EDITORIAL

Riaan Eksteen
(University of the Free State, South Africa)

Copyright @ 2025: https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1538 - Scientia Militaria - Military Studies – South Africa Journal – Vol. 53. No. 2, 2025 – Reposted at RIEAS in 14 December 2025.

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

This article reports on South African foreign policy in the context of the changing dynamics of Pres. Donald Trump’s second term of office. It contends that South Africa has faced difficulties in adjusting to these developments and new foreign policy imperatives. The foreign policy of a country is profoundly influenced by its domestic realities. The Trump administration has implemented substantial changes in the foreign policy of the United States of America, marked by assertive negotiating strategies and an emphasis on economic, national interest and security priorities, which have compromised international partnerships. Read more

Demetrios Tsailas (ret Admiral)
(He has taught for many years, operational planning, strategy, and security, to senior officers at the Supreme Joint War College. He is a member and researcher of the Institute for National and International Security)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 7 December 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

For half a century, the Republic of Turkey has been methodically reshaping its defence establishment, from a dependent importer of Western arms to an increasingly self-sufficient producer and exporter of military technology. Behind this transformation lies not only an industrial strategy, but a calculated political design: to elevate Turkey from a regional middle power into an autonomous pole of influence with the ability to project power across multiple theatres.... Read more

Stella Gerani
(Senior Analyst in the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS) and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research examines Turkey’s strategic expansion into Africa through hybrid engagement strategies that blur the boundaries between soft and hard power)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 29 November 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

On the occasion of the centenary of the Republic of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan unveiled his vision for Turkey’s second century, termed the “Century of Türkiye.” [‘Launch Event for the Century of Türkiye Program,’ Presidency of Republic of Türkiye, (28 October 2022) ... Read more

Demetrios Tsailas (ret Admiral)
(He has taught for many years, operational planning, strategy, and security, to senior officers at the Supreme Joint War College. He is a member and researcher of the Institute for National and International Security)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 23 November 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

Abstract

“Old Theatres – New Challenges,” captures with precision the transformation we are witnessing across the maritime domain. Historic basins of maritime activity—from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to the Greater Mediterranean—are confronted with new covers of complexity: technological acceleration, evolving security norms, pressure on critical infrastructure, and the rise of non-traditional threats that shape the boundaries between peace, competition, and conflict... Read more

Omar Banna
(RIEAS Research Associate)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 23 November 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

Since middle 2025, Lebanon has seen a significant shift in its approach to non-state armed groups, particularly Hezbollah. The government, under Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, has tasked the Lebanese Army with a plan titled “Homeland Shield” to centralize all weapons under state control. This initiative marks one of the most substantial challenges to Hezbollah’s military autonomy in decades (Al Jazeera, 2025).

The Government’s “Homeland Shield” Plan

In August 2025, the Lebanese cabinet empowered the Army to develop a strategy to monopolize all arms under state institutions by the end of the year (Al Jazeera, 2025). This decision responds to domestic and international pressures to disarm militias, chiefly Hezbollah, and restore the Lebanese state’s sovereignty (Ministry of Information, Lebanon, 2025). .. Read more

John M. Nomikos
(RIEAS Director & Chairman, European Intelligence Academy)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 17 November 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

Note: European Intelligence Academy web site: https://euintelligenceacademy.eu/

On 11 November 2025, Reuters wrote that the Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union Commission pointed out the creation of an Intelligence body which will hire officials from across the European Union member states as well as improve the use of information gathered by national intelligence services.

The author of the editorial published an article in 2005 focused on the creation of a European Union Intelligence Service (EUIS) and it was published in the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (IJIC) in USA.

Even though it took the European Union twenty years to consider the creation of a European Union Intelligence Service (EUIS), I believe it is on the right direction. In the future, the next step for the European Union should be to transform the European Security and Defense College (ESDC) into a European Union Intelligence University that will provide train and educate European officers in the forthcoming European Army as declared by European Union officials. Reduced duplication and closed cooperation among the EU member-states offers an opportunity for efficient intelligence cooperation.

The emerging intelligence service in the European Union should have as its most important task the analysis of overtly as well as covertly gathered information and preparing it for use by policy-makers. One of its goals is to bring together experts from both the intelligence and security services.

A concept of synergy between public and private sectors that is quite difficult to be proven in Greece, the European Commission must form a strong collaboration between private and public sectors that focus on analytical and intelligence branches as well as on enhancing non-for-profit research think tanks upon open-source intelligence analyses which would allow the European Union Intelligence Service (EUIS) to advice the European Commission and the European Council on foreign and security issues for prospective conflicts in Europe.

The next decades in the 21st century, the Human Intelligence Networks (HUMINT) and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) will require an evolutionary approach on training and educating the generation of the future intelligence analysts and practitioners to the methods and systems that are needed to know in order to face the emerging non-state actors, hybrid warfare threats and the need for stronger defenses against psychological operations (cognitive security). As Brigadier General (ret’d) Ioannis Galatas correctly states: “The unexpected is the new normal.”

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