Setting the Tone
The 2013 French defence White Paper presents a strategic analysis and capability assessment that address the pressing concerns posed by austerity cuts to defence budgets, instability in Europe's neighbourhood, and US rebalancing towards the Asia-Pacific. It proposes ways in which France – and Europe – can remain strategically relevant in this changing environment. In doing so, argues Luis Simón, the White Paper provides a useful blueprint for the European Council meeting in December 2013.
And what will Europe do? The European Council and military strategy. Security Policy Brief No. 46, May 2013
Important decisions on Europe’s military 
capabilities are expected from the 
December 2013 European Council. But 
why? What do Europeans actually want to 
do with their capabilities? The answer to 
that question would be the crowning piece 
of the European Council’s decisions.
Arab Uprisings and the Outstanding Return to Democracy: Tunisia as a Model
In the wake of the Middle Eastern crises, the Tunisian case in focus has been doted as a unique phenomenon being that it was the Genesis of the revolution that ultimately spread across the Middle East like wild fire, but has eventually heralded a new dawn as democracy has incidentally returned to the Empire. This literature therefore looks closely at the extent to which the ‘DignityRevolution’ has been instrumental in the Middle East uprisings, which have brought an end to dynastic autocracies. The literature zeros in on the Tunisian uprising which has attracted global concerns, sympathy and has sparked interests in the international arena. The literature finds that the people hold colossal prospect in the uprising and its resultant effect, as it paved the way for the revolutionist to generate, gather and disseminate information on the condition of the entire region to the international community. The people in this context were of utmost importance and played a very crucial role in the creation of awareness, mobilization of protesters and utmost determining the direction of the uprising and also ensuring a speedy return to democratic rule. The paper submits that the role of the people in ensuring that the ruins of the uprising is not left littering around and democracy restored is highly commendable and should be a model for all other Arab countries involved in the revolution.