About the Network
European Security
NATO’s Role in European Security: NATO recognized Russia as the most significant threat to peace and security, calling the EETN to focus research and events around the evolution of NATO in this changing security landscape. Russia’s war in Ukraine is reshaping NATO’s role in Europe. NATO is enhancing its deterrence and defence capabilities and increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe. Postwar scenarios involving Ukraine, the EU, and NATO will be significant for EETN research. Canada’s role as a middle power, perceptions of NATO membership, and the view of Russia in the Baltic states compared to Ukraine and Georgia will also take precedence for EETN researchers.
European Union Defence Policy: The European Union has undertaken various steps to increase its ability to act independently, including developing its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Since Russia’s war in Ukraine, most EU countries have increased their defence spending. Additionally, the EU has reinforced cooperation with third states, including Canada. The EETN will focus on how Canadian and NATO roles will change with an independent EU defence policy.
Digital Security: Russia exploits the media and information environment in the Baltics and Eastern Europe to weaken support for NATO and Ukraine, undermine democratic institutions, and pursue Russia’s soft power interests throughout the region. The EETN will research the overall security implications of mis/disinformation, including how Russia and China are using the rapid development of AI to compete for influence throughout the region. Additionally, we will explore how AI use for domestic and transnational repression impacts Canadian and NATO regional engagement.
Eurasian Security Architectures
NATO’s Regional Roles in South Caucasus: Instability in South Caucasus states such as Georgia and Armenia from Russian intervention could have major global security implications. Positioned at geostrategic entry points to Russia and China, NATO recently increased activity in the region to counterbalance Russian influence. EETN research will focus on assessing current political conditions of the region, possible security and defence implications, and future security cooperation foresight between Canada and regional actors.
Migration, Climate Change, Destabilization and Terrorism: Youth emigration from Central Asia and Eurasian Caucasus to other parts of the world have critical impacts on the migrant sending nations. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Russians occupy these countries to avoid the wartime environment in Russia. The network will focus research around impacts of Russian war migrants on regional populations and security, Russia’s instrumentalization of migrants from Yemen, Syria, and other countries, and the overall relationships between migration, extremism and terrorism.
Information Security, Disinformation and AI: Russia exploits the media and information environment in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as in Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Large Russophone populations in Central Asia facilitate Russian influence, while nostalgia for the Soviet Union in the South Caucasus provides an entry point for Russian disinformation. AI is also used by Russia and China to create and spread disinformation in Eurasia and the Global South, to securitize minority peoples and punish dissenters. EETN will examine the means and effectiveness of Russian influence in neighboring states’ media environments, as well as implications of Russian and Chinese competition in AI for the spread of autocracy in Eurasia.
Arctic Security
Canada and Northern Europe: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO has fundamentally changed politics and security in Northern Europe. Baltic and Arctic states are now key contributors to European security. EETN will examine how this re-focusing of Arctic security potentially impacts Canada’s collaboration with its alliance partners to increase surveillance and monitoring in the region, including with regards to the ways that climate change alters military as well as economic considerations.
China and the Global South: Western sanctions imposed in 2014 led Russia to cultivate China as a strategic partner. China is now the largest foreign player in the Russian Arctic, with broader pretensions. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has led China to revise its risk assessment of partnership with Russia in light of potential exposure to Western sanctions, even as Russia-China cooperation deepens in other fields. EETN will consider Russia’s evolving international partnerships in the Arctic, as it seeks to open the Arctic to India and other states in the Global South and leverage these ties against Western powers, and potentially now China, in the Arctic.
Climate Change and Third Party Actors: As noted in Canada’s Defence Policy “Our North, Strong and Free,” climate change is making the Arctic more accessible for a variety of non-Arctic actors who seek to take advantage of newly accessible resources, as well as trade and development opportunities. Russia’s increasing global isolation—including in the Arctic Council—indirectly contributes to the rising number of third party actors as it attempts to bring new partners into the region. EETN will focus its research on how the rising stakes in the Arctic further impact the security of Arctic states, including the livelihood of indigenous communities of the North. Furthermore, EETN will look at how Canada and its NATO allies can lead efforts to identify and defend against potential threats emerging in the changing Arctic environment.
Achieving Our Goals
The research approach envisioned by EETN builds upon the vision in Canada’s “Strong, Secure, Engaged” Defence Policy as strong at home, secure in North America, and engaged in the world, as well as on the recently published Defence Policy Update “Our North, Strong and Free.” In focusing on the broader regional and global implications of Russia’s war in Ukraine for European, Eurasian, and Arctic security, EETN shares the understanding that Canadian strategic interests are underpinned by global stability, the primacy of the rules-based international order, and the principle of collective defence.
Strong
EETN will support the goal of ‘Strong at Home’ through involving the Canadian public – from diaspora groups already deeply engaged in regional issues to average citizens – so that they may gain a greater understanding of regional complexities and where Canada, and Canadians, may best contribute to peace, stability, freedom, and prosperity.
Secure
‘Secure in North America’ is a concept that is currently under threat by the continually developing situation in Eastern Europe. Canada and its NATO allies are increasingly concerned with Russia’s securitization of the Arctic – a process that has only accelerated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO, Russia’s efforts to preserve and improve its geostrategic position further provides a point of entry for new players in Arctic security. EETN will examine how this re-focusing of Arctic security potentially impacts Canada’s collaboration with its alliance partners to increase surveillance and monitoring in the region, including with regards to the ways that climate change alters military as well as economic considerations.
Engaged
In order to fulfill Canada’s goal to be ‘Engaged in the World’, EETN will develop relationships with regional partners to produce research with deep local input and will connect findings to Canadian policymakers and analysts at DND/CAF through collaborative platforms. The network will foster a cohort of young scholars and policymakers, in Canada and in the region, trained in cutting-edge methods and analysis to address vital questions for Canadian defence strategy. With a focus on what Canada’s role can be in European defence, including their collaboration with other members of NATO, the network will support Canada’s policymakers in making informed decisions when engaging with global security concerns.