When the author of these lines sat down, over ten years ago, with Hartmut Bühl, the Editor-in-Chief of this magazine, to flesh out the idea of capitalising on our experience in publishing an occasional series of monographs on European security to launch a regular magazine on European Security and Defence, we were convinced that the…
How could it have come to this? For the first time an anti-system and anti-European government has been formed in a founding Member State of the European Union (EU). Like previous elections in Europe, the Italian election has demonstrated once again that voter rejection of Europe is largely driven by a sometimes vicious campaign rhetoric…
Both the deterrence principle that prevented major conventional wars and nuclear annihilation and the detente policy that helped bring about the end of the Cold War have ceased to decisively influence the course of history. Yet no viable alternatives are in sight. Fear and reason underpinned the deterrence system based on mutual assured destruction in…
The young President’s landslide victory in the presidential elections and the absolute majority he won during the ensuing parliamentary elections bring home the need for Emmanuel Macron to make the most of this grace period in order to launch a comprehensive reform programme. With his newly-founded party “La République en marche” he has swept aside…
The digital revolution is marked by its speed and diversity. It took only two decades for the internet to reach half of the world’s population. Yet only a few people – with very different objectives – fully master it. Control of data is thus beginning to become a determining factor in our political, social and…
Is Europe really in crisis or could it be simply that the EU is currently not equal to the particular challenges it faces? The absence of a common approach to the refugee problem due to national egotism and a lack of common values as well as differing conceptions of the importance of Schengen for combating…
People have taken on board the idea of using alternative sources of energy. They want to participate in, and benefit from, the production and appropriate use of “clean” energy. They want a better environment. But the move to alternative energy is a complex issue and the various stakeholders have different views as to how such…
The chances of the free trade agreement between the US and Europe becoming a reality are dwindling. Was the urgent appeal launched in favour of the deal by outgoing President Obama during Germany’s Hannover Messe last April already the swan song for an agreement that Europe needs more urgently than the United States? Economists from…
The result of the Paris World Climate Summit was a triumph for reason and an achievement for French diplomacy. This was the overwhelming view amongst the representatives of the 195 participating states as they listened to a moving speech by 69 year-old French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announcing a successful conclusion to this diplomatic marathon.…
Looking at this first special edition of our magazine, in paper or electronic form, you may be wondering what has prompted us to devote it to the Berlin Security Conference (BSC). As one of the co-founders of this Congress back in 2002, in Bonn, and currently as an advisory member of its Organisational Committee, I…