Center Journals

The book revolves around a central thesis: artificial intelligence will not replace the human mind in strategic leadership but will instead be used to process data on an unprecedented scale and speed to enhance military and intelligence understanding. From this perspective, the book explores how armies employ smart technologies to improve planning, cyber operations, and target identification with greater speed and efficiency. More importantly, it argues that investing in AI within the military field requires a radical organizational transformation in modern armies. It notes that armed forces have begun integrating civilian technologists into command and operations centers to work alongside military officers, leading to an institutional partnership between the military establishment and the technology sector, a new “military-tech complex” whose influence in the 21st century rivals that of the military-industrial complex of the 20th century.

This study examines the process of military sector reform in Sudan under a hybrid military regime, with a particular focus on efforts to establish a unified national army that incorporates the Rapid Support Forces. This issue has remained the primary obstacle to Sudan's political transition and was a central trigger of the war that erupted in April 2023. The study highlights the shortcomings of linear reform approaches and instead advocates for a nonlinear model centered on societal dynamics, arguing that such an approach would more effectively advance the reform process. It also explores key challenges to military reform, including the intersection of economic factors, the influence of regional security dynamics, the long-term consequences of the ongoing conflict, and the question of ownership over the reform process. The study concludes that externally imposed reform—without first achieving peace across all regions of Sudan—is ultimately futile.

The report provides an overview of the state of defense transparency and access to information regarding the defense and security sectors worldwide, based on the Government Defence Integrity (GDI) database, which focuses on institutional integrity and corruption risks. Given the steady rise in global military spending—reaching a record high of USD 2.443 trillion in 2023—the report specifically emphasizes financial transparency in the defense sector as a key pillar for ensuring public accountability.

Given the demands of military discipline, which often require the unquestioned execution of superior orders, the need to distinguish between lawful and unlawful orders becomes critical—particularly in accordance with human rights principles and the rule of law. This study seeks to articulate safeguards for the governance of superior orders, grounded in international standards, thereby addressing a notable gap in the literature on security sector reform and civil-military relations in the Arab world. Rather than focusing on a specific case study, the research addresses twenty-five constitutions to explore how they regulate accountability for the execution of orders. The study concludes that the governance of superior orders is a crucial entry point for effective security sector reform, as its absence places subordinates in a persistent dilemma: either face legal consequences for refraining from executing an unlawful order or risk violating the law and infringing upon the rights of others by complying with it.