Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

The next meeting of the Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 18 March 2026 from 9.00 - 12.30 and 14.30 - 18.30 and Thursday, 19 March 2026 from 9.00-12.30 in Brussels (room tbc).
Further information about the SEDE meetings can be found here.

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SEDE missions 2025:

• Djibouti - 27-29 October 2025
  
• Greenland - 15-19 September 2025
  
• Norway - 27-30 May 2025
• Moldova and Ukraine - 14-17 April 2025
  
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - 24-27 February 2025
• Israel and Palestine - 5-8 February 2025

SEDE missions 2024:

• United Kingdom - 28-30 October 2024
• Ukraine - 25-26 October 2024

SEDE Committee meetings' calendar 2026
SEDE Committee meetings' calendar 2025
EP calendar 2026
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

The next meeting of the Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 18 March 2026 from 9.00 - 12.30 and 14.30 - 18.30 and Thursday, 19 March 2026 from 9.00-12.30 in Brussels (room tbc).
Further information about the SEDE meetings can be found here.

_______________________

SEDE missions 2025:

• Djibouti - 27-29 October 2025
  
• Greenland - 15-19 September 2025
  
• Norway - 27-30 May 2025
• Moldova and Ukraine - 14-17 April 2025
  
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - 24-27 February 2025
• Israel and Palestine - 5-8 February 2025

SEDE missions 2024:

• United Kingdom - 28-30 October 2024
• Ukraine - 25-26 October 2024

SEDE Committee meetings' calendar 2026
SEDE Committee meetings' calendar 2025
EP calendar 2026
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

La crise énergétique de 2022 a brutalement rappelé une réalité stratégique : l’énergie n’est pas seulement une variable économique, mais un pilier de souveraineté. Flambée des prix du gaz, tensions d’approvisionnement, dépendances structurelles aux importations fossiles : en quelques mois, le modèle énergétique européen s’est révélé vulnérable face aux chocs géopolitiques. Dans ce contexte, l’Institut […]

Donald Trump nutzte die längste Rede zur Lage der Nation für Wahlkampfzwecke. Wirtschaftsdaten wurden teils falsch dargestellt, zentrale Wählergruppen gezielt angesprochen.

In einigen Orten der Vereinigten Staaten verbinden sich mit den Strafzöllen von Donald Trump nach wie vor Hoffnungen auf neuen Wohlstand. So auch in den ehemaligen Stahlstädten, die unter Deindustrialisierung und Arbeitsplatzverlust leiden.

Dauer des Videos : 60'

Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Length of video : 60'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

The Africa Cup of Nations proved to be "a big stumbling block" when Manchester United discussed signing Victor Osimhen, according to former coach Benni McCarthy.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, mécontent du traitement médiatique réservé à son parti après la mort du jeune Quentin Deranque, sélectionne les journalistes autorisés à assister à sa conférence de presse. Est-ce un signe dangereux pour la démocratie ? Roselyne Febvre pose la question à Pablo Pillaud-Vivien, rédacteur en chef de la revue Regards, et Dominique de Montvalon, éditorialiste politique.

SEDE-AFCO Joint Public Hearing on Institutional aspects of the Common European Defence Union - 24 February 2026

The Committee on Security and Defence jointly with the Committee on Constitutional Affairs held a hearing on "Institutional aspects of the Common European Defence Union" on 24 February. The Committees looked into the existing institutional framework supporting the Common European Defence Union. The hearing will help to identify the challenges and opportunities within current institutional arrangements, and it will propose recommendations for closer cooperation among Member States and EU's internal governance mechanisms.

Location : SPAAK 1A002
Programme
Poster
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

SEDE-AFCO Joint Public Hearing on Institutional aspects of the Common European Defence Union - 24 February 2026

The Committee on Security and Defence jointly with the Committee on Constitutional Affairs held a hearing on "Institutional aspects of the Common European Defence Union" on 24 February. The Committees looked into the existing institutional framework supporting the Common European Defence Union. The hearing will help to identify the challenges and opportunities within current institutional arrangements, and it will propose recommendations for closer cooperation among Member States and EU's internal governance mechanisms.

Location : SPAAK 1A002
Programme
Poster
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

The article examines how citizens’ expectations in social contracts lead them to take to the streets for contentious collective action. It draws on original, nationally representative telephone surveys in Tunisia and Lebanon that we commissioned in late 2020 and unpacks popular preferences about the social contract and states’ obligations to deliver social service provision, protection, and political participation. We measure empirically whether participation in protest can be explained predominantly by people’s grievances with their states’ social contract obligations or the position of people in society. Findings reveal intriguing differences between the two countries, but also among social groups within societies. We find that socially privileged people are more likely to take to the streets in pursuit of their demands, lending support to theories that identify society’s middle classes as drivers of protest action. We believe that the article’s findings will have significant implications for studies of contentious state society relations in the MENA region and beyond.

The article examines how citizens’ expectations in social contracts lead them to take to the streets for contentious collective action. It draws on original, nationally representative telephone surveys in Tunisia and Lebanon that we commissioned in late 2020 and unpacks popular preferences about the social contract and states’ obligations to deliver social service provision, protection, and political participation. We measure empirically whether participation in protest can be explained predominantly by people’s grievances with their states’ social contract obligations or the position of people in society. Findings reveal intriguing differences between the two countries, but also among social groups within societies. We find that socially privileged people are more likely to take to the streets in pursuit of their demands, lending support to theories that identify society’s middle classes as drivers of protest action. We believe that the article’s findings will have significant implications for studies of contentious state society relations in the MENA region and beyond.

The article examines how citizens’ expectations in social contracts lead them to take to the streets for contentious collective action. It draws on original, nationally representative telephone surveys in Tunisia and Lebanon that we commissioned in late 2020 and unpacks popular preferences about the social contract and states’ obligations to deliver social service provision, protection, and political participation. We measure empirically whether participation in protest can be explained predominantly by people’s grievances with their states’ social contract obligations or the position of people in society. Findings reveal intriguing differences between the two countries, but also among social groups within societies. We find that socially privileged people are more likely to take to the streets in pursuit of their demands, lending support to theories that identify society’s middle classes as drivers of protest action. We believe that the article’s findings will have significant implications for studies of contentious state society relations in the MENA region and beyond.

REPORT on flagship European defence projects of common interest
Committee on Security and Defence
Lucia Annunziata

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

REPORT on flagship European defence projects of common interest
Committee on Security and Defence
Lucia Annunziata

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

REPORT on tackling barriers to the single market for defence
Committee on Security and Defence
Tobias Cremer

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

REPORT on tackling barriers to the single market for defence
Committee on Security and Defence
Tobias Cremer

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Zwischen Japan und China herrscht Eiszeit. Es geht vordergründig um eine Aussage zu Taiwan, doch dahinter stecken Machtverschiebungen in der ganzen Region. Während China immer aggressiver auftritt, rüstet Japan auf und sichert sich alte und neue Bündnisse im Ostpazifik.

US-Präsident Donald Trump hat seine Rede zur Lage der Nation gehalten. US-Korrespondent Martin Ganslmeier fasst die vier wichtigsten Punkte zusammen. Politikwissenschaftler Johannes Thimm sagt: "Der Erkenntnisgewinn hält sich in Grenzen."