Global Security Policy Research Articles

Kriege kommen und gehen, die internationale Gesellschaft ändert sich und Religionen überdauern: Narrative religiöser Akteure zum Ukraine-Krieg

AbstractIn the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reactions by religious leaders have differed greatly, with the Shia Ayatollah blaming the United States for the war, the Catholic Pope calling the United Nations “impotent,” and the Dalai Lama stating that “war is outdated.” But has there been a change in any of these religious narratives when it comes to war? Does the Ukraine war signify a turning point, or can we observe more of the same? Embedded in an English School framework, this article conducts a narrative analysis to better understand whether and how the primary institutions of war and international law are being (re)interpreted. The article analyses these three religious actors’ narratives on the Ukraine war and compares them to their respective past war narratives. The article examines how these narratives reflect a strengthening and even an expansion or an undermining and thus weakening of international society, with a particular emphasis on the primary institutions of war and international law as well as the secondary institution of the United Nations. The article argues that at least for religious actors in international politics, the Ukraine war does not pose a formative event in global security policy. Instead, these actors may have missed a critical juncture for strengthening or even upholding international law.

Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights at the UN Security Council: Blurring Boundaries in a Social Space

Abstract How do we study the UN Security Council, a bastion of sovereign nation-state politics, from the perspective of “outsiders” such as UN special rapporteurs? This article reimagines the relationship between security and human rights at the UN through a social space approach. By challenging institutional and geographical boundaries between the Security Council in New York and the Human Rights Council in Geneva, I follow actors in a social space in which transversal lines connecting security and human rights become visible. I uncover a social space that is animated by actors, their relations and social positions relative to each other as well as connections between institutions, geographical locations, practical competencies, and material infrastructures. On this basis, I theorize four distinct boundary-blurring practices of UN special rapporteurs: between the issue areas of human rights and security, between the geographical locations of New York and Geneva, between institutions such as the Security Council, Human Rights Council and the OHCHR, and between the domains of politics and law. While these practices help them enter into the social space of the Security Council in New York, special rapporteurs need to pay “entry costs” by accepting the basic premises of the counter-terrorism architecture in return for recognition as valid actors in this architecture. Taking this viewpoint from the outside, I argue, illuminates the extension of the Security Council beyond its institutional confines and uncovers “the human-rightisation” of global security policy.

Analysis of information flow security using software implementing business logic based on stored database program blocks

Objectives. Verification of software security is typically performed using dynamic and static analysis tools. The corresponding types of analysis do not usually consider the business logic of the software and do not rely on data access control policies. A modern approach to resolving this problem is to implement language-based information flow control. Despite a large amount of research, mechanisms for information flow control in software are not widely used in practice. This is because they are complex and impose increased demands on developers. The aim of the work is to transfer information flow control from the language level to the level of formal verification. This will enable the functions of controlling data integrity and confidentiality in software to be isolated into a separate task, which can be resolved by information security analysts.Methods. The research is based on general formal security methods for computer systems and formal verification methods. The algorithm developed by the author for checking security specifications and resolving security violations uses temporal logic of actions.Results. The technology is presented as a step-by-step approach to resolving specific tasks, including the following: designing a database (DB) for storing and processing sensitive information; analyzing dependencies and identifying relevant sets of program blocks in the DB; generating TLA+ specifications for the identified program blocks; labeling specifications according to global security policy rules and additional constraints; applying the specification verification algorithm, and resolving security violations while providing recommendations for software developers. The procedure also involves analyzing labeled data, in order to control the spread of verified program block output values in external software modules.Conclusions. The technology presented herein does not require developers to include redundant annotations describing security policy rules. The function of analyzing information flows with reference to predefined access restrictions is moved to a separate stage of the software development life cycle.

Civil Society Participation in Global Food Security Governance: Deconstructing the Discourse of Evidence-based Policy Making

Food security has been described as a very tough problem, suggesting that there is no single or simple solution to the problem of food insecurity. Meanwhile, there is a growing body of academic literature on food security that proposes solutions. Global governance is marked by a participatory turn, meaning that there are increasing numbers of global governance processes working to develop processes and mechanisms to enhance the participation of non-state actors in governance and policy making processes. Given this trend, it is not surprising that participation in governance processes has become an interesting site of investigation for research. The result has been the development of a growing body of literature analysing diverse aspects of increased participation, which calls for evidence-based policy making are increasing evidence in global food security policy processes, and beyond. For example, the follow up and review process for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to be “rigorous and based on evidence, informed by country-led evaluations and data which is high-quality, accessible, timely, reliable and disaggregated” (UN General Assembly, 2015, paragraph. 74). Evidence-based policy has become pervasive as a universal recipe for transparency, accountability, and good governance. However, its declamatory pervasiveness within public policy buries conglomerate discourses, signification, and practices around what counts as evidence, how and by whom it is utilised, and what impact it has on scholars, researchers, and policy officers. This research furnishes an overview of comprehensive reviews of literature and analyzes special issues of global food security, and policy frameworks. The conquest of evidence-based policy as a discourse, highlighting its close relationship with food security policies, the political, cultural context of its initial emergence in the global world, and its discourses. Evidence-based policy is customarily articulated as a means of speaking truth to power, separating facts from their human contexts. Global discourses on the governance of food security span competing approaches. For example, a neoliberal approach advocates commercialized, industrial agriculture, while food sovereignty and resilience are part of an alternative discourse to food security that prioritizes locally-based agroecological food production. Understanding how global discourses play out locally and how they impact the environment and biodiversity is important to identify appropriate pathways towards sustainability. In addition to their effects on food security, different approaches could reinforce or impede the success of biodiversity conservation because of the strong interdependence of food security and ecosystems. I examined alternative approaches to food security and biodiversity conservation pursued by 30 stakeholders from local to national levels. Agricultural intensification, commercialization, and profit were widely considered important, while support for agroecology and resilience was largely restricted to non-governmental organizations. Except for supporters of the agroecology and resilience approach, biodiversity conservation was considered as a secondary goal. In conclusion, it is important to acknowledge plurality of food security approaches because local conditions are characterized by a multiplicity of stakeholder interests, and because food security is a complex problem that requires a multidimensional approach. However, major contradictions among existing approaches need to be reconciled, and the agroecology and resilience approach should be strengthened to ensure the sustainable achievement of food security and biodiversity conservation.

Spatiotemporally Mapping Non-Grain Production of Winter Wheat Using a Developed Auto-Generating Sample Algorithm on Google Earth Engine

Spatiotemporally mapping winter wheat is imperative for informing and shaping global food security policies. Traditional mapping methods heavily rely on sufficient and reliable samples obtained through labor-intensive fieldwork and manual sample collection. However, these methods are time-consuming, costly, and lack timely and continuous data collection. To address these challenges and fully leverage remote sensing big data and cloud computing platforms like Google Earth Engine (GEE), this paper developed an algorithm for Auto-Generating Winter Wheat Samples for mapping (AGWWS). The AGWWS utilizes historical samples to determine the optimal migration threshold by measuring Spectral Angle Distance (SAD), Euclidean Distance (ED), and Near-Infrared band Difference Index (NIRDI). This facilitates the auto-generation of winter wheat sample sets for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2021. Approximately two-thirds of the samples were allocated for training, with the remaining one-third used for validating the mapping method, employing the One-Class Support Vector Machine (OCSVM). The Huang–Huai–Hai (HHH) Plain, a major winter wheat production region, was selected to perform the algorithm and subsequent analysis on. Different combinations of the hyper-parameters, gamma and nu, of the OCSVM based on the Gaussian Radial Basis Function Kernel were tested for each year. Following correlation analysis between the winter wheat area derived from the generated maps and the national statistical dataset at the city level, the map with the highest corresponding R2 was chosen as the AGWWS map for each year (0.77, 0.77, 0.80, 0.86, and 0.87 for 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2021, respectively). The AGWWS maps ultimately achieved an average Overall Accuracy of 81.65%. The study then explores the Non-Grain Production of Winter Wheat (NGPOWW) by analyzing winter wheat change maps from 2000–2005, 2005–2010, 2005–2010, and 2015–2021 in the HHH Plain. Despite an overall increase in the total planted area of winter wheat, the NGPOWW phenomena has led to concerning winter wheat planting marginalization. Compensatory winter wheat areas are notably situated in mountainous and suburban cultivated lands with low qualities. Consequently, despite the apparent expansion in planted areas, winter wheat production is anticipated to be adversely affected. The findings highlight the necessity for improved cultivated land protection policies monitoring the land quality of the compensation and setting strict quota limits on occupations.

Examining the Ethical and Geopolitical Context of Global Food Security Policy

The aim of this review (written in the summer 2023) is to stimulate the critical reflection of policy experts, academics, and civic activists in the field of food security and focus our attention to broader ethical and geopolitical aspects of food security debate. The critical comments of the review particularly refer to the final version of the report _Collective Action for Ending a Collective Problem: A Multi-stakeholder Project on Global Food Security_ published on 23rd July 2023 by the team of the Dublin City University led by Prof Phillip McDonagh. https://www.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/inline-files/Report%20-%20final%20%283%29.pdf One of the reasons for publishing this review at Queios is that this review was taken out of team discussion by the editors of the Report during its final stage, which seriously reduced the critical debate about its content and about some political-ethical aspects of food security in the current tense historical context, especially with regards to open wounds of the disastrously inhumane Putin´s war against Ukraine. The author of this review welcomes any feedback from both members of the Report team and general public, policy experts, academics or anybody involved in the area of food security theory and practice.

Water insecurity is associated with greater food insecurity and lower dietary diversity: panel data from sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic

There is growing recognition that water insecurity – the inability to reliably access sufficient water for all household uses – is commonly experienced globally and has myriad adverse consequences for human well-being. The role of water insecurity in food insecurity and diet quality, however, has received minimal attention. Data are from panel surveys conducted during 2020–21 among adults involved in smallholder agriculture in Niger (n = 364, 3 rounds), Nigeria (n = 501, 5 rounds), Senegal (n = 501, 5 rounds), and Ghana (n = 543, 5 rounds). We hypothesized that household water insecurity (measured using the brief Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale) would be associated with greater individual food insecurity (using 5 of the 8 Food Insecurity Experiences Scale items) and lower dietary diversity (using the Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women). At baseline, 37.1% of individuals were living in water-insecure households and of these, 90.6% had some experience of food insecurity. In multilevel mixed-effects regressions, individuals living in water-insecure households had 1.67 (95% CI: 1.47, 1.89) times higher odds of reporting any food insecurity experience and were estimated to consume 0.38-fewer food groups (95% CI: -0.50, -0.27) than those living in water-secure households. Experiences with suboptimal water access and use are associated with poor nutrition. The pathways by which water insecurity impacts nutrition should be identified. Global and national food and nutrition security policies could be strengthened by monitoring and developing strategies to address household water insecurity.

Las políticas de seguridad y defensa como valor público y bien común

In the current risk scenario, security policy is increasingly developing beyond what some have called the strictly security-oriented. In this sense, commons theory is a key conceptual framework for understanding the transformation and paradigm shift in security policy. The questions raised in this monograph revolve around the theoretical-conceptual framework of the commons, or some of its elements. From the perspective of the commons, security and defence, and their public policies, take into account the value created by the dynamics between different actors. Thus, firstly, maritime security is approached from a military perspective and, at the same time, it is understood as a common good. This means recognising the fundamental importance of the sea for the development of nations, as well as for international well-being. Then, with regard to the European Union's security and defence policy, it discusses how to enhance the value of this common good, which is international security. And it does so by addressing the issue of the European Armed Forces, first by explaining the reasons for the consolidation of the F-35 aircraft. Subsequently, focusing on the approach of tackling security from the perspective of the common good, we learn first-hand about the study that combines an educational and cultural policy for the Prevention of Violent Extremism, by entering into a pioneering educational experience of the dialogic space in the Master's Degree in Global Security Policies: Prevention of Violent Extremism at the University of Barcelona, in which the Holocaust, the Gulag, feminicide and jihadist terrorism are addressed. Security is then analysed in relation to citizen coexistence. And as it is part of a monograph on security as a common good, public space is explained, not only from the idea of public property or ownership that the public domain entails, but also from its conception as a common good. Next, urban security is explained with a three-dimensional assessment that allows for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of municipal security policies with a specific case study. Finally, all of the above studies are underpinned by the theorisation of security and defence as common goods.

The Core Content and Practical Approach of China’s Global Security Initiative

This research paper provides an overview of China’s Global Security Initiative, its essential components, and its practical implementation. Firstly, the paper highlights the significance of the Global Security Initiative in the broader context of China’s global security policy. It then outlines the core elements of the Global Security Initiative, which include promoting security cooperation, establishing a global security framework, and enhancing comprehensive security measures. Secondly, the author explores the practical approach of the Global Security Initiative, which emphasizes cooperation between states, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector. The author also describes the implementation of the Global Security Initiative, such as the establishment of the Global Security Initiative Working Group and its role in regional security cooperation. Furthermore, the author discusses how the Global Security Initiative fits into the Belt and Road Initiative. Lastly, the paper addresses the challenges posed by the Global Security Initiative, including the need for greater transparency and the establishment of an effective governance system. By offering insights into the Global Security Initiative and its implications for global security, the author provides valuable information on this topic. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the Global Security Initiative, its core components, practical approach, implementation, and challenges, making it an informative read for anyone interested in China’s global security policy.

The Russia-Ukraine war: Implications for global and regional food security and potential policy responses

This paper analyzes the implications of the Russian-Ukraine war on global and regional food security. We start with a global vulnerability analysis to identify most vulnerable regions and countries. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is particularly vulnerable to trade shocks because of its high food import dependence. Thus, we provide descriptive evidence characterizing how food systems and policies impact vulnerability to the price shock in selected MENA countries: Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen. Within these countries, we show that the crisis will differentially impact poor and non-poor households as well as rural and urban households. Although the absolute level of food insecurity may still be higher in rural areas where larger numbers of poor households are located, urban poor are likely to suffer most because of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and associated hikes in food prices, especially in those countries where social protection and food subsidies are missing. We review lessons from previous food crises and identify actions needed to take (and to avoid) to protect most vulnerable countries and households in the short-term while also highlighting long-term policy options to diversify food, fertilizer and energy production and trade.

Security and defense industry dimension of Türkiye-United Kingdom (England) relations

The aim of this study is to reveal the security and defense industry dimension of Turkey-United Kingdom relations. The study argues that beyond the political and economic relations that have reached a certain level, the field of security and defense industry will gain more and more importance and develop in the relations between Turkey and the United Kingdom in the future. Relations between Turkey and the United Kingdom, which are based on deep-rooted historical relations, have recently gained a new momentum. While the reason for this is the problems experienced with the USA and the EU for Turkey, the reason for the UK is the independent and global foreign and security policy that it started to follow after leaving the EU membership. Although the political and economic dimensions of the relations between Turkey and the United Kingdom have reached a certain level, the emerging new developments contain a potential open to new developments in the field of security and defense industry. Today, Turkey and the United Kingdom, which have close political and economic relations and are both NATO members and not EU members, have the opportunity to increase their relations to a higher level by increasing their cooperation in the fields of security and defense industry.

Evaluation of the United Nations’ global nutrition and food security policies

Birleşmiş Milletlere bağlı Tarım ve Gıda Örgütü (FAO), Dünya Sağlık Örgütü (WHO), Dünya Gıda Programı (WFP) ve Uluslararası Tarımsal Kalkınma Fonu (IFAD) küresel beslenme ve gıda güvencesi konularında çeşitli politikalar üretmekte ve politikalara uygun çalışmalar yapmaktadır. Çalışma ile günümüzün en kritik küresel sorunların başında gelen açlık, kıtlık, obezite ve gıda güvencesizliğinin çözümüne yeni bir yaklaşım getirmek için Birleşmiş Milletler ‘in ilgili politikalarının belirlenmesi ve tartışılması amaçlamıştır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden olan literatür tarama ve doküman inceleme teknikleri kullanılmıştır. Çalışma bulguları incelendiğinde Birleşmiş Milletler ’in küresel beslenme ve gıda güvencesi politikalarının büyük oranda adil gıda paylaşımına odaklandığı belirlenmiştir. Bu bağlamda BM açlığın azaltılmasını gıda güvencesini ve adil gıda paylaşımını teşvik ederek hedeflemektedir. Bununla birlikte açlık ve obezitenin aynı zamanda var olması gıda paylaşımının eşit olmadığını göstermektedir. BM’nin ilgili kurumlarının iki sorunun çözümü için çalışmalar yapmaktadır. BM‘nin 1995-1997 yılları arası yaptığı araştırmalar sonucu aç ve yetersiz beslenen 824 milyon insanın var olduğu tespit edilmiştir. BM 2015 yılında aç ve yetersiz beslenen insan sayısını 400 milyon seviyesine düşürmeyi hedeflemiş ancak bu sayı 795 milyona yükselmiştir. Buna ek olarak 2015 yılı sonrası açıklanan tüm raporların verileri arasında büyük çelişkiler mevcut olup bazı raporlar ise ağır şekilde eleştirilmektedir. Aslında bu haklı eleştiriler, verilerin manipüle edilerek istenilen sonucun elde edilmesi ile ilişkili olduğu şüphesinden kaynaklanmaktadır. Sonuç olarak BM’nin kalkınma hedefleri 2030 yılında sonuçlanmayı beklerken FAO’nun ortaya koyduğu hedeflerden oldukça uzak olması ilgili politikaların istenen sonucu vermediğini göstermektedir.

The Ambiguity of the EU’s Global Role: A Social Explanation of the Term ‘Strategic Autonomy’

The term strategic autonomy has become a major reference point in the debates on the EU as a global actor despite concerns of some Member States that worry about global decoupling signals. What explains the attractiveness and widespread use of the concept in the EU’s policy debates? This article puts forward an explanation grounded in social factors and dynamics. It uses role theory to develop a hypothesis for the proliferation of the strategic autonomy concept in the debate on EU’s global role. Based on this perceptive, the conflict between the EU’s roles as a market-, normative-, and realist power is at the heart of the emergence of the strategic autonomy discourse. Rather than forcing the EU to adapt its role as an international actor, the reference to strategic autonomy allows for ‘role ambiguity’. The article discusses this in light of the current debates on the ‘geopolitical Commission’, qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as in the area of defence. Whether the ambiguity – the lack of clarity and certainty the EU as a collective actor faces with regards to the enactment of its role – will prove to be constructive or destructive for its foreign policy remains still open. Strategic Autonomy, European Union, EU’s Global Role, Role theory, Common Foreign and Security Policy, Common Security and Defence Policy, Normative Power, Market Power, Realist Power

Kurds, Jews, and Kurdistani Jews: Historic Homelands, Perceptions of Parallels in Persecution, and Allies by Analogy

This article highlights the positive relations between the Jewish and the Kurdish nations, maintained mainly by Kurdistani Jews until their displacement to Israel in the mid-20th century. These positive relations have been transmitted through their oral traditions, documented by both communities and travelers to Kurdistan, and validated by several scholars who studied the Jews of the region, Kurdistan, and Jewish-Kurdish relations. The dearth of historical documentation of both societies has resulted in a ‘negative myth’ used by the enemies of the Kurds and the Jews to dehumanize them before the 20th century, and therefore delegitimizing their right to statehood in modern times. From the 16th century onward, there is more solid evidence about the Kurdistani Jews and their relations with Kurdish neighbors. There are considerable and certain parallels between the two nations in terms of their oral traditions as well as linguistic and literary practices. The historical ties between the Jews and their neighbors in Kurdistan formed a fruitful ground for the relations between the Jewish people of Israel and the Kurds since 1948. Despite the exodus of almost the entire Kurdistani Jewish population to the State of Israel, Kurdistani Jews have largely retained their identity, culture, and traditions and have effectively influenced Israel’s policy towards the Kurds. The often-secret relations between the Kurdish movement in Iraq and Israel since 1960 played an important role in the global security policy of the Jewish nation in the Middle East, and in effect served to keep Baghdad from becoming involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict on one hand, and allowed the Kurdish liberation movement in Southern/Iraqi Kurdistan to survive on the other. These ties were reinforced by the sense of a common fate and struggle for statehood, persecution and genocides, feeling of solidarity, mutual strategic interests, humanitarian and economic dimensions, in post-1988 Halabja Massacre, the operation of the US led coalition against Iraq in 1991, and 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Since the Arab Spring, the military interventions against the self-proclaimed caliphate, Islamic State (IS), and the referendum for an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq in 2017, this relationship allegedly has extended to include the relationships between Israel and the Kurds in Western/Syrian and Eastern/Iranian Kurdistan as well. Notably, Israel was the only state that publicly supported the creation of an independent Kurdish state. With all the development the Kurdish question has paved in the 21st century, the article concludes that the majority of the Kurds of the 21st century can be described as a ‘pariah people’ in Max Weber’s definition and meditation of the term and Hannah Arendt’s ‘rightless’, who ‘no longer belong to any community’, while describing the different aspects of the political, economic, and cultural calamity of Jews, refugees, and stateless people at the beginning of the 20th century.

Global Energy Security and Energy Policy

Global Energy Security and Energy Policy

South-to-south mentoring as a vehicle for implementing sustainable health security in Africa

BackgroundWhile sustainability has become a universal precept in the development of global health security systems, supporting policies often lack mechanisms to drive policies into regular practice. ‘On-paper’ norms and regulations are to a great extent upheld by frontline workers who often lack the opportunity to communicate their first-hand experiences to decisionmakers; their role is an often overlooked, yet crucial, aspect of a sustainable global health security landscape. Initiatives and programs developing transdisciplinary professional skills support the increased bidirectional dialogue between these frontline workers and key policy- and decisionmakers which may sustainably narrow the gap between global health security policy design and implementation.MethodsThe International Federation of Biosafety Associations’ (IFBA) Global Mentorship Program recruits biosafety and biosecurity champions across Africa to provide local peer mentorship to developing professionals in their geographic region. Mentors and mentees complete structured one year program cycles, where they are provided with written overviews of monthly discussion topics, and attend optional virtual interactive activities. Feedback from African participants of the 2019–2020 program cycle was collected using a virtual Exit Survey, where aspects of program impact and structure were assessed.ResultsFollowing its initial call for applications, the IFBA Global Mentorship Program received considerable interest from professionals across the African continent, particularly in East and North Africa. The pilot program cycle matched a total of 62 individuals from an array of professional disciplines across several regions, 40 of which were located on the African continent. The resulting mentorship pairs shared knowledge, skills, and experiences towards translating policy objectives to action on the front lines. Mentorship pairs embraced multidisciplinary approaches to harmonize health security strategies across the human and animal health sectors. South-to-South mentorship therefore provided mentees with locally relevant support critical to translation of best technical practices to local capacity and work.ConclusionThe IFBA’s South-to-South Global Mentorship Program has demonstrated its ability to form crucial links between frontline biosafety professionals, laboratory workers, and policy- and decision-makers across several implicated sectors. By supporting regionally relevant peer mentorship programs, the gap between health security policy development and implementation may be narrowed.

Enhanced dynamic team access control for collaborative Internet of Things using context

SummaryThe development of the Internet of Things (IoT) aims to overcome security issues especially in critical areas that require integrity, confidentiality and a high level of privacy of the data. Among security challenges, the access control model should be well defined and adapted to the characteristics and security requirements of IoT applications. The work presented here proposes big enforcement of security for dynamic team access control using context information in order to provide granular and secure authorizations with different access control levels related to collaborative IoT. The enhanced dynamic team access control (EDTMAC) model introduces a formal theoretical model which relies on the top of the role‐based access control model. The use of different context information with a global context information security policy and security rules raised the model strength against unauthorized access and avoided security breaches such as the leak of information by providing the least privileges for the users. The result of EDTMAC analysis shows that the model is well adapted to IoT dynamic nature and collaborative IoT activities for teams. Moreover, the model is flexible and scalable, user‐driven, reliable, and secure against unauthorized access requests. The developed model supports the well‐known least‐privilege principle and separation of duties for the team members. In addition, it allows easy management of the teams, provides fine‐grained access control authorizations and supports delegation.

EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENSE POLICY

Problem setting. Security issues are importantfor contemporary international relations research, since security has been and remains one of the most important aspects in the functioning of international relations. Ensuring security is seen as an important task for both a state and the international community in the broad sense of the term, in particular for the EU. In today’s context, the problem of information security of the individual, the state and the society is fundamentally relevant as it needs, primarily, a complex reflection, taking into account the realities of the present. In addition, continuous monitoring of the security situation in the information field, the ranking of threats by the degree of influence on national interests, the rational redistribution of forces and the means to neutralize threats are urgently needed.Recent research and publications analysis. Problems of European politics and defense are constantly in the center of attention of Western scientists, first of all Laura Chappell, David J. Galbreath, Jocelyn Mawdsley, Robert McCabe, Hugo Meijer, Deborah Sanders, Ian Speller, Marco Wyss, and others. In the Ukrainian literature, some solutions to this problem are found in Ya. Tymkiv’s manual, in the encyclopedic dictionary-directory «Modern Political Vocabulary», in the Glossary of the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Information Security, articles by Yu. Bytyak and I. Yakovyuk, M. Dmytrenko, E. Nikipelova,O. Poshedin, O. Sosnin and O. Dzioban, M. Trebin which the author of the paper researches and identifies previously unsolved parts of the general problem the article is devoted to.Paper object: to analyze the term «security», to identify the place of security in the European security and defense policy, to characterize the peculiarities of the problem of the Euro-Atlantic security space formation.Paper main body. In the article, based on the conceptualization of the security problem in the aspect of international political issues, the definitions of the security by domestic and foreign scientists are explored. Particular attention is paid to information security, which requires, first of all, a comprehensive understanding of the today’s realities. The evolution of the EU Common Security and Defense Policy, its current interpretation in the EU’s Global Foreign and Security Policy, has been traced. The main security priorities were identified, namely, defense, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, energy and strategic communications. Special attention is drawn to the problem of creating the Euro-Atlantic security information space, i.e., the space of a dialogue between Ukraine and the NATO, which should accompany the necessary reforms in Ukraine in order to bring it closer to Euro-Atlantic standards.Conclusions of the research. Therefore, in the modern science of international relations there is no definition of security that would satisfy both domestic and foreign scientists. This is explained by the fact that certain components of the security content acquire a certain value or lose it, depending on the internal situation in the country and the international situation. The problem of information security which requires, first of all, a comprehensive understanding of the present realities is ofparticular importance in today’s context.The contours of the EU Common Security and Defense Policy began to be defined in the 1990s, and its current interpretation is reflected in the EU’s Global Foreign and Security Policy, 2016. Defense, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, energy and strategic communication are the main security priorities. The issue of creating a Euro-Atlantic security space that is the space of a dialogue between Ukraine and the NATO, which should accompany the necessary reforms in Ukraine in order to bring it closer to Euro-Atlantic standards is of utmost importance.

The European Union security policy

Problem setting. In spite of the presence of numerous conventions, treaties and organizations in the world today, the issue of security is still a very acute issue for the world community. There are many reasons for this: the presence of nuclear powers, serious disputes between countries that are justly considered world leaders, the existence of numerous local conflicts and wars of a more global nature across the globe. These and other factors are pushing states around the world to allocate budget funds to ensure effective security policies. Given today’s realities, one can trace the tendency of several countries to pool their own efforts and resources to pursue a common security policy. The European Union is one of the clearest examples of this behavior. This intergovernmental organization is committed to maintaining peace, diplomacy, trade and development around the world. The EU also promotes cooperation with neighboring countries through the European Neighborhood Policy. Target research. The aim of the research is to study the role of the European Union’s institutional mechanism in the exercise of its powers to ensure the defense and foreign policy cooperation of the Member States. Analysis of recent research and publication. Many domestic and foreign scholars, including B. Tonro, T. Christiansen, S. Morsch, G. Mackenstein, and others. The institutional basis of foreign and security policy is analyzed in detail by J. Peterson, questions related to the European Union’s security policy. M. Shackleton. K. Gill, M. Smith and others study the general features of the development of a common EU security policy. Some contribution to the study of various problems related to European and Euro-Atlantic integration has been made by such national scientists as V. Govorukh, I. Gritsyak, G. Nemyrya, L. Prokopenko, O. Rudik, V. Streltsov, O. Tragniuk, I. Shumlyaeva, I. Yakovyuk and others. Article’s main body. The article examines the emergence and development of the European Union’s security policy from the date of the Brussels Covenant to the present. Particular attention is paid to the role of the European Union’s institutional mechanism in the exercise of its powers to ensure the defense and foreign policy cooperation of the Member States. A study of the officially adopted five-year global foreign and security policy of the EU is being done to improve stability in Europe and beyond, analyzing EU conflict resolution and crisis management activities. Conclusions and prospect of development. In view of the above, it can be concluded that the EU’s foreign and security policy institutional framework is an extensive system in which all the constituencies are endowed with a certain range of general and specific powers and are called upon to cooperate with one another to achieve a common goal. It cannot be said that such close cooperation puts pressure on Member States. Yes, a Member State has the right to refrain from voting for any decision that requires unanimity and such abstention will not prevent the above decision being taken. In this case, the mechanism of so-called “constructive retention” is triggered: the abstaining country is not obliged to comply with the decision, however, accepts the fact that it is binding on other Member States and takes this into account when concluding treaties, which should not contradict the said decision.

THE DANGER OF CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA IN THE NEW COLD WAR

The article analyzes the risks to global security in the face of confrontation, as well as the struggle for world leadership in the United States and China. It is shown that the confrontation and deepening of contradictions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China can lead to a nuclear war. However, many researchers also believe that the image of the Chinese threat is now heavily exaggerated and based on the misunderstanding of China’s intentions. In general, expert and analytical centers are encouraged to start technological cooperation with China, rather than exacerbate confrontation. Therefore, on this day there is no clear answer to the question of whether the PRC really threatens US leadership in the framework of the emerging world order. On the contrary, among scholars, politicians and experts one can see the split that is growing in relation to this problem. Despite the opposite view on the ambitions of the People’s Republic of China to represent serious US competition in all areas, rivalry between countries of the so-called “Group Two” (“G-2”) in the coming years will intensify and more and more to put global security policy tasks.
 China will be able to pursue a more independent policy than the United States only if it bypasses them in the areas of armaments and high technology. However, it is here that American leadership will remain undisputed for a long time to come. However, many analysts predict China’s world leadership in the next decade or decades, as it may soon surpass the United States in economic terms. However, being the greatest does not mean being the first one. In addition to being the world’s second largest economy, China is still a long way from taking the lead or competing in other areas (military-strategic, technological, social, etc.).
 It has been proved that the optimal choice for China will not be the desire to forcibly introduce its regional, not to mention global, unipolarity, but to actively enter the multipolar world as a major independent center of power.