Daniel Fiott

Journal Articles

  • The EU’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence: What Type of Ambition is the Needle Pointing to?

    The EU’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence: What Type of Ambition is the Needle Pointing to?

    Abstract For the past twenty years, the EU has deployed numerous missions and operations to different parts of the world and it has agreed on a suite of new initiatives to boost capability development, synchronise defence investment plans and enhance operational capacity. However, there is still a fundamental question facing the EU and its Member Read more

  • European Defence, Investment and the Covid-19 Pandemic

    European Defence, Investment and the Covid-19 Pandemic

    Introduction “Please answer the question!” proclaimed newly elected Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Klarissa de Jong. Sitting in an almost empty parliamentary committee room, one of the assembled officials from the Euro- pean Commission retorted: “any decision to invest in capability development through the European Defence Fund is taken by national capitals. We cannot be held responsible Read more

  • Virtual Congo: Or the Limits of Technological Superiority

    Virtual Congo: Or the Limits of Technological Superiority

    Introduction “Damn it!” Hidden behind an armoured vehicle, and looking down at the private’s blood-soaked body, Corporal Kohler began to breathe heavily as bullets whistled past his head. It was the sixth man he had lost this week. As he looked at the court house located in the Poto Poto neighbourhood, he could hear the hum of a Read more

  • Going viral? EU defence and the response to COVID-19

    Going viral? EU defence and the response to COVID-19

    By now, we are familiar with the serious risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Militaries across Europe have been praised for their role in delivering medical supplies, transporting patients, testing citizens and building makeshift hospitals. Notwithstanding the current second and possible future waves of the virus, however, attention is turning away from response towards the Read more

  • Sovereignty over Supply? The EU’s Ability to Manage Critical Dependences while Engaging with the World

    Sovereignty over Supply? The EU’s Ability to Manage Critical Dependences while Engaging with the World

    Abstract Fears about the EU’s trade, resource and technology dependences have only grown since the outbreak of the pandemic, even though US-China trade disputes and the rolling out of 5G have played a significant role, too. Some analysts have pointed to the beginning of a ‘decoupling’ of certain supply chains away from China, and, while evidence Read more

  • The European Space Sector as an Enabler of EU Strategic Autonomy

    The European Space Sector as an Enabler of EU Strategic Autonomy

    Today, the European Union can boast a degree of strategic autonomy in space. Projects such as Galileo have not only enhanced the EU’s economy, but they may confer on the Union the ability to amplify its Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy. While the EU continues to promote the safe, Read more