Organizing European security in yet another geopolitical era : consensus escapism or compartmentalized multilateralism?

Abstract

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and in light of subsequent US administrations looking eastward and/or inward rather than westward, the questions of how, where, and with whom to organize European security and defense have reappeared on the agenda. Policymakers have debated and (dis)agreed over who is considered a beneficiary of European security initiatives, how to assure security/defense and against what/whom, and in what way to relate the many organizations that address European security policy. This forum takes stock of recent security and defense developments that have occurred in the name of and in Europe. To do so, this forum distinguishes between four types of actors: architects, bricoleurs, agnostics, and spoilers. When tracing these actors, what emerges are two alternative approaches to the organization of European security and defense policy: consensus escapism and compartmentalized multilateralism. No overall orchestration can be detected (yet). This would require architects (a) willing to bear the costs of coalition building, (b) to sideline spoilers or trying to bring them on board, and (c) to convince agnostics to engage more with European security and defense issues. It also would require bricoleurs willing to help implement these architects' organizational blueprints.