No Farewell to Arms: Europe’s defence challenge

The international world order is being shaken up, and Europe’s place at the new table is far from certain. Russia’s war against Ukraine continues unabated. What security strategy should Europe pursue?

Last year, the NATO allies agreed in The Hague to spend 3.5 percent of their GDP on direct defence expenditure. What does that mean in practice? Will Europe succeed in overcoming national interests, fragmented production, and slow coordination? Will Europe be able to defend Ukraine?

Together with Justyna Gotkowska, Deputy Director and Head of the Security and Defence Department at the OSW Centre for Eastern Studies based in Warsaw, we examine Europe’s security from the perspective of those closest to Russia’s war and its long-term consequences and her four-point plan for Ukraine, which offers a potential European counterstrategy in response to Russian ‘peace’ proposals.

Information wars: about this series

With this three-part programme series, which is partially funded by a Public Diplomacy Grant from NATO, we want to provide in-depth analysis of current affairs and facilitate nuanced debate, thus making complex material accessible. Russian-Western relations are shaped by war, in the broadest sense of the word. What are the consequences of the hybrid forms of warfare? Such as cyber- and psychological warfare, and economic sanctions.

In order to understand the current state of affairs, the Information Wars series will focus on the larger historical, societal and cultural context of the relations between Ukraine and NATO member states on the one hand, and Russia on the other hand.