Description
The Russian war in Ukraine has turned many certainties about European defence policy upside down. This paper concentrates on one aspect - the regulation of European defence industries and technologies. Since the end of the Cold War national and EU level policies have tended towards a normalisation of defence firms, a less restrictive approach to arms exports and a neglect of the arms control agendas that had been an important part of detente in the latter years of the Cold War. While immediate attention has rightly been paid to supplying military equipment and training to Ukraine, the war has shown significant underlying weaknesses in existing armaments policies and a wide range of national responses, which only underscore the many different ways strategic autonomy is understood in Europe. This paper argues that current discussion centres on the two extremes of autarky and dependency and that while some correction to neoliberal policies is needed, a richer understanding of the concept of autonomy and the necessary trade-offs is needed.
