In November 2023, a cyberattack shut down emergency rooms at numerous hospitals across three U.S. states. No missiles were fired. No bombs fell. Yet ambulances were diverted to other cities, lives were at risk, and professionals were unsure for a long time what sensitive patient data had been involved in the incident. This scenario illustrates the growing risk faced by today's policymakers,…
In September 2025, when Albania unveiled Diella as the " Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence ," it became the first country in the world to give an AI system a cabinet-level role. Diella started as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania portal, helping citizens navigate online services, but now has a formal mandate to oversee public procurement and, over time, take a central role in…
As Ukraine enters its fourth winter of full-scale war, Russia has unleashed an annihilation campaign against its energy infrastructure. Massive, coordinated strikes, including a barrage of 705 missiles and drones on October 30, 2025 , signal a new and dangerous phase of this protracted energy war. The humanitarian consequences have prompted the United Nations to issue stern warnings, but will…
During the October 20, 2025, Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage , when parts of the internet blinked off, the ripple effects were evident to everyone, from commuters asking Alexa for the weather to businesses trying to process payments. A single problem in an AWS region in the U.S. cascaded across popular apps and services worldwide before engineers resolved it. Technological incidents are bound to…
Russia abandoned the final restrictions it was under under the now obsolete INF Treaty in August 2025. This decision shortened warning times and broadened the range of hybrid threats aimed at Europe, including ground-launched missiles, long-range drones, cyber operations and sabotage against the networks and nodes that keep the continent running. The greatest risk lies with critical…
In the face of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has embarked on a historic enlargement process, extending candidate status to Kyiv in a powerful display of geopolitical solidarity. This move is more than a strategic response; it is a reaffirmation of the EU's identity as a value-based union built on democracy and the rule of law. However, this strategic imperative has…
In addition to the ongoing support of its Western partners, Ukraine continues its daily resistance to Russian forces through the mobilisation of civil society, the public sector and volunteer initiatives. Despite the enormous challenges posed by the enemy's numerical superiority and turbulent political processes in the West, Ukraine is not only defending its sovereignty but also changing the very…
Seeking to demonstrate its military strength, NATO conducted a series of large-scale military exercises across Northern Europe, sending a clear, unambiguous message of deterrence to an increasingly aggressive Russia. This show of force, the largest since the Cold War, is not just routine training. Still, a manifestation of a new strategic reality in which the Far North has become the centre of…