emerging security challenges

If you asked a man in the street in Europe whether he thought Ukraine should pay the market price for gas, he would probably have few strong feelings on the issue. However, if you told him that this question could decide whether his home would be warm or freezing in winter, he would probably show more interest. In this edition, we look at what effect Russia's manoeuvres in Ukraine could have further down the pipeline.

It's not yet clear how the events in Ukraine will impact on Europe's energy security. Or if it will change European priorities vis-à-vis renewable energy. So we asked our NATO Review cartoonist, Rytis Daukantas, to give us a sideways view of what he thought the potential changes could look like.

The Ukraine-crisis has once again underlined Europe’s vulnerability due to its overdependence on Russian energy supplies. Europe is vulnerable in the short-term, but Russia has more to lose in the medium- and long-term. Could the crisis be an opportunity to further weaken Russia’s stranglehold over Europe’s energy sector?

A politico-military organization like NATO is not necessarily in its comfort zone when dealing with commercial energy deals, major pipeline projects and fossil fuel diversification. But as energy becomes an increasingly potent weapon in conflicts which can have a major impact on most of NATO's members, it's time for the Alliance to learn what it can do.

For some, March 12, 1999 was literally living the dream. Marcela Zelníčková of NATO Review was one of those people. Here she outlines what she felt and did as her country took the step from NATO membership hopeful to full member.

What's the next activity we can expect from Smart Defence? What difference will real projects make? Here we outline eight projects which are coming online soon and highlight the potential benefits.

NATO has a well established partnership programme with several North African countries bordering the Sahel region of Africa. But as the region witnesses more high profile instability, could NATO play more of a role asks Paul Pryce?

2012 was a year that saw key developments in elections, conflicts, nuclear programmes and more. In this photostory, we illustrate some of the major events.

Barak Barfi has travelled through the Arab Spring region. Here he tells how he saw different interpretations of what freedom means, frustrations simply changing targets, and new problems replacing old ones. The regimes may have gone. But, he argues, the societies, structures and problems they created over decades haven't.

Feeding the world is a Herculean task. And harnessing adequate water supplies is getting harder - especially as demand increases. This photostory shows some of the major obstacles to all the world's food reaching all the world's people.

Energy use is not a side issue for security. Power outages in many NATO states have shown how vulnerable we all are without sufficient energy. As the demand for more energy resources increases, how can we make sure this does not lead to conflict?

NATO Review looks at why getting the armed forces closer to the realities of energy and environmental problems is actually a good move. And why most people would benefit.

The tag ‘homegrown terrorism’ may be new. But the activity certainly isn’t. This photostory highlights some previous examples – stretching back almost a century.

Seek and you shall find is an old phrase. But it is an apt one, argues Benjamin Friedman, when applied to the search for something which has almost certainly always been there.

Homegrown terrorism is not new, argues Marc Sageman. It is as old as political struggle. But it does have new elements in it – not least being the Internet.

The threat from homegrown terrorists is clearly a security issue. But it is one largely dealt with by national intelligence and security forces – not the military. So what exactly can NATO do to counter it? And how does this fit into NATO's wider fight against terrorism? We ask NATO’s counter terrorism expert.

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Admiral James Stavridis, outlines how NATO’s new Strategic Concept’s ideas have been put into action.

NATO Review asked the Governor of State of Ilinois, Pat Quinn, about Chicago's preparations for the NATO's 2012 Summit, how the Alliance is perceived in the city and why Chicago represents the best backdrop for NATO's first Summit in North America this century.

For a truly modern approach to bringing NATO up to speed on 21st century security threats, the Alliance needs smart spending, more commitment and clearer planning, argues Dr Jacquelyn Davis.

9/11 heralded an age of new threats. Not least of these is the cyber threat. Here, Olaf Theiler outlines how NATO has had to adapt quickly to a fast changing, pervasive and often cheap security threat.

In retrospect, instead of heralding NATO's decline, "09/11" became the catalyst for the most fundamental changes in NATO's history, argues Michael Ruhle. Yet for the NATO Allies, the questions they had to ponder from the outset were as obvious as they were profound.

Is the internet really a force for good? Not always, not necessarily and not without significant safeguards, argues Mikko Hypponen

Daniel Korski has worked in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan which have had to adapt to major changes quickly. Here, he argues that soon the whole world may have to do the same.

Joseph Nye outlines how the cyberworld has created changes in power: e-Power. And it is a world where everyone is seemingly equal - but some are more equal than others. Here he outlines how this could develop in 2012.

As the world's challenges and threats have evolved, so has NATO. A new NATO division in the organisation is rarely newsworthy. But this time, it shows real intent to make sure that NATO matches the changing world around it.

The term ‘xenophobia’ is witnessing a revival. It is often trotted out in the growing debates about globalization, immigration and popularist politics. But as well as a fear of all that is foreign, it is also a ‘fear of the unknown’.

Patrick Stephenson reviews Rebecca Moore’s “NATO’s new mission” and analyses whether it gives a full picture of where the Alliance is heading.

At the end of November, the United Nations’ World Health Organization assessed the risk of a pandemic to be level three out of six.

Diego A. Ruiz Palmer looks at the growing risks posed at sea, how NATO has reacted and what it needs to do to ensure it keeps pace with a changing maritime risk environment.

Predictions that the next major war will be over water are common. But is this realistic? Bezen Balamir Coskun looks at the type and level of conflicts water shortages are likely to cause.

Suicide bombings are bad enough. But suicide nuclear bombs would spell catastrophe. Michael Rühle looks at how jihadists’ attempts to join the nuclear club have been thwarted – and what’s needed to stave off this threat.

With a computer in virtually every home and office, the chances for mass communication are better than ever before. But how well protected are we if that communication is malicious or hostile? Johnny Ryan makes the case that iWar attacks could be the most innovative form of warfare since the invention of gunpowder.

United States Representative Tom Lantos, the Head of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, tells NATO Review how he sees NATO’s changing role and what NATO and its members can do in the increasingly important field of energy security.

A brief photo slideshow provides images and figures showing the potential of emerging risks

Safeguards to prevent proliferation of dangerous weapons, materials and know-how have been breached. Rita Grossman-Vermaas looks at how governments and international organizations can plug the gaps.

Allen G. Sens argues that NATO's transformation must be broader than is currently conceived if the Alliance is to meet the security challenges of tomorrow.

Sophia Clément-Noguier explores the important questions that will face Allied decision-makers at the Riga Summit.

Pierre Lellouche offers his thoughts ahead of the Riga Summit.

Jamie Shea explains why energy security is an issue for the Alliance.

Admiral Giampaolo di Paola gives an Italian view of transformation.

Dagmar de Mora-Figueroa examines how NATO has responded to the terrorist threat since the 11 September terrorist attacks against the United States.

Andrés Ortega (left) is a columnist for El Pais and author of various books on European integration and NATO. Tomas Valasek (right) is a Slovak security analyst and director of the Center for Defense Information's Brussels office. They discuss the challenges of NATO today.

Christopher Bennett analyses how the Alliance has refined its contribution to the war on terrorism and compares the current debate on NATO reform with that of a decade earlier.

General William F. "Buck" Kernan is commander-in-chief of the United States Joint Forces Command and was, until 1 October, the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (SACLANT), both based in Norfolk, Virginia.

Scientists and academics in Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus will soon be able to make substantially more effective use of the internet, as a result of the largest and most ambitious project to have been sponsored by the NATO Science Programme to date.

Timothy Shimeall, Phil Williams and Casey Dunlevy argue that defence planning has to incorporate the virtual world to limit physical damage in the real.

Robert Hall and Carl Fox argue that new, comprehensive and transnational strategies are required to deal with the security challenges of the 21st century.

Chris Donnelly highlights new threats to security and urges the adoption of robust strategies to combat them. Chris Donnelly is NATO’s special adviser for central and eastern European affairs. The views expressed are purely personal and do not represent the views of NATO or of any of its member nations.