Category: International Security

International Security includes military and diplomatic measures that nations and international organizations ‒ such as the United Nations and NATO ‒ take to ensure their safety and security.

Germany to empower it’s foreign-intelligence service, capable of holding its own in a dangerous world

Long handcuffed by court rulings, complex oversight arrangements, and stringent data-protection rules, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) has tended to operate as a simple, if reasonably effective, intelligence-gathering and analysis outfit. In a country where the Gestapo and Stasi cast long shadows, strict limits have been placed on the operations of the secret services. The original BND Act, written in 1990, was in essence a data-protection rule book. “It’s very slow, and very bureaucratic,” says a European former security official of the BND.

The BND must cease monitoring once a target once enters Germany. Foreigners abroad enjoy the same privacy protections as someone in Germany, curtailing the BND’s ability to tap phones or monitor data flows. Personal data must be redacted if the BND is to pass information to other German agencies. These “totally absurd” restrictions do not apply in other countries, says Wolfgang Krieger, a historian who has written extensively on the BND. They limit the trust placed in the BND by partner agencies—and create vulnerabilities foes can exploit. “Putin has no rules, and we respond with our Rechtsstaat [constitutional state],” sighs Marc Henrichmann, an mp on the Bundestag’s intelligence-oversight panel.

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PM Mark Carney announces Canada has achieved the NATO 2% defence spending target

The 2 percent of GDP defence spending target is a foundation for an even  stronger, more independent, more secure Canada.

Prime Minister Carney announced Thursday, 2026,03.26, more than $3 billion in infrastructure and defence-related investments across Atlantic Canada:

  • In Nova Scotia, targeted investments to modernize critical infrastructure, build new facilities to support the next generation of naval and air fleets, and expand training and operational capacity. Canada is investing:

‘Iran is likely to emerge weaker but more violent, aggressive, and vengeful’

Thomas Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, writing in Foreign Policy Magazine:

The Iranian regime is suffering heavy blows as a result of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign, but it is not on the verge of collapse. A prolonged war lasting months would increase the probability that it could fall, but it now appears that the war will end before that, with Iran’s current government in place. This means the Islamic Republic is likely to emerge weaker but more violent, aggressive, and vengeful.

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Beyond its borders, Iran will be forced to adapt some aspects of its foreign policy while striving to maintain others. It will likely be emboldened by having shown that it can almost completely close the Strait of Hormuz and dramatically impact global energy prices. Having lost several of its power projection assets, it will therefore rapidly invest in rebuilding the capabilities it needs to threaten shipping in the strait again, specifically its missile and drone programs. It will also enthusiastically remind whoever listens that it could renew its campaign in response to future pressure or threats.
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Trump’s threats to NATO reveal glaring absence of any strategy on Iran

Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor, writes:

If there was a moment when the absence of a US strategy on Iran was exposed, then this was it. Donald Trump demanded on Saturday that the UK, China, France, Japan and others participate in a naval escort for oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz.

Despite launching the attack on Iran, with Israel, the White House does not seem to have fully anticipated what was likely to follow. Iran had few good military options for fighting back, but attacking US bases, US allies and merchant shipping in the Gulf was the most obvious response – to try to impose costs on the west.

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Trump, fixated on military power, had no particular desire to work with any country other than Israel – and none wanted to join in starting a war against Iran. As a result, naval preparation by US allies before the start of the war was nonexistent. None of Britain, France, China and Japan had warships ready to take up convoy duties.

For any escort operation to be viable, it might require eight to 10 destroyers, according to Richard Meade, the editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s List, though that would be enough to protect only “five to 10 vessels, making a transit every day and a half”. That would amount to about 10% of prewar shipping volumes.

Nordic countries and Canada deepening partnerships in trade, technology, energy, defence, and security

To bolster Canada’s Arctic security, defence, and economic partnerships, Prime Minister Mark Carney, travelled to Bardufoss and Oslo, Norway, this week. In Bardufoss, the Prime Minister observed Exercise Cold Response – a Norwegian-led NATO exercise above the Arctic Circle to enhance the Alliance’s readiness, interoperability, and defence capabilities. Prime Minister Carney was joined by the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, and the Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz.

Prime Minister Carney also attended the Canada-Nordic Summit, where he met with leaders from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden to reinforce efforts to strengthen transatlantic security in the North.

Joint statement by the Prime Ministers of the Nordic countries and Canada, 2026.03.15, Oslo, Norway:

We – the Prime Ministers of the Nordic countries and Canada – met in Oslo today, 15 March 2026.

At a time characterised by heightened geopolitical tension, war and a multitude of crises, we are united in the view that international cooperation, based on international law, shared values and interests, remains the best way to strengthen our common security and prosperity.

As democracies and countries committed to the rule of law, human rights, and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states, we share fundamental values, and strengths.
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European Parliament calls for deeper EU-Canada cooperation to tackle security threats and boost trade amid rising geopolitical tensions

Given the current turmoil in the international order, the EU must elevate its strategic partnership with Canada to a new level, Members of the European Parliament say, pointing to shared interests and values.

In a report adopted on Wednesday, 2026.03.11, MEPs called for deeper EU-Canada cooperation to tackle security threats and boost trade amid rising geopolitical tensions.

To address security threats such as Russia’s war against Ukraine, hybrid attacks, terrorism, foreign interference and China’s assertiveness and economic coercion, MEPs call for increased cooperation with Canada. They stress the need to implement the security and defence partnership in full, complementing NATO’s efforts through initiatives such as Security Action for Europe (SAFE) and the ReArm Europe plan/Defence Readiness 2030.

More at the European Parliament Press Release: Stronger EU-Canada partnership amid global turmoil

With his war of choice on Iran, Trump continues to do lasting damage to international trust in America

Edward Luce, the US national editor and a columnist at the Financial Times, writes:

Trump chose to go to war and has taken explicit satisfaction in his power of life and death. War is a grave step after all other options have been exhausted. That Trump had other courses of action is well understood. That he preferred this one is hard to unsee.

With US’s credibility eroding, Europeans are looking for alternatives to American extended nuclear deterrence

Rafael Loss, European Council on Foreign Relations, writes:

America’s credibility is in tatters. According to ECFR’s latest public opinion poll, fewer Europeans than ever consider the United States under President Donald Trump “an ally that shares our interests and values”. This shift has been building since at least February 2024, shortly after Trump encouraged Russia to attack “delinquent” US allies on the campaign trail—an intervention that crystallized fears about Washington’s reliability and fuelled Europeans’ desire for alternative models of nuclear deterrence.

Britain and France, Europe’s two nuclear-armed NATO allies, are central in the resultant conversations. Britain’s nuclear weapons have long been committed to the defence of the alliance, whereas France’s deterrent sits outside of the NATO framework. As such, French president Emmanuel Macron’s address on nuclear deterrence, which is due to take place on March 2nd, is sure to draw particular scrutiny.

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America’s eroding credibility means that it remains necessary for France and Britain to retain their nuclear forces, especially when considering future NATO security. However, to become instruments of non-proliferation or escalation management, they require development. To borrow from the latest US Strategic Posture Commission, French and British nuclear forces—as the core of a future European strategic deterrent—likely need to grow in size and change composition (or both) to account for structural changes in US defence strategy and Trump-specific hits to US credibility. But they would not have to replicate the US posture to achieve this.

Moreover, France, Britain and their European partners would also have to agree on joint rhetoric and actions to signal resolve and capability in European deterrence. This is not only to assure each other, but also to deter potential adversaries.

Europe should prepare for coordinated cyberattacks to their energy infrastructure from Russia

In December 2025, a wave of Russian cyberattacks hit energy facilities across Poland, a sign that Moscow may be willing to expand its energy campaign beyond Ukraine.

Chelsea Cederbaum, a senior threat intelligence analyst at the American cybersecurity company Recorded Future, wrote “there’s a high risk of escalation by Russia over the next two years” that could included cyberattacks coordinated across wider regions of Europe’s grid, drone flights close to critical infrastructure, and Kremlin-sponsored digital disinformation campaigns designed to paint European countries as unprepared.

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