EDITORIAL

Cognitive warfare has reached the Eastern Mediterranean, and much of the answer to it is already European.

Celia D. Hanley
(Founder and President of Catalina Intelligent Solutions LLC (CatalinaIQ). A former Senior Operations Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, with over forty years in clandestine operations, counterintelligence, and international security, she now develops cognitive security and risk mitigation programs for private-sector, government, and academic audiences).

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the U.S. Government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views.

Copyright: @ 2026 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 14 August 2026

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

A migrant surge builds at a European land border, organized not by desperation alone but by a neighboring state that decided to open the gate. GPS signals fall across civilian airspace over the Eastern Mediterranean. An undersea cable is severed. A manufactured story about a national leader spread faster than any correction can chase it. In most ministries, and most newspapers, each of these is filed as a separate problem: migration, aviation safety, infrastructure protection, disinformation. ... Read more

John M Nomikos
(RIEAS Director)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 11 August 2026

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

In 18 March 2015, I travelled to Jaipur, India to participate in an international conference on “Counterterrorism” organized by the Indian Foundation and I delivered an analysis on “illegal Migration, Organized Crime and Human Trafficking in Greece”.

During the conference, I created a network with Indian academicians, military, law -enforcement and security professionals that assisted me to comprehend the idiosyncrasies of the security envi-ronment regarding the complexities of the geoeconomic and geopolitical Indian military, security and political affairs. ... Read more

Evangelia Akritidou
(RIEAS Senior Analyst)

Copyright: @ 2026 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 11 August 2026

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

Introduction

Europe has rediscovered the Western Balkans. What was long treated as a slow and largely technical enlargement process has returned to the geopolitical agenda. Russia's war against Ukraine, growing instability across Europe's southern neighbourhood and renewed debates over European defence have reminded policymakers that the continent's security will also be shaped by developments beyond the EU's current borders. Enlargement is therefore increasingly understood not simply as an institutional process, but as an investment in Europe's long-term security.... Read more

Shaul Shay
(Senior research fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Centre Herzliya and former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 11 August 2026

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

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is a landmark trilateral mutual defense pact signed on August 7, 2026, in the holy city of Mecca by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, three of the Muslim world’s most influential states demonstrating a growing willingness among regional powers to coordinate more closely on security matters.[ Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey sign Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, Al Arabiya, August 7, 2026.]
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement stipulates that an armed attack on any of the countries will be treated as an attack against all of them. This is a message of deterrence to potential aggressors that any attack will not remain a limited confrontation involving a single country and it could trigger a collective response involving three significant regional powers.... Read more

Bouzemouri Achraf
(RIEAS Senior Analyst)

Copyright: @ 2026 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 11 August 2026

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

The migration crisis that unfolded in Ceuta at the end of July 2026 was extraordinary not only because of its scale, but because of the speed with which a local border problem became a wider security and political crisis. Spanish authorities initially estimated that around 49,000 people had entered the enclave within approximately 24 hours. Subsequent Spanish estimates placed the total number of arrivals during the episode at around 72,000, while Moroccan authorities gave a considerably lower figure of approximately 40,000.[ For the initial Spanish estimate of approximately 49,000 arrivals, see Reuters, 31 July 2026. Later reporting and Spanish estimates placed the total during the episode substantially higher, while Morocco reported a lower figure. See Reuters, 3 August 2026.] Whatever figure is ultimately retained, the scale of the movement is difficult to put into conventional terms: Ceuta has a population of roughly 84,000.... 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: @ 2026 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 11 August 2026

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

Major strategic transformations rarely become apparent while they are unfolding. More often, they develop quietly, away from the world's principal theaters of conflict, until a single event reveals that geography has already reshaped the logic of war. That is precisely what is happening today in the Caspian Sea.... Read more