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The report examines Cyprus's role as a migration hub, highlighting a shift toward restrictive asylum policies, increased border security, and a lack of comprehensive integration strategies. It details the impact of regional conflicts and climate change on migration flows, the rise of xenophobic violence, and the tension between national deterrence efforts and EU-led resilience and integration frameworks.

Greece serves as a front-line state for the EU, managing mixed migratory flows through a policy that prioritizes deterrence over legal migration. While the country has seen shifts in arriving nationalities—with increases in Egyptians, Palestinians, and Iraqis—it faces significant challenges in the social and economic integration of refugees and asylum seekers. The government is currently attempting to expand legal labor pathways through bilateral agreements and domestic reforms to address labor shortages, while continuing to rely on EU funding to maintain border security and reception infrastructure.

The Minsk process, led by France and Germany from 2014 to 2021, failed to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict and ended with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The author argues that the process was doomed by a fundamental gap in strategies: while Russia used the agreements to manipulate the West and prepare for war, and Ukraine struggled with politically impossible domestic demands, the mediators remained blind to these tensions, prioritizing a 'frozen' conflict to protect economic interests and demonstrate European diplomatic autonomy.

The document argues that the regionalization of the conflict in Yemen has created a fragmented mediation landscape where the United Nations' influence has diminished. Saudi Arabia's simultaneous roles as a conflict party and mediator have constrained the space for other actors and led to agreements that address immediate threats rather than underlying intra-Yemeni grievances. The author identifies a 'two-part dilemma' for mediators: deciding which actors to engage (regional rivals versus domestic parties) and determining whether to seek a narrow ceasefire or a comprehensive political solution. Ultimately, the paper concludes that military regionalization has impeded conflict ripeness, excluded non-armed civil society groups, and resulted in fragmented outcomes that fail to address the nature of the Yemeni state.

The document examines the Eastern Mediterranean migration route, highlighting a shift toward deterrence policies across both EU member states (Greece, Cyprus) and neighboring countries (Egypt, Lebanon). It analyzes how EU external migration policy encourages these nations to act as 'gatekeepers' through financial and technical support in exchange for border management and the reduction of irregular departures. The report details specific mobility patterns, such as the surge in Egyptian migration via Libya and the displacement of Syrians and Lebanese due to regional conflict, while noting a systemic lack of legal migration pathways and significant barriers to healthcare, education, and employment for refugees and migrants across all four countries.

Egypt is increasingly a destination and transit point for migrants from Africa and the MENA region, while simultaneously seeing a surge in its own citizens emigrating to the EU due to severe economic instability. The document details how Egypt leverages its geopolitical position to secure EU financial support and strategic partnerships, primarily focusing on curbing irregular migration and managing refugees. It highlights the critical impact of IMF-mandated austerity, currency devaluation, and climate change—specifically sea-level rise in the Nile Delta and water security threats from Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam—as primary drivers of displacement and emigration.

The Madrid Conference, co-chaired by the US and Soviet Union, established a dual-track peace process consisting of bilateral negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors and multilateral thematic working groups. While the US successfully secured the participation of key parties—including a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation—the process struggled with Israeli and Syrian intransigence. The author contends that the loss of momentum following US Secretary of State James Baker's departure and the subsequent shift toward the direct Israel-Palestine negotiations of the 1993 Oslo Agreement ended the multilateral structure of the Madrid/Washington process.

The IGAD mediation for South Sudan (2013-2015) was severely compromised because several member states were simultaneously conflict actors and mediators. Uganda provided military support to the government, while Sudan supplied weapons to the opposition. These rivalries prevented IGAD from reaching a consensus on security arrangements, reduced its leverage to impose sanctions, and undermined the impartiality of its envoys. Despite the signing of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) in 2015, the process failed to end the war, which resulted in an estimated 190,000 to 400,000 deaths by 2018.

Mauritania is unlikely to meet its 2026 deadlines for clearing anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions due to insufficient funding. A survey of one of three operators showed that funding rose from USD 0.039 million in 2023 to USD 0.35 million in 2024, with 58-60% spent on capacity development. National funding targets for 2025 and 2026 (USD 1.7 million for mines and USD 0.76 million for cluster munitions) are considered lower than the actual amounts needed for completion.

The document analyzes the challenges facing humanitarian disarmament in a contemporary environment characterized by rising global antagonism, a redistribution of power toward the Global South, and the decline of democratic space for civil society. It argues that the success of past treaties, such as the Mine Ban Convention, is threatened by competing global priorities like climate change and the erosion of trust between major powers. The authors highlight the difficulty of building cross-regional coalitions and the risks faced by civil society organizations (CSOs) due to government restrictions and stigmatization. To remain effective, the brief suggests that disarmament efforts must become more inclusive, diversify funding sources, and shift communication strategies toward the self-interest of states rather than relying solely on moral arguments.

The authors analyze the trend of rising defense budgets in EU and NATO member states following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, noting that spending increases are uneven and unaligned. They argue that this lack of coordination risks worsening the fragmentation of the European defense industrial base, creating mismatches between industrial supply and operational needs, and undermining the concept of strategic autonomy. Furthermore, the paper highlights potential negative economic impacts, including the 'crowding out' of civilian industries and the diversion of funds from the green transition, specifically citing proposals to cut EU renewables funding to support military investments.

The Philippines is pursuing an ambitious digitalisation agenda under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but this effort is complicated by the pervasive influence of China's Digital Silk Road (DSR). While Chinese technology provides cheap alternatives in 5G, cloud computing, and fintech, it introduces significant risks regarding data privacy, national security, and the potential spread of digital authoritarianism. These challenges are exacerbated by an outdated legal framework that fails to address modern technological breakthroughs. The authors argue that the Philippines must update its legislation and diversify foreign investment to build internal resilience and safeguard its digital sovereignty.

The report argues that the EU's pursuit of 'policy coherence' in its external migration dimension is primarily a tool for containment, often instrumentalising development aid to limit migration. It highlights the inherent tensions between migration management, development, and integration, noting that the EU's reliance on conditionality and compensation in partnerships with third countries often ignores the domestic interests of those partners and lacks evidence-based effectiveness in addressing the 'root causes' of migration.

The author reconstructs a 'Thomistic theory of attention' by synthesizing various passages from Thomas Aquinas's works. The analysis identifies attention as a finite resource and a selective process of 'priority structuring' that allows finite cognitive agents—humans, animals, and angels—to process information piecemeal. The paper distinguishes between the 'specification' of a cognitive act (what is known) and its 'exercise' (the act of attending), asserting that the latter is primarily driven by the will or appetite. It further explores the varying degrees of volitional control over different types of attention (sensory vs. intellectual) and the role of external agents, such as teachers or God, in prompting attention. Finally, it links the direction of attention to moral well-being and the virtue of 'studiositas'.

The document argues that the global transition to renewable energy, specifically wind and solar, frequently results in 'green colonialism' where Indigenous rights to self-determination and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) are ignored. It documents human rights violations and land-grabbing in countries such as Kenya, Norway, Colombia, and Mexico, noting that Indigenous communities often respond through litigation, protest, and efforts to secure project ownership. The authors recommend the formal recognition of Indigenous rights, the strict application of FPIC, the implementation of Indigenous-led environmental impact assessments, and the promotion of Indigenous ownership to ensure a just transition.

The document examines how the green energy transition in Africa could trigger conflict due to land displacement, environmental damage, and inequitable benefit distribution. It identifies five key categories of legal protections—land and resource rights, environmental and social protections, compensation and benefit sharing, access to information and participation, and access to justice—that can mitigate these risks. While many Sub-Saharan African countries have enacted basic protections, the brief emphasizes that the quality of implementation, institutional capacity, and political will are essential to prevent a 'green resource curse'.

Based on survey data from nearly 13,000 young adults, the research finds that while migration information campaigns—primarily those warning against migrating—have significant reach in many African and Asian communities, they generally fail to reduce migration aspirations. In some instances, exposure to these warnings is actually associated with a higher desire to migrate.

Saudi Arabia was the world's largest arms importer between 2015 and 2019, relying heavily on the US and European allies for major weapon systems. While the Kingdom has attempted to diversify ammunition sources and develop a domestic defence industry under Vision 2030, it remains constrained by the need for interoperability with NATO-standard systems and a lack of an indigenous industrial base. The brief concludes that achieving full self-reliance would take decades, leaving the Kingdom vulnerable to the policy shifts of its primary suppliers.

Turkey has expanded its influence in sub-Saharan Africa by leveraging a combination of humanitarian diplomacy, shared religious identity, and an anti-colonial narrative to establish soft power, which has subsequently paved the way for hard power interests. A key pillar of this strategy is the relationship with Somalia, recently solidified by a 10-year Defence and Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement granting Turkey authority over the management and defence of Somali waters. While Turkey positions itself as an alternative to Western powers, it faces competition from other middle powers like the UAE, Qatar, and Egypt. The document notes that Turkey's future engagement will be heavily influenced by its domestic economic crisis, potentially shifting priority toward high-yield economic activities such as defence exports and construction contracts over humanitarian aid.

The document examines how climate change acts as a 'threat multiplier' that exacerbates gender-based violence (GBV) by interacting with existing structural vulnerabilities and gender power dynamics. It highlights that women and gender minorities face distinct risks due to their specific labor roles, such as water collection and farming, and limited access to resources. While review articles show an increase in GBV following extreme weather events, the author notes a lack of robust quantitative data and a significant knowledge gap regarding sexual and gender minorities. The brief calls for governments to translate UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) commitments into action through gender-sensitive disaster relief and the inclusion of marginalized groups in adaptation planning.