Modernising military capabilities; familiar security challenges

摘要

A surge in high-profile terrorist attacks at the end of 2015 added to the increasing crises, conflicts and sense of uncertainty preoccupying the planning staffs of defence ministries worldwide. Major attacks by Islamist terrorists took place in France and Mali, and in the air above the Sinai Peninsula, adding to earlier incidents in Kenya, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan and many other locations. Grinding conflict and relentless instability continued in Syria, Libya, Yemen and the Sahel, not just acting as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups, but also feeding into a narrative used in their sophisticated information operations. These groups were - together with other non-state groups - both driving these conflicts and deriving energy from them. At the same time, this increasingly diverse range of actors was making conflict resolution even harder.