European Security Working Group 9th annual workshop: European security in the age of Trump and Putin

Friday 27 Feb 2026, 09:00 → 16:30 Europe/London

Zoom

Following on from the success of the previous eight editions, the workshop is a great opportunity for scholars of European security to present ongoing or finished work, receive feedback, and build synergies among colleagues.

Programme

9 am – 9.15 am 

Welcome

9.15 am – 10.45 am

Panel 1: Revolutionary Times? Trump and Putin, Transatlantic Relations and European security

Lorenzo Cladi (University of Plymouth)

Trump 2.0. and transatlantic unity over Western support for Ukraine

Evgenii Gamerman

European Security in the 2020s. USA, China, Russia: 3 Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Khairullah Turan

The Ukraine War and Its Escalatory Risks for European Security: Strategic Consequences in the Age of Trump and Putin

Andrew Cottey (University of Cork)

Europe and the Second Trump Revolution: Making the Best of a Bad World

10.45 – 11.00 am

Coffee break

11 am – 12.30 pm

Panel 2: Nations and Regions in European Security: Policies, Identities, Dilemmas

Mohammed Afnan (Amia Millia Islamia, New Delhi)

Rising Defence Expenditure and Human Security Trade-Offs in the EU: The German Case

Victoria Bruné (University of Aberdeen)

Liberal small states in a crossfire: changes in contemporary Nordic foreign and security policy facing the Russian threat

Lauren Rogers (University of Edinburgh)

Never (Again) Alone: Discourses of Loneliness in the War in Ukraine

Priyanshu Agarwal (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

From Synergy to Strategy? A Comparative Analysis of the 2007 Black Sea Synergy and the 2025 EU Strategic Approach

12.30 pm – 1.30 pm

Lunch Break

 Panel 3: The UK, the European Union and European Security: Inclusion, Exclusion, Partnership?

1.30 pm – 3 pm

Lucia Frigo (Royal Holloway, University of London)
British National Security Perceptions and Policies in a Volatile Era: From Global Britain to an Ultra-European UK.

Simon Sweeney (University of York), Neil Winn (University of Leeds)
The Slow Awakening: Analysing the Commission Push for Defence Capability

Brice Didier (Science Po)

‘Jamais deux sans trois’: explaining the United Kingdom’s enduring role in the EU foreign policy ‘Big Three’

Giovanni Parente (University College Dublin)

Commanding Without Sailing: European Union-United Kingdom Maritime Security Cooperation Before and After Brexit.

3 - 3.15 pm

 Coffee break 

Panel 3: Weaponisation and Escalation in European Security: Migration, Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons

3.15 - 4.30 pm

Aditi Upadhyaya (University of Toronto)

Understanding Weaponised Migration in the European Security Landscape

Brendan Flynn (University of Galway)

Seeking (some) hope in a time of raging war: what scope for securing Ukraine’s key nuclear energy sites as part of an emergent peace?

Ayesha Zafar (European University Institute)

Preventing a Nuclear Escalation in the Ukraine Conflict

All times are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Registration will close two hours before the event begins