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STRAX team in EISA PEC in Lille

(30 September 2024)

In August we attended the 17th EISA Pan-European Conference on International Relations in beautiful Lille, France. The conference provided a great opportunity for us to discuss our research in our panel called Strategic cultures in flux? Examining the drivers and venues of change in European strategic culture(s).

We delved into this topic via four different themes:

Niklas Helwig discussed the Europe’s changing strategic cultures and the role of EU foreign policy, how the EU continuously sought to adapt to the changing environment and formulated new policies and strategies after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The focus of his research is on the EU High Representative and her staff in the European External Action Service and their work together with counterparts in member states.

Antti Seppo presented his conference paper on the topic of Making of the German National Security Strategy – Security and Defence Policy Professionals as Agents of Change in Strategic Cultures. In his paper he considered firstly, whether the professional actors involved in the drafting process of the strategy fall under the notion of an epistemic community or something else, and secondly, what the interaction between these experts was like during the drafting of the strategy.

Anton Staffans presented his ideas on the untapped potential of practices in strategic culture research. Many strategic culture scholars, to their credit, see culture as dynamic rather than monolithic, many of them are still fixed on trying to explain state behaviour through strategic culture. Others have argued that culture should be analysed as a phenomenon in its own right with the starting point that patterns of behaviour of states, i.e. practices, are also cultural. He argued that while progress has been made, some key theoretical issues have not been addressed and the full potential of utilizing the insights of practice theory in strategic culture studies remains dormant.

Katariina Mustasilta presented her conference paper on the topic of The European Peace Facility – making of European strategic culture? She discussed how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents a critical juncture for Europe and has catalysed major foreign and security policy shifts both at the national and at the EU level. The use of the European Peace Facility (EPF) to finance considerable military support, including lethal aid, to Ukraine under an EU umbrella has been described as a gamechanger for the EU. Situating her paper within the wider discussion on European strategic cultures and change thereof, she traces the decision-making concerning and the use of the EPF, focusing on the EU’s institutional and member states’ strategic narratives and choices concerning the instrument.

A special thanks goes to Chiara Ruffa from Science Po for providing insightful comments to our papers and to Tuomas Forsberg from Tampere University for chairing the panel.

We had a great time in Lille, and we are looking forward to future opportunities where we can share our work! Stay tuned!