Speaker
Description
European defence integration under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is often interpreted as a rational and functional response to shifts in the security environment. This article offers an alternative lens by suggesting that existing accounts have paid limited attention to how CSDP cooperation has also advanced in moments of ontological crisis that unsettle both the EU’s collective self-conception and its relationship with the United States. Drawing on ontological security theory, it introduces the concept of fearing forward to capture how dual disruptions – internal-biographical and external-relational – can prompt improvised and often ambiguous forms of cooperation aimed at preserving a sense of community and progress rather than addressing capability gaps. Theory-guided illustrations of the Iraq (2003) and Brexit–Trump (2016) episodes show that integration tends to accelerate when both dimensions of ontological insecurity converge. Reflecting on post-Ukraine developments, the article contrasts fearing forward with neofunctionalist accounts of failing forward, offering a framework for understanding the social-psychological drivers of CSDP cooperation.
| If you are submitting an Open Panel proposal, have you included all four abstracts in attachment? | No, I am submitting a Closed Panel abstract |
|---|---|
| Would you like to be considered for travel funding through the NetSec COST Action? | Yes |
| Are you a member of the NetSec Management Committee? | Yes |
| What discipline or branch of humanities or social sciences do you identify yourself with? | International Relations |
| Which of the following best describes your stage of the career? | Post-Doc (or within 3-year of PhD obtention) |
| In which country is your home institution? | UK |
| What is your gender? | Male |