A few days ago the European Commission and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented the European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS) or, in other words, the new European Defense Industrial Strategy. A very ambitious proposal that aims to mark a before and after not only in terms of the development of productive capacities or the tools at the disposal of the European institutions to relate to the defense industrial sector, but also for its manifest desire to reduce participation American in the European defense market. Despite everything, it is still a proposal that still needs to be negotiated by the States and the European Parliament, which has very little chance of moving forward without changes and which hides some important errors, such as the fact of assessing its possible results only at through quantitative indicators. (Keep going…) [Keep reading…]

Five years after the launch of PESCO, and five waves later, it is the ideal time to consider whether the tool that we know in May 2023 corresponds to the one that its designers had in mind. More important than the above is the following question: is it the PESCO we want? (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Ejercitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.

The Strategic Compass of the European Union is a key document in the future of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). After a long process of study and negotiation, what is the EU's first defense strategy was approved on March 21, in a scenario marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began when the text had already been prepared. Perhaps for this reason, the Strategic Compass was born to a certain extent out of date and is not the most appropriate document to face the future challenges of the EU, even though it is a sufficiently comprehensive text. It must be understood that it was "now or never" and that from Brussels' perspective the political momentum should be taken advantage of to approve this text instead of starting over a process that has taken years. (Continues…) Dear reader, this article is exclusive for [Keep reading…]

A week since the war in Ukraine began, three packages of sanctions from the European Union against Russia are already in the implementation phase. Sanctions that set a precedent because they not only refer to restrictive measures of an economic nature and also aimed at individuals, entities and organizations. As will be detailed, one of the main milestones of recent days is the purchase and financing of weapons by the European Union to supply them to Ukraine. All of these European Union sanctions against Russia, due to their forcefulness and magnitude, could mark a new development in the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Ejercitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.

In the process of creating the Strategic Compass, it is worth asking where European defense is and where it is heading, especially in 2022. To do this, it is essential to analyze initiatives already in operation such as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the Coordinated Annual Defense Review (CARD) and the European Defense Fund (EDF). Analysis all the more necessary after the fifth anniversary of the publication of the European Union Global Strategy (EUGS) and when it still remains for the EU to decide what role it wants to play in the international arena and, if necessary, abandon what has been its natural state of indefinition since 2016 in relation to key concepts such as "Strategic Autonomy". (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Revista Ejercitos taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers [Keep reading…]

If in the field of European security and defense in recent years one expression stands out above all, this is that of "strategic autonomy", especially since the publication of the EU Global Strategy in 2016. However, lacking of a concrete definition, this is presented as one of the EU's pending accounts, especially with regard to the preparation of the Strategic Compass. (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Ejercitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.