Publications

Moldova has made notable progress in its relations with the European Union (EU). In just three years, from 2022 to 2025, the EU’s smallest eastern neighbour advanced from being an associated partner to a candidate country ready to begin accession negotiations.

Dr. Lee Sungwon and Dr. Konstantinas Andrijauskas analyse how Russia’s war against Ukraine, Europe’s rearmament, and the tightening Russia–China–North Korea triangle are reshaping security links between Europe and South Korea, arguing that deeper cooperation – from defence industry ties to cyber and critical infrastructure protection – is becoming a strategic necessity for both regions.

Tomoyuki Yoshida examines why Japan is doubling its defence spending, how it is strengthening deterrence together with the United States and regional partners, and how Chinese and North Korean threats - as well as the war in Ukraine - shape Japan’s view of the security link between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.

Colonel Linas Idzelis analyzes the role of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union in Lithuania’s total defence and societal resilience, highlighting key challenges such as rapid membership growth, limited training and infrastructure, and equipment gaps, and explains why Lithuania needs a clearer vision of citizens’ roles in both armed and unarmed resistance in times of crisis or military threat.

Following the two days of negotiations, on December 13, the U.S. represented by the special envoy John Coale managed to reach another interim deal with Belarus’ regime on the release of 123 political prisoners, including a part of very prominent political opponents and activists,

As Lithuania prepares to assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2027, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigitas Mitkus discusses how a NATO frontline state is getting ready to lead the Union. The key themes are support for Ukraine, strengthening EU security and defence, enlargement, competitiveness, and Lithuania’s role as an honest broker in a complex geopolitical environment.

Ilan Berman, Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council (Washington, DC), argues that Europe is finally mobilising seriously against the Russian threat, yet the divide between Eastern and Western Europe persists. The interview explores why informational power matters as much as military force, why Washington’s call for Europe to “do more” is justified, and why the war in Ukraine is part of a broader struggle over the Western order.

Former French Ambassador to the United States Philippe Étienne discusses the West’s response to Russia’s war, Ukraine’s path towards the EU and NATO, shifting transatlantic relations in the Trump era, and the limits of Europe’s strategic autonomy. His message is clear: the U.S. commitment to Europe will endure only if Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own security.

Ukraine is living between two realities today: society is increasingly supportive of seeking negotiations, yet it rejects concessions that would compromise the country’s core interests. At the same time, the authorities are preparing both for a possible ceasefire process and for a prolonged phase of war. Hennadiy Maksak discusses the challenges of mobilisation, the significance of drone warfare, increasingly complex relations with the United States, and Europe’s critical role. His message is clear: Ukraine is ready to talk, but not to surrender.

William Alberque argues that the global non-proliferation system has not collapsed – but that the West is dangerously naïve in how it plays the game. The former NATO official and leading arms control expert warns that Russia and China are “gaming” the very institutions designed to constrain the spread of weapons of mass destruction, from the UN to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and beyond – while deepening military ties with regimes such as Iran and North Korea.

As Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine grinds on, NATO governments face twin imperatives: help Kyiv today and shape a security order that deters aggression tomorrow.

In his first year as Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kęstutis Budrys frames the country’s diplomacy around three pillars – national security at NATO’s eastern flank, long-term support for Ukraine, and a more capable European Union. In this conversation with Linas Kojala, he explains why 0.25% of GDP for Kyiv is only a baseline, what a permanent German brigade and NATO’s 5% pledge mean in practice, how Nordic–Baltic cooperation and the transatlantic bond must evolve, and why there can be no illusions about Minsk or Moscow as Lithuania looks ahead to its 2027 EU Council presidency.