After the war: how to keep Europe safe

While Western forces are not directly engaged, the West is waging a defensive proxy war against Russian aggression in Ukraine. If and when the fighting stops, there will be no return to the world before.

Friends of Europe’s latest study is based partly on interviews with more than 40 current and former senior officials in governments, the European Union and NATO, the military, the European Parliament, diplomacy, think tanks and civil society in Europe and the United States – including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg; Chair of NATO’s Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer; and the Managing Director of the European Defence Agency, Jiří Šedivý.

European leaders must prepare their citizens for a decade of defence by spelling out the price of their sovereignty, security and freedom. In the study, Senior Fellow Paul Taylor examines how much forward defence NATO needs for credible deterrence and assurance on its eastern flank, and considers how to bolster Europe’s resilience through a whole-of-society defence effort. “This is no longer peacetime,” Taylor writes. The report outlines recommendations for the EU, NATO and the transatlantic community on what is required for the future defence of Europe in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

This study is the 12th in the European Defence Cooperation series, following 11 similar studies on France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, transatlantic defence cooperation, the Arctic, the Sahel, the Black Sea, space and the Western Balkans.

Related content:

• Peace, Security and Defence Summit – beyond the aftermath: envisioning the new security normal
• Do not normalise the war