European Security and Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World Order. Crises, Adaptation, and Strategy

This Section seeks to examine internal and external challenges to CSDP/CFSP and the EU as a security actor. In response to non-traditional types of security threats, crises and challenges – such as Brexit, US strategy of retreat, Russia’s assertive foreign policy, China as rising power, hybrid, cyber and climate risks, lack of a joint strategic culture in Europe or systemic instability, the EU underwent several processes of change and transformation. The adoption of new institutional structures for peace, security and defence cooperation (PESCO, EDF, CARD, MPCC, EI2) aimed at complementing existing multinational cooperation in the framework of NATO or the UN. The launch of a novel strategic thinking in response to changes in the US foreign policy, Brexit or the weakened multilateral order could prefigure a re-calibration of power dynamics in Europe, while it has also unleashed new types of challenges (e.g. US fears of strategic decoupling due to PESCO and EDF). Notwithstanding, at operational level the EU faced challenges in exerting agency in global affairs and acting as a collective actor, predominantly due to the lack of consensus among EU28 on EU foreign policy and discontinuities between the domestic and intergovernmental/supranational levels. This Section is guided by two axes of research: (1) European security policy, integration and cooperation – drivers, consequences and challenges and (2) EU foreign policy: strategy, EU as a security actor, transatlantic relations and NATO. Topics of Panels and Paper abstracts might include, but are not limited to: A. Costs, benefits, incentives and obstacles of security and defence cooperation in the framework of multinational collaborative mechanisms or alliances (e.g. PESCO, FNC, PfP, UK-France, EU-NATO). Research questions could examine the role of political institutions (European and domestic) or policy entrepreneurs (e.g. France and Germany), but also the impact of crises or atypical sequences (e.g. Brexit, Trump administration, the rise of illiberal powers) on the evolution of CSDP/CFSP and collaborative security. B. European security integration. Causes and consequences of change, adaptation and transformation of security policy, defence, foreign policy and strategic culture. Papers in this section could analyse processes of institutional change and transformation and new models of institutional design enhancing the connection of societies in the members states with supranational/intergovernmental policy-making. Possible research questions could be: (i) What are the determinants of change in security/defence institutions? or (ii) What is the impact of defence cooperation mechanisms on domestic strategic culture or security policy? How has European security integration developed since the end of the Cold War? C. EU as a security actor and the emerging geopolitical situation. Strategy and new visions of peace Papers and Panels can investigate the evolution of transatlantic relations and European security and foreign policy (e.g. Petersberg tasks, missions, mediation, international development cooperation). What are the main challenges for the EU to become a security actor in global affairs, promoting a positive agenda for international peace? How can the EU become a pole of power without acerbating the hazards of great power competition? What could be main sources and attributes of ‘positive’ power and how would an EU strategy promoting multipolar stability and empowering societies in fragile states look like? D. NATO, US foreign policy and transatlantic cooperation. Panels and papers can examine the evolution and adaptation of NATO, future challenges and strategies in US foreign policy, the impact of the CSDP advancements (e.g. PESCO) on transatlantic relations as well as NATO, US or EU visions towards Russia and China. E. New and emerging security technologies and their impact on the democratic order Digitalization and new technologies in the cyber space can pose new type of threats to democracy and security, at domestic, transnational and international level. Resilience to new societal vulnerabilities will be sine qua non for the future European and international security order. Panels could seek to unwrap some of the following questions: What is the impact of asymmetric and non-conventional threats and how can they be prevented? What is the EU role in establishing an international regime which ensures that advancements in AI and new security technologies are ethical, democratic, guarantee social justice and do not spawn greater challenges and threats than those which they would be supposed to eliminate? This Section aims at generating an academic discussion between various theoretical and methodological approaches to study security cooperation and transformation at different levels of governance, as well as the power dynamics, institutional constraints and normative factors that can influence them. Panels can address cross-cutting topics from the items suggested above. All paradigms, methodological approaches and schools of thought will be considered in equal measure. This Section aims at publishing selected papers in an edited book or a Special Issue in a high-impact factor journal.