Resources

The increasing frequency and scale of climate-exacerbated hazards require civil protection systems to adapt. Mitigation measures initiated following recent disasters in neighboring countries provide valuable lessons for Switzerland, argue Christine Eriksen, Andrin Hauri, David Nicolai Kollmann in this CSS Policy Perspective.

Against the backdrop of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia continues to modernize its nuclear forces. Nuclear weapons remain a central part of Moscow’s strategic arsenal, including as tools of coercion. While arms control initiatives are critical to mitigate the dangers associated with nuclear weapons, a credible nuclear deterrent on the part of NATO remains a prerequisite for their success, argues Oliver Thränert in this CSS Analysis.

Seoul is heavily investing in its defense capabilities. While the current government emphasizes that the US-South Korea alliance is central for the country’s security, the long-term strategic challenge will be to balance carefully relations with the US, but also with China and other regional actors in an increasingly volatile security environment. Hence, the importance of global partnerships is growing, argue Linda Maduz and Névine Schepers in this CSS Analysis.

Russia’s predominant role in Central Asia is set to decline after its war in Ukraine. This creates an urgency as well as an opportunity for the Central Asian states to diversify their external ties, argues Chatrina Schumacher in this CSS Blog. Many potential partners seem keen to fill some of the void, but their actual engagement remains limited. The region’s relative stability has priority which favors the ruling elites’ authoritarianism. Conversely, this may foster instability in the long run.