Welcome to Lexxion’s Defence & Security Law Insider, Europe’s first major online platform for discussion on the law and policy governing European defence and security cooperation.
This blog provides a voice for expert, impartial analysis of the latest developments in diverse areas of regulation covering everything from public procurement and export control to investment and beyond. In the very democratic traditions that bind us in Europe, it encourages a range of perspectives, both European and non-European, from different academic and practical perspectives, whether from law/regulation, economics, political science, government or industry.
As Europe’s recent history has been shaped by two World Wars and a Cold War, it will need to be reshaped in a new age. Old global powers are no longer stalwart guarantors of European security (if they ever were) but remain critical to it. Emerging global powers are forging new alliances which could also compromise international security (but also have potential to aid it). The nature of war and conflict is changing. The threat of conventional land-based warfare has returned. Terrorism by non-state actors remains a risk. Security is also compromised from space. There are also other emerging existential threats in the form of cyber attacks, artificial intelligence, and environmental factors. Further, spillover effects of technological developments means that it no longer makes sense to distinguish “military” and “civil” goods and services but to talk in terms of “dual use” applications, which are changing the dynamics of markets.
As European Ministries of Defence begin to arm themselves, European civil society also needs to arm itself with new ideas about what European defence and security cooperation means or should mean, and what are its challenges and opportunities. What institutions do or should govern cooperation at the bilateral, minilateral and multilateral levels? What form does or should governance of cooperation take through laws and policies across a multitude of areas?
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