Defence and Statecraft Forum 2022

Russia’s war on Ukraine has raised fundamental questions about European security. Although European countries have shown a high degree of solidarity with Ukraine, and intensified their defence cooperation through the European Union and NATO, how Europe will manage the threat from Russia over the longer-term is a critical question. On the one hand, Europe has supplied arms and technical support to Ukraine, it has collectively imposed historically hard sanctions on the Kremlin and bolstered its own defences in central and eastern Europe. On the other hand, the war has contributed to a precarious economic context where the challenge of energy and resource security tests Europe’s resolve.

The return of war in Europe should, however, be seen in the wider context of strategic competition. Indeed, both NATO and the EU recognise that Europe must rapidly and comprehensively adapt to a world where American power is being called into question by China. Sino-American competition increasingly touches most aspects of geopolitics and geoeconomics: in addition to military power, supply chains, digital technologies, global transport networks and outer space are the hallmarks of this looming era of competition. How Europe adapts to such a world is of vital importance to maintaining European security.

In this first “Defence and Statecraft Forum” by the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, the aim was to delve into the main challenges and themes currently facing European security. With the presence of leading experts and personalities, this online meeting sought to answer the following questions:

1. Is Europe a more credible military power today following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
2. How will an era of strategic competition affect the nature and extend of the transatlantic partnership?
3. Does Europe need to fundamentally rethink how it engages with geopolitics and geoeconomics?