Ejércitos Magazine

The European Union and China must change their strategies regarding the war in Ukraine if they want to find a way out of the conflict

No end in sight? The West, China and the war in Ukraine

04/10/2024 Sven Bishop

The West supports Ukraine as a non-belligerent. China pretends to be neutral, but is increasingly seen by the West as a non-belligerent on Russia's side. In some ways, the West and China are no different: they do enough just to prevent "their" side from losing the Ukraine war, but otherwise they just hope that the other side will somehow give in - an attitude that cannot be called a strategy. Moreover, both the West and China will have to revise their strategies if they want to preserve their interests... Will this inevitably increase tensions between them? A vacillating West It is shameful that, more than two years after the start of the Ukraine war, the West has still not moved beyond piecemeal decisions about its support for Ukraine. The pattern, in fact, keeps repeating itself: every few months a decision is made to surrender. [Keep reading…]

The new European Commission will include the newly created portfolio of EU Defence and Space Commissioner

On the new European Union Commissioner for Defence and Space

27/09/2024 Beatriz Cozar Murillo

After much speculation, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has fulfilled her purpose - announced at the beginning of 2024 - of creating the post of Commissioner for Defence. The new post, which will actually go further, as Commissioner for Defence and Space of the European Union, is fraught with uncertainty due to doubts about the powers it will bring together, as well as possible overlaps and clashes with other commissioners - such as those for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy or Startups, Research and Innovation - and, of course, due to the person proposed for the post, the Lithuanian Andrius Kubilius, with a long political career and considered a "hawk" for his stance against Russia but who, in practice, has very little experience in defence. Index Introduction The mandate The new commissioner, a relative unknown (Un)expected movements and possible problems Conclusions Introduction After [Keep reading…]

Screenshot from a CCTV footage in a supermarket showing the moment of the explosion of one of the Hezbollah pagers hit by the Israeli attack

On Israel's attack on Hezbollah's "busca"

18/09/2024 José Luis García Benavides

In the last few hours, thousands of Hezbollah members have been injured, many of them seriously, due to the explosion of the pagers they carried and used to communicate within the organization. The action, for which Israel is responsible, although all the details are not clear, points to two basic options: 1) the hacking of the devices, causing an explosion of the batteries or, much more likely; 2) their physical modification at some point between the factory and their subsequent delivery to Hezbollah's logistics managers. Whatever the case, Israel's attack on Hezbollah's pagers would have caused significant damage to this group supported by Iran, temporarily depriving it of its command and control capacity, as well as a good part of its personnel, not to mention the feeling of being totally infiltrated by the secret services. [Keep reading…]

The new US Arctic Strategy 2024

12/09/2024 Gonzalo Vazquez Orbaiceta

The United States, despite its military, economic and diplomatic potential, has maintained a somewhat hesitant stance in recent times in relation to the Arctic. This stance has made it easier for actors such as Russia to become stronger in the region and for others such as the People's Republic of China to gain increasing influence in a crucial space for its resources and - thanks to the melting of ice - as a future route for maritime trade. With the new Arctic Strategy 2024 recently published - which comes just two years after the 2022 strategy - Washington intends to reverse the current state of affairs, putting in black and white the main lines of action that the North American country will seek to follow during the coming years, promoting cooperation with its neighbors and close allies, and seeking to achieve adequate preparation to carry out deployments in the region. Index Introduction States [Keep reading…]

Military sciences and arts: essential reading (I)

05/09/2024 Christian D. Villanueva López

In this publication we have always given capital importance to sources; to reading, in short. Many of the articles and focus articles that we have published in recent years, regardless of their length, are full of links and references to works by other authors, so that the reader can at any time not only consult the original sources, but also expand their knowledge on topics that we believe to be of interest to them. In fact, we are sometimes criticized, even in the reports on the war in Ukraine, for the fact that some of the links we include have apparently little to do with the central topic being discussed at that time. However, they are all there for a reason, even if this is as simple as not straying from the topic, preventing us from going as deep as we would like into a complementary and highly relevant issue. That is why [Keep reading…]

Israel's targeted assassinations, an effective tactic?

15/08/2024 Elena María Labrado Calera

Whatever the shock wave of the latest high-ranking assassinations carried out by Israel: that of Ismail Haniya, head of the political wing of Hamas, and that of Fuad Shukr, head of the military branch of Hezbollah, it is of interest look back and observe, even if only with flying feathers, the use of this tactic by Israel's security and defense establishment. Leaders in its use over the years, it also merits, at least, raising some questions regarding its greater or lesser effectiveness, depending on the circumstances, the strategy it serves and the ultimate objective pursued, with it and with other tools within the framework of Israeli security and defense. Table of Contents A Widely Used Tactic Targeted Killings: The Concept Who Are the Targets Are Targeted Killings an Effective Tactic? [Keep reading…]

Possible directions of approach of the missile that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

The death of Ismail Haniyeh

01/08/2024 Christian D. Villanueva López

A few hours ago, the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was announced while he was staying in the Sa'dabad complex in Tehran (Iran), after attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Since the news broke, there have been many speculations regarding both the exact location of the attack that ended Haniyeh's life, and the way in which the action was carried out. There has been speculation, in relation to this, about the use of Israeli F-35I Adir fighter-bombers along with cruise missiles. Also with the possible use of combat helicopters, drones, and even anti-tank weapons and vehicle bombs. In addition, there has been speculation about the possible involvement of his own bodyguard, as well as the way in which Israel would have managed to infiltrate operatives into the Hamas leadership. In the following lines we evaluate these and [Keep reading…]

Underwater mining

25/07/2024 Augusto Conte de los Ríos

The seabed represents one of the last unexplored frontiers of our planet. They host unique biodiversity and significant mineral resources that have the potential to impact the global economy and environmental sustainability. This focus aims to explain the geopolitics of the seabed in relation to underwater mining, highlighting international treaties, the technological capabilities of various countries, the exploration projects and vehicles used, and the strategic and economic implications[1]. Seabed mining has become a hot topic in global geopolitics, generating intense debates about the future of underwater resources. This new field of mineral exploitation promises access to valuable metals critical to modern technology, but also raises serious environmental and ethical concerns, as well as being the subject of intense and growing competition. The world heritage ocean floors, which cover about 65% of [Keep reading…]

Dictionary of European Defense Initiatives

19/07/2024 Beatriz Cozar Murillo

In recent years, especially since the arrival of Donald Trump to power in the middle of the last decade, Brexit and the renewed Russian threat, materialized in the invasion of Crimea and the war in Donbas, have multiplied the number of European defense initiatives. Since PESCO, EDF and CARD came to light in 2017, the Twenty-Seven have launched other tools such as EDIRPA or ASAP, and proposed others such as EDIP. Added to previous ones, such as the CDP, they constitute, together, a hodgepodge of acronyms that very few are familiar with, despite their importance. The purpose of this focus is to shed some light on them, explaining their meaning and their role within the European construction in defense matters. However it is, although we try to lighten it, it is a topic [Keep reading…]

Chad in troubled waters

11/07/2024 Elena María Labrado Calera

Today, Chad remains stable amid the growing instability of its conflictive neighborhood (Sudan, Libya, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger). And it is not only about the region, the Sahel (which includes the problems in Mali and Burkina Faso), but also about the increase in clashes of interests between large and medium powers. Their interest in starting, strengthening or expanding their influence on the African continent, including Chad, is precisely one of the few things that all of them have in common. And yet, the country's president, Mahamat Idriss Déby, has also had to deal with a transition in power, after the sudden death of his father in 2021, social protests, economic problems, and different types of violence in his territory. Index Introduction Domestic politics: power, a family issue Refugee crisis The different origins and causes of violence [Keep reading…]