'Europe’s Security and Defence: Where We Stand'

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 transformed the threat perception for many European democracies. Russia has emerged as Europe’s most powerful and menacing power, willing to retool its economy for war and accept hundreds of thousands of casualties in the pursuit of territorial conquest. In response, democratic Europe is re-arming and providing unprecedented assistance to the defence of Ukraine. Brigid Laffan, Carsten Søndergaard, Marcin Terlikowski, and Ben Tonra will join this edition of IIEA Insights to assess Europe’s preparedness in an utterly changed security environment and what the election of Donald Trump as US president means for the US commitment to European security.

Brigid Laffan is Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute in Florence and was Director at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies until her retirement in August 2021.

Carsten Søndergaard served as a Danish diplomat until August 2022. His final position was as Denmark’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2018-2022).

Marcin Terlikowski is Deputy Head of Research at the Polish Institute of International affairs.

Ben Tonra is Full Professor of International Relations at the UCD School of Politics and International Relations and Project Leader for the IIEA’s policy group on European Security and Defence.