Vol. 18 No. 1 (2023)

This symposium considers this issue, the situation of European defense and how it could evolve in in the wake of the Ukraine war and other rising international tensions. In “Strategic competition: Toward a genuine step-change for Europe’s defense industry?”, Daniel Fiott considers the institutional evolution of the EU as it adapts to today’s challenges but also the more profound transformation of relations between states and the European Commission in the field of defense. This evolution has consequences for the defense market and the way states organise it. Two articles explore this. Josselin Droff and Julien Malizard in “50 shades of procurement: The European defense trilemma in defense procurement strategies” consider procurement policy and Laurens Vandercruysse et al. focus on industrial policy in “Governing defense procurement: strengthening the E.U.’s defense technological and industrial base”. Most of the literature deals with Western European countries and little is known about the evolution of the post-communist countries’ Eastern European defense industries and in light of the Ukraine conflict this does seem an oversight. As Bohuslav Pernica et al. in “Defense industrial bases (DIB) in six small NATO post-communist countries”, provide an analysis of developments in Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia and find considerable changes have taken place, with Czechia and Hungary the main players, focusing upon expansion of the defense industry, but with governance concerns. While the Ukraine war has a major influence on decision-making in the short term, it is also necessary to understand the long-term evolutions that could influence European defense. Keith Hartley in “The future of the European defense firm” considers the changing nature of the firms and Renaud Bellais in “The future of cooperative programs in Europe, paradox of a hybrid market” questions the functioning of European armament markets.