In recent years, the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or ‘drones’, has grown dramatically, resulting in millions of UAVs being deployed for a wide variety of purposes worldwide.

The Netherlands is also witnessing a growing interest in the use of UAVs among governments and the private sector. For law enforcement and emergency services the use of UAVs offers opportunities to improve public safety and protect national security interests.
With this in mind, the latest HSD Issue Brief takes a closer look at how UAVs can contribute to enhancing public safety and our national security; the challenges being faced in introducing UAVs for this purpose; and suggests various solutions to boost the fledgling UAV industry in the Netherlands whilst facilitating safe use of UAVs by public and commercial partners.

However, clear regulation on UAVS in the Netherlands is currently lacking and as such, companies in the Netherlands wishing to break into this market may find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Issues also arise from the security vulnerabilities of UAVs, which might be ‘hackable’ and safety concerns about the proliferation of unmanned vehicles in civil airspace. In addition, privacy is a major issue when it comes to the use and legislation of UAVs, as they can easily be used for unlawful surveillance.
In order to mitigate these issues, and give a boost to the industry in the Netherlands, drafting of legislation and regulations to effectively govern the use and development of UAVs is essential. Adequate testing areas, an interdepartmental policy and the establishment of a ‘triple helix’ group consisting of knowledge institutes, industry and government, are also recommended.

You can download the HSD Issue Brief with the button on the right.

Who are the real kingmakers in global security affairs? Journalists and historians alike tend to focus on great powers. Great powers, after all, are involved in the lion's share of interstate crises and conflicts around the globe. But a closer look reveals that great powers’ interests generally collide and clash over those countries ‘caught in the middle’. From Egypt to Afghanistan, from Georgia to Ukraine, and from Serbia to Syria: the real pivot states are invariably located at the seams of the international system.

The innovative and data-driven study Why are Pivot States so Pivotal?  examines the potential cauldrons of future crisis & conflict by identifying the pivot states in the contemporary security environment.

Download the report with the button on the right

In recent years, rapid technological progress has led to a wholesale destruction of middle-level jobs and a substantial rise in income inequality. It could also bring an era of high structural unemployment. These impacts constitute a major challenge that cannot be ignored by policymakers. They affect the fundamentals of our labor market – and might severely shake the social structure and stability of our society.

This new report examines the impacts of technology on the European labor market. The report documents that technological innovation brings not only immense benefits but also significant dislocations in the labor market by making many jobs redundant. HCSS calls upon policymakers to take the risks of job polarization, increased inequality and potentially high technological unemployment quite seriously and suggests some policy measures that could mitigate these risks.The study was conducted in the context of the TNO Strategy & Change program. To download the report, please click on the button on the right.

The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) is proud to present 'LGBT Military Personnel: a Strategic Vision for Inclusion', from the creators of the LGBT Military Index.

Diversity and Military Effectiveness
Improving inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) service members is more than a matter of ‘doing the right thing’: it is a matter of military effectiveness. A groundbreaking new report from The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, a defense think tank, argues that militaries must embrace diversity in order to survive and thrive in the twenty-first century security environment.

Download the report with the button on the right.
 

Private investeringen in onderzoek hebben in Nederland de afgelopen twintig jaar minimaal een factor 2,3 bijgedragen aan het BBP. Dit blijkt uit de studie ‘De Staat van Nederland Innovatieland’ van TNO en The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.

Deze werd 18 juni samen met Brainport Development in Eindhoven gepresenteerd aan vertegenwoordigers van het bedrijfsleven, overheid en kennisinstellingen.

Download het rapport met de button rechts.

From London to Lagos, from New York to New Delhi – modern cities are built on a dense jungle of wires and cables that form the indispensable infrastructures of our city life. Information and Communication Technology are the artery system that helps fuel economic growth, and makes cities more ‘smart’ and livable.

But this has also created new vulnerabilities. ICT failure can easily send a cascade of effects throughout our economy and society. The complexity of our cities makes it impossible to fully eliminate such threats. We can, however, develop strategies aimed at rapidly bouncing back when threats materialize. This Issue Brief elaborates on how cyber resilience strategies can help cities deal with risks in a hyper-connected world.

You can download the HSD Issue Brief with the button on the right.
 

Since the Arab Spring, conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has rapidly intensified. The drivers of these conflicts are still present and could spark future violence. This report looks at the vulnerability of MENA states to future conflict, and how this may impact Europe. We look at the four types of vulnerability:

• Political turmoil is a primary driver of conflict in countries confronted with regime changes, or with regimes facing existential threats. Such states are less apt at mitigating turmoil, and fragile institutions create an incentive for people and groups to try and shape the political context.
• The Arab Spring has amplified economic and social problems in many countries, especially in states already severely affected by the upheavals. In richer Gulf countries, food and water scarcity are predominantly economic concerns that governments can buy-off by subsidizing consumption, by importing water and food, or by investing in desalination and irrigation.
• Fuel export dependent countries that rely on oil and gas revenues to fill state coffers are more vulnerable to a decline in oil price, particularly when they have limited financial buffers.
• Religious and ethnic tensions may erupt due to people looking for a state, or sizeable ethnic and/or religious groups vying for state control.

A second part of the study looks at how conflict could spill-over to Europe, affecting the security and economic interests of states on the continent. Specifically, it looks at large scale refugee inflows, illegal immigration, and human trafficking; European jihadi fighters coming home; oil price spikes and disruption of import flows; and (non)-fuel trade flows and poor return on investment.

You can download the study with the button on the right.

This study is part of the Strategic Monitor 2014, an innovative new report by The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) that draws on in-depth research and cutting-edge analytical tools to explore some key trends and challenges to our global security environment. The report consists of four studies focusing on the following themes:

• Great power assertiveness;
• The role of pivot states in regional and global security;
• Vulnerable states in the Middle East and North Africa;
• The growing role of non-state actors in security affairs.

This study points to worrying trends in how far two great power contenders, Russia and China, have been willing to go to assert themselves in the international arena. It concludes that increased willingness to resort to brinkmanship has heightened the danger of a ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’-type event that could spiral into uncontrollable escalation.

Based on a several unique new datasets that were specifically assembled for this project, as well as a number of different analytical tools and methods, this study provides quantitative evidence that great power assertiveness has risen significantly over the past few decades. China’s assertiveness has increased most sharply (by about 50% since 1979), but remains at a lower level than Russia’s, which has risen more modestly yet still shows a marked increase since President Putin’s third term in office. Second, both countries’ assertive deeds surpass their rhetoric, which should be a cause for concern: they walk the walk even more than they talk the talk. This applies to both the military, political and economic domains. However, one positive conclusion is that non-confrontational forms of assertiveness continue to outweigh the aggressive actions of both countries. And finally, China increasingly flexes its military muscle. Russia presents a more mixed picture, although here too the Russian baseline remains significantly higher than the Chinese one.

You can download the study with the button on the right.

This study is part of the Strategic Monitor 2014, an innovative new report by The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) that draws on in-depth research and cutting-edge analytical tools to explore some key trends and challenges to our global security environment. The report consists of four studies focusing on the following themes:

• Great power assertiveness;
• The role of pivot states in regional and global security;
• Vulnerable states in the Middle East and North Africa;
• The growing role of non-state actors in security affairs.

You can find our report here.

Decades of rising prosperity and increasing interdependence between states have significantly diminished the chance of direct conflict. But new security challenges now threaten to undermine this trend. The HCSS Strategic Monitor 2014 explores four such challenges to our global security environment: assertiveness of China and Russia, the rise of ‘pivot states’, instability in the MENA region, and the changing role of non-state actors in security issues.

It yields four main conclusions:

1. There has been a marked rise in the assertiveness of great powers in recent years, made manifest in ever more confrontational moves, from the Russian annexation of the Crimea to the enhanced Chinese presence in the South-Chinese Sea. This implies a significant increase in the chance of great power conflict.
2. Tensions manifest themselves primarily in ‘pivot states’, such as Ukraine, where the spheres of influence of rival great powers overlap.
3. Regional conflict and instability are edging ever closer to the periphery of Europe. Many MENA states remain vulnerable to specific forms of conflict.
4. Security threats, and particularly solutions, will come more and more from non-state actors.

The report was presented on May 21st 2014 to the Dutch Minister of Defense, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. The minister commended the report, stating that it demonstrates “that there is no standard, catch-all recipe for deploying military force […] we must be prepared for a plurality of operations.” She went on to say that “the Strategic Monitor is a crucial tool for our Defense policy development.” She also expressed hope that the developments identified in the report will be incorporated in the current and ongoing security debate, especially since “[Dutch] society is slowly regaining its awareness of the value of defense. People are waking up.”

You can download the Strategic Monitor 2014 report (in English) with the button on the right.

You can download the (Dutch) press release here
 

Many major global cities today are developing a recognizable international profile to become vibrant and attractive hubs to live, work and play. While some cities promote their architecture, quality of life, or the creativity of their industries for this purpose, the city of The Hague enhances its international reputation by emphasizing the presence of prominent international institutions.

This global standing has been further improved through the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), the largest conference ever held in the city involving the most comprehensive security precautions ever seen on Dutch soil. Such international profiling initiatives yield a wide range of opportunities, but they also present risks as they impact local economic activity and urban livability.

The second HSD Issue Brief disentangles these concerns and dilemmas, and suggests ways to find a more effective balance between security and livability in cities. 

Download the Issue Brief with the button on the right.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries 2014 including front matter and appendixes is now available online.

Published on an annual basis, this report is the earliest Government publication to furnish estimates covering nonfuel mineral industry data. Data sheets contain information on the domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, and 5-year salient statistics for more than 90 individual minerals and materials.

The report can be downloaded here.

The rapid increase of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has thoroughly changed the debate on security and privacy concerns.
Criminals, terrorists, corporations and foreign spies develop ever more sophisticated ways to get their hands on our personal data. At the same time, some see the recently exposed surveillance programs of national security agencies as proof that we are approximating George Orwell’s 1984, where “[t]here was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.”

The first HSD Issue Brief disentangles these concerns, and suggests ways to find a more effective and acceptable balance between privacy and security in a digital world.
 

The construction industry is one of the key economic sectors in Europe, but it was hit hard by the financial crisis. In the euro zone, employment in construction declined by a quarter since 2008. These difficult times raise important questions about the future path of the construction industry.

The Sustainable Urban (Re)Construction Briefing argues that renovation is going to play an increasingly important role in the overall construction market – for several reasons. One of them is the urgency of climate change mitigation. Europe has a large stock of buildings, which together contribute more than a third of CO2 emissions in the EU. In order to substantially improve the energy efficiency of the building stock, renovation rates should increase significantly. More generally, given that the renewal rate of the building stock in Europe is quite low (less than 1% per annum in recent years) renovation is essential for achieving society’s economic, environmental and social goals.

The Briefing describes the various aspects of renovation and maintenance activities in the EU, and explores their potential to become the main growth driver for the European construction market.

Download the report with the button on the right.
 

De schaliegasrevolutie in de Verenigde Staten (VS) kan op de lange termijn tot onrust in traditionele olie- en gasexporterende landen in de nabijheid van de Europese Unie (EU) leiden. Dit kan gebeuren als druk op de olieprijs ontstaat door een combinatie van energietransitie (gas voor olie) en ontkoppeling van de Europese economie en energiegebruik. Een lagere olieprijs leidt dan tot moeilijkheden voor de overheidsfinanciën van traditionele energie-exporterende landen.

In het kader van het ‘Strategy & Change programma’ heeft het Den Haag Centrum voor Strategische Studies (HCSS) een studie uitgevoerd naar de geopolitieke gevolgen van de winning van schaliegas. HCSS roept de EU op om nieuwe afhankelijkheden met energie- exporterende landen aan te gaan gericht op een verdere ontwikkeling van hun economie en samenleving teneinde instabiliteit voor te zijn.

The US’ shale gas revolution could in the long term destabilize traditional oil- and gas exporters in the European Union (EU) neighborhood: A combination of substitution effects and greater energy efficiency, could put pressure on the price of oil, leading to fiscal difficulties in traditional hydrocarbon exporting countries.

The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) conducted a study on the geopolitical consequences of shale gas in the context of the ‘Strategy & Change program’. HCSS calls upon the EU to seek alternate interdependencies with the oil and gas exporters in its immediate neighborhood, leading to a further development of these nations.

To download the report, please click on the button on the right.