Maya Ikene
The EU's ambition to strengthen defence cooperation is exposing new tensions at the heart of EU leadership. Maya Ikene argues that the Future Combat Air System reveals the limits of the Franco-German 'engine' of European integration and why future European defence initiatives may require broader coalitions beyond Paris and Berlin Read more
Roza Roovers
On 28 January 2026, Roza Roovers, Hassan Naderi Far and Gigi Maria Massaro spoke with Lithuanian security expert Margarita Šešelgytė. With global power balance in flux, Šešelgytė suggests that many traditional assumptions in international relations theory no longer explain today’s security environment Read more
Elise Ketelaars
The rapid contraction of EU presence in the Sahel has sparked debate over Europe’s diminishing influence. But what did these missions get right? And what did they get wrong? EU capacity building in Sahel Niger, says Elise Ketelaars, offers important lessons for EU Common Security and Defence Policy design, and for broader security sector reform efforts Read more
Mariam Mumladze
From F-35 jets to Tesla batteries, Washington’s reliance on rare earth elements (REEs) runs deep. China, which refines more than 99% of the world’s heavy REEs and supplies 70% of US imports, has repeatedly played this ace in times of tension. Yet, writes Mariam Mumladze, deep interdependence and limited alternatives complicate the standoff Read more
Osman Sabri Kiratli
NATO recently agreed to a historic 5% defence spending target. But Osman Sabri Kiratli presents new experimental evidence revealing that what Americans truly care about goes far beyond the numbers. In fact, democratic allies may have more leeway than they realise Read more
Daphna Canetti
With missiles in the sky and malware in the wires, hybrid warfare is no longer speculative. Daphna Canetti, Gal Dor, and Tal Mimran argue the Iran-Israel clash marks a strategic turning point — where democracies must defend minds as fiercely as borders Read more
Adérito Vicente
The rise of China as a nuclear peer to the US, amid deepening strategic ties with Russia, poses an unprecedented 'two-peer challenge' to NATO. Adérito Vicente examines how this shifting landscape endangers alliance cohesion. Here, he argues for a fundamental rethinking of Europe’s deterrence and defence posture Read more
Amélie Jaques-Apke
Are we nearing a new incarnation of the French vision of a Gaullist Europe? Focusing on strategic autonomy, nuclear deterrence, coalitions of the willing, threat perception, and defence capability, Amélie Jaques-Apke examines the strategic dilemmas, and conceptual and operational deficiencies, in European defence policy Read more
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