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Call for papers: European Security in the Age of Trump and Putin

A European and US flag ontop of a wooden table

The BISA European Security Working Group is pleased to invite scholars and researchers of European security to the ninth edition of its annual workshop. The workshop will be held entirely online on Friday 27 February 2026. The event will be free of charge and accessible to both BISA members and non-members.

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.

Since Donald Trump’s second inauguration as President of the United States in January 2025, he has demonstrated stark scepticism towards the European Union, wavering support for the Atlantic Alliance, and an ambiguous stance with regards to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Simultaneously, Putin’s Russia continues to pose a threat to European security through increasing interference, disinformation campaigns and covert operations across the continent. While these two key figures discuss a future peace process in Ukraine, European countries continue to face strategic vulnerabilities in their infrastructures, energy security, and defence industries. How can Europe prepare against the threat of American disengagement from the region? What is in store for the NATO alliance, for the EU’s quest for strategic autonomy? And how is the region adapting to what seems like a shift in the way foreign policy decisions are taken on the international stage?

We are looking forward to discussing themes regarding these and adjacent challenges with scholars at all stages of their career with an interest, broadly defined, in European security.

We therefore welcome paper contributions in - but not limited to – the following areas:

  • Theorising and conceptualising European and transatlantic security cooperation.
  • Possible effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the proposed peace plan, on European Security.
  • The effects of the Trump presidency on NATO cooperation, but also on EU and European security.
  • The opportunities and challenges facing the European countries, their allies, and their cooperative arrangements.
  • Views of European security from other regions of the world and debates over Europe's role beyond Europe.
  • Interdisciplinary approaches to European security, including research on the new and emerging security challenges facing Europe.

We encourage submissions from Global South scholars and early-career researchers, including PhD students.

Deadline: Paper abstracts (maximum 150 words) should be submitted to eswg.group@bisa.ac.uk by Monday 19 January 2026.

Please get in touch with the working group convenors (Lucia.frigo@rhul.ac.uk or a.cottey@ucc.ie) for any questions or concerns regarding the workshop.

Find out more about the European Security Working Group