The Heart Chambers of Europe: Franco-German Impulses for the EU’s Security Order

The European security architecture faces historic challenges. Geopolitical shifts—such as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the escalation in the Middle East, and the growing strategic alignment between China and Russia—are destabilizing existing alliances and raising questions about Europe’s future role within the global security order. Within this dynamic context, the Franco-German partnership assumes particular significance. Close cooperation between Germany and France at the political, operational, and industrial levels has been decisive in the past for developing and strengthening European security and defense policy and will continue to play a central role in ensuring Europe’s defense capabilities in the future. This book project analyzes how Germany and France jointly shape the European security architecture, the challenges that must be addressed, and the opportunities offered by intensified cooperation. In addition to a historical retrospective tracing the key milestones of Franco-German security cooperation since the 1963 Élysée Treaty, it examines current developments such as the European Union Global Strategy (2016) and the Treaty of Aachen (2019), as well as responses to the war in Ukraine. The book explores prospects for enhanced security-policy cooperation in an increasingly multipolar global environment and provides concrete recommendations for future cooperative projects in the fields of politics, the military, and the defense industry. The edited volume will include essays and interviews by leading experts from academia, military strategy, politics, and diplomacy, reflecting both the historical dimension and the current challenges and future trajectories of the European security architecture. Alongside the political and military dimensions of cooperation, it will also shed light on defense-industrial projects such as the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) and the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), which serve as cornerstones of a shared European defense strategy.