2026/07/01 by Sarah Wolff, Karolina Pomorska, Richard Whitman · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #European Union Policy and Governance #Global Security and Public Health #Peacebuilding and International Security
paper · doi:10.1093/ia/iiag090
openalex publication_date 2026/07/01 · openalex created_date 2026/07/09 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract Current geopolitics are shifting, with experts debating whether it should be understood as a multiplex world order, an interregnum or a rupture for middle powers. Security provision—understood here as the collective act of supplying security for oneself and others, typically at a regional or global level—is also undergoing transformation. The escalation of wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran have profoundly disrupted and reconfigured regional security arrangements both within and beyond Europe. This special section seeks to evidence what role conceptualizations, narratives and perceptions play in times of geopolitical interregnum. It makes four main contributions. First, the notion of ‘permanent emergency’ is a structuring condition for European security provision, with a continuous adaptation in which the interregnum is not a transitional passage to a new stable order but a durable feature of the international environment. This explains why narratives on security provision have become more fluid and can coexist in spite of normative divergences. Second, analysis of socialization around security provision shows that informalization and social power remain key elements. Third, the agency of third countries as recipients of narratives is key to their success. And fourth, a theme running through is how European security provision has been affected by Brexit.