The European Commission White Paper on the Future of Europe stresses the need for the EU to be able to defend and protect itself in an increasingly tense world: “NATO will continue to provide security for most EU countries but Europe cannot be naïve and has to take care of its own security.”

With war raging between Russia and Ukraine, and escalation seeming more likely than diplomatic talks, what can be done for the future of defence across the continent? The Russian action was preceded by a wave of cyber attacks on Ukraine involving two banks, its defence, foreign, and cultural ministries, and the army, and threats from other states is no longer applicable in only the military realm.

From cyber attacks to state sponsored propaganda. From oil and gas politics to swift sanctions. What will the future of Europe’s defence and security landscape look like now and into the future; as state-on-state combat returns for the first time in the 21^st century?

This 90-minute webinar brings together leading policy experts, practitioners and academics to discuss this timely issue. How can the EU and NATO create a security strategy effective at addressing these challenges? How can we create a world safe for all? Join us on 24 March to discuss and have the chance to ask your questions.

Meet the speakers and chair

Mykola Gnatovskyy holds LL.M. (1999) and Ph.D. (2002) in International Law. He is the author of many publications on European and international human rights law, as well as international humanitarian law and international criminal law. He has taught at the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv since 2003, was a visiting professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv) between 2017 and 2020 and has delivered numerous occasional lectures at various universities in Europe and Asia. Since 2009 Dr Gnatovskyy has been a member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). He served as Vice-President of the CPT for two years (2013-2015) and as President of the CPT for six years (2015-2021). As a member of the CPT, he has participated in numerous visits to places of deprivation of liberty in various member states of the Council of Europe. Dr Gnatovskyy is also First Vice-President of the Ukrainian Association of International Law and has been a member of editorial boards of international law journals and/or yearbooks published in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Romania, Russia, and the UK.

Tania Lațici is a Policy Officer at the European External Action Service, working on security and defence policy in the managing directorate of Common Security and Defence Policy and Crisis Response. In parallel, she contributes on issues of European and transatlantic defence policy as an Associate Fellow in the Europe in the World Programme at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations, a Non-Resident Fellow in the Transatlantic Leadership Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), a Member of Women in International Security Brussels, an Associate Expert at the New Strategy Center, and an Advisory Board member at A Path for Europe.

Róbert Ondrejcsák has worked in international relations for almost 25 years, moving between Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence and the world of academia and think tanks. He’s been a lecturer at Comenius University and Matej Bel University in Slovakia on international security studies, geopolitics and European and Transatlantic security architecture. In 2016, he founded STRATPOL in Bratislava, a think tank focusing on international relations and security, particularly on strategic communication and propaganda, as well as traditional issues related to European security, NATO and Eastern Europe. He has served (twice) as Slovakia’s State Secretary for the Ministry of Defence (2010-12 and 2016-20). Dr Ondrejcsák was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Slovak Republic to the United Kingdom, in December 2020.

Simona specializes in defence innovation and emerging and disruptive technologies with a focus on North America and Europe, NATO, and the EU. Prior to joining IISS, Simona was senior associate analyst for transatlantic security and EU-NATO cooperation with the EUISS in Paris, security and defence advisor to the Vice-President of the European Parliament and defence analyst with the Ministry of Defence. Simona holds a PhD in International Security (2011) and is a US Department of State Fellow as well as a Denton Fellow. Simona’s recent publications include Simona R. Soare and Fabrice Pothier, Leading edge: Key drivers of defence innovation and the future of operational advantage (IISS, London, November 2021) and Simona R. Soare et al., Emerging technologies and International Security: Machines, the state and war  (Routledge, London, December 2020). 

Tomila Lankina is a Professor of International Relations at the Department of International Relations, LSE. Her current research focuses on comparative democracy and authoritarianism, mass protests and historical patterns of human capital and democratic reproduction in Russia and other states. Her latest book The Estate Origins of Democracy in Russia: From Imperial Bourgeoisie to Post-Communist Middle Class (Cambridge University Press 2022) is on the long-term patterns of reproduction of social structure in Russia from the Tzarist times to the present and on why these legacies matter for democracy, development and social inequalities.

More about this event

Event hashtag: #2020Visions

LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. Through sustained engagement with policymakers and opinion-formers, IDEAS provides a forum that informs policy debate and connects academic research with the practice of diplomacy and strategy.

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