Image credit: Melody Cook/CNAS

February 03, 2023

European Strategic Autonomy: Views from Paris, Berlin, and Warsaw

By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Liana Fix, Justyna Gotkowska and Tara Varma

Over the past year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spurred Europe to devote greater attention to its defense capabilities. Yet rather than providing momentum to Europe’s stated ambitions of strategic autonomy, the war has instead seemed to underscore its continued dependence on the US and NATO for defense. In this seemingly paradoxical moment, what future may lie in store for European strategic autonomy? Liana Fix, Tara Varma, and Justyna Gotkowska join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss how Paris, Berlin, and Warsaw view the outlook for European strategic autonomy.

Liana Fix is a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a historian and political scientist, with expertise in German and European foreign and security policy, European security, transatlantic relations, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

Justyna Gotkowska is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Eastern Studies based in Warsaw, Poland. Her work focuses on security and defense issues in Northern and Central Europe, including defense policies and armed forces’ developments in Germany as well as in the Nordic and Baltic states.

Tara Varma is a visiting fellow in the Center for the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. She focuses on current French defense and security proposals in the European framework, as well as ongoing efforts to materialize European sovereignty in health, economics, climate, energy, and more traditional security fields.

  • Commentary
    • Foreign Affairs
    • March 23, 2023
    Putin’s Forever War

    More than a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a grim reality has settled in: the war will not end soon. Despite the heavy fighting in and around the eastern city of Bak...

    By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Erica Frantz

  • Video
    • March 20, 2023
    China's leader Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow

    Andrea Kendall-Taylor appears in Reuters to discuss the broader implications of Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow, and the future of the Sino-Russian relationship. Watch the full ...

    By Andrea Kendall-Taylor

  • Podcast
    • March 17, 2023
    The Battle of Bakhmut

    In this episode of MWI’s Urban Warfare Project Podcast, John Spencer is joined again by Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at CNA. He researches Russia and...

    By Michael Kofman

  • Podcast
    • March 17, 2023
    The Future of the Transatlantic Partnership, with Max Bergmann and David Kleimann

    What do the visits to the White House by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mean for the transatlantic partnership? Max Bergm...

    By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Max Bergmann & David Kleimann

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia