Tag: European Union

• Naval Gazing: The Strategic Compass and the EU’s Maritime Presence

  Jul 26

  Abstract The EU and its member states will find it increasingly difficult to sustain the rules-based order and the Union’s own economic prosperity without a sizeable and consist- ent investment… more ›

• Securing the Heavens: How can Space Support the EU’s Strategic Compass?

  Apr 15

  Abstract Despite political and industrial divergences between EU member states, space will play an indispensable role in the Strategic Compass. Space is a strategic enabler that can enrich the EU’s… more ›

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

  Mar 9

  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… more ›

• European Defence, Investment and the Covid-19 Pandemic

  Jan 22

  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-… more ›

• Virtual Congo: Or the Limits of Technological Superiority

  Dec 20

  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… more ›

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

  Dec 17

  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… more ›

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

  Dec 17

  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… more ›

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

  Dec 16

  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… more ›

• Yearbook of European Security 2020

  Dec 10

  Abstract The 2020 Yearbook of European Security provides an overview of events in 2019 that were significant for European security and it charts major developments in the EU’s external action… more ›

• The EU’s Strategic Compass and Its Four Baskets: Capability Development

  Nov 18

  The Strategic Compass promises to give the EU greater clarity over the strategic direction of CSDP and, potentially, EU security and defense more broadly. Which direction is the EU headed?… more ›

• Uncharted Territory? Towards a Common Threat Analysis and a Strategic Compass for EU security and defence

  Jul 9

  Words have meaning. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took up her mandate calling for a ‘geopolitical Commission’ and Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign… more ›

• The EU and Crisis Management in the age of Technological Disruption

  Jun 22

  International organisations are playing catch-up to the rapid development of emerging technologies and greater digitalisation, especially as these new systems and processes are being produced at a seemingly breakneck speed… more ›

• Financing Rhetoric? The European Defence Fund and Dual-use Technologies

  Jun 10

  The European Defence Fund reveals an intriguing aspect of dual-use theory and practice, namely, that the European Commission has committed to maintaining a specific ‘defence’ focus for the Fund in… more ›

• EU-Japan Cooperation on Defence Capabilities: Possibilities?

  May 16

  European countries and Japan both possess advanced defence technologies and they can bring to bear a range of civilian or dual-use technologies for defence procurement and defence research. At the… more ›

• Europas Verteidigung sollte nicht Opfer des Lockdowns sein

  Apr 26

  Covid-19 wird die Welt nicht sicherer machen, im Gegenteil. Die EU sollte den Verteidigungssektor bei ihren finanziellen Planungen deshalb besonders berücksichtigen. Ein Gastbeitrag. Frankfurter Allgemeine, 2020 Read more more ›

• The EU must not let the four horsemen of the Apocalypse weaken Europe’s security

  Apr 17

  The looming economic recovery may take its toll on Europe’s armed forces and civilian experts – they will be expected to do more with less money. This has to be… more ›

• CSDP in 2020: The EU’s Legacy and Ambition in Security and Defence

  Mar 31

  The past 20 years of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) have taught us more about the EU as an international actor. While the Union has not entirely lived up… more ›

• Will European Defence Survive Coronavirus?

  Mar 27

  The tragedy that is the Coronavirus has already claimed too many lives, but it has also allowed Europe’s public services to shine. Citizens across Europe are rightly applauding the tireless work of… more ›

• Small can be beautiful… in defence

  Mar 20

  How are small states supposed to make sense of all the changes that have taken place in EU security and defence since 2016? It can often feel like EU defence… more ›

• Digitalising Defence: Protecting Europe in the Age of Quantum Computing and the Cloud

  Mar 11

  Abstract Digital technologies can vastly improve the operational readiness, effectiveness and technological sovereignty of Europe’s armed forces. For defence to benefit from digitalisation, both the greater interoperability of digital technologies and financial investment is required.… more ›

• A Future Scenario for a More Strategic EU Defence

  Jan 24

  Abstract As the journalist from Euronews asked what it was like to be held hostage by jihadists for four months since June 2024, the three student backpackers could not hold back… more ›

• Strategic Investment: Making Geopolitical Sense of the EU’s Defence-Industrial Policy

  Dec 13

  Abstract This Chaillot Paper focuses on new EU initiatives in the defence domain – in particular the creation of the European Defence Fund – and on the Union’s evolving role and engagement… more ›

• Stress Tests: An Insight into Crisis Scenarios, Simulations and Exercises

  Sep 3

  Abstract Crisis simulations and exercises are an effective way of broadening the minds of decision-makers, forecasting the future, identifying capability gaps, pin-pointing the weaknesses and strengths in the crisis response… more ›

• EU – NATO Relations: Defence Industry, Industrial Cooperation and Military Mobility

  Aug 9

  Abstract Issues pertaining to the defence industrial sector represent a perennial tension in EU- NATO relations. The tension exists both between the two organisations and the con- stituent members of… more ›

• Yearbook of European Security 2019

  Jul 18

  Abstract The 2019 Yearbook of European Security provides an overview of events in 2018 that were significant for European security and charts major developments in the EU’s external action and… more ›

• The Poison Pill: EU Defence on US Terms?

  Jun 14

  It took two letters. One, sent to Brussels on 1 May 2019 by two US undersecretaries, accused the EU of damaging transatlantic cooperation and hindering US access to Europe’s defence… more ›

• The European Union

  May 22

  Many theorists and policymakers may be surprised to learn that an international organization, such as the European Union, has the capacity to form and articulate its own grand strategy. However,… more ›

• Protecting Europe: The EU’s Response to Hybrid Threats

  Apr 30

  Abstract Hybrid threats – unconventional threats that fall under the threshold of military force – have become a ubiquitous feature of today’s security environment. Although the EU is much better… more ›

• The Scrutiny of the European Defence Fund by the European Parliament and National Parliaments

  Apr 1

  Since 2016, the European Union has developed a number of new initiatives on security and defence. In particular, the introduction of Permanent Structured Cooperation and the European Defence Fund have… more ›

• A Scenario Involving the Hijacking of a Foreign Submarine

  Jan 25

  At 04:44 on 17 May 2021, government au- thorities from the Republic of Zirta re- ceived communication from the ‘New Petra Circle’ (NPC) terror group that a diesel-powered submarine (Kilo-class) belonging to the… more ›