International Centre for Defence and Security

Russia’s war against Ukraine has profoundly worsened Europe’s security environment, but it has also spurred deeper regional cooperation. The challenge now is to ensure that this growing number of initiatives remains purposeful, adds concrete value, and strengthens both the EU and NATO.

Japan lies some 7 500 km away from the battlefield, and the war in Ukraine does not, in and of itself, pose an immediate threat to Japan’s security. This does not mean, however, that Russia’s war against Ukraine is irrelevant to Japan’s security.

This spring, ICDS celebrates 20 years of work as a think tank. The ICDS was founded in 2006 by the decision of the Estonian Government on the 31st of March and officially registered on 12th of April 2006.

The story of how the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) came to be begins not in 2006, when the centre was officially established, but in the late 1990s, when Estonia was taking its first steps toward NATO.

Examining the implementation and failure of successive ceasefires and peace agreements with Moscow reveals consistent patterns in the behaviour both of Russia and of its interlocutors.

Hydrocarbon revenues remain central to Russia’s economic resilience and its ability to finance the war against Ukraine.

This report analyses the Taiwan Strait as a structurally escalating security flashpoint.