Research project EUSI - The EU Security Initiative at the EUI Print Share: Share on Facebook Share on BlueSky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email Visit the dedicated Project Website → The EU Security Initiative (EUSI) aims to foster forward-looking, values-based dialogue and research on European security and defence. Rooted in the EUI’s dual identity as a research university and international organisation, and aligned with its vision for a future EUI, the EUSI aims to construct spaces to productively and critically connect academia and policy. It does so through facilitating a format of structured and recurring exchange between researchers, policymakers, practitioners, private sector and civil society actors across Europe—breaking silos, fostering co-creation, and exploring both urgent and long-term security challenges. The team Group members Michal Matlak Senior Fellow Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies View Michal Matlak profile Monika Sus Part-time Professor Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies View Monika Sus profile Julian Vierlinger Visiting Fellow Office of the President View Julian Vierlinger profile Jan Lepeu Research Fellow Florence School of Transnational Governance View Jan Lepeu profile Raquel Martínez Trainee Office of the President View Raquel Martínez profile Publications The case for a pluralist European security system This publication examines how Europe can build a more coherent and resilient security architecture by combining the strengths of the EU, NATO, pan-European institutions, and regional coalitions. It argues that institutional overlap should be treated as a strategic advantage, enabling greater flexibility, deterrence, and coordination in responding to future security threats. Read more The case for a pluralist European security system The EU's great South Caucasus geopolitical puzzle This paper examines growing geopolitical competition in the South Caucasus, focusing on the connectivity and infrastructure strategies of the EU, China, the US and Russia. It highlights the region’s importance for European energy and raw materials security and argues for strengthening the Middle Corridor while avoiding its monopolisation or political instrumentalisation. Read more The EU's great South Caucasus geopolitical puzzle From crisis response to strategy: how Europe can manage a prolonged confrontation with Russia The paper argues that the European Union must move from crisis response to strategic agency, and the next steps to do so. Read more From crisis response to strategy: how Europe can manage a prolonged confrontation with Russia Russia's pivot to the Global South While Russia’s war in Ukraine quickly stagnated, its broader ideological and informational conflict with the West spread to the Global South. Read more Russia's pivot to the Global South Debating European security : between fatalism and utopia The paper introduces the EUSI Papers Series on European Security. It makes the case for an informed, expert-driven debate about the aims, means and strategies of European states and organisations in the face of a deteriorating security environment. Read more Debating European security : between fatalism and utopia I sanction therefore I am : a genealogy of the emergence of international sanctioning as an EU foreign policy practice This thesis traces the EU’s shift from reluctance to becoming a major user of unilateral sanctions, explaining how sanctioning evolved into a central foreign policy practice. Read more I sanction therefore I am : a genealogy of the emergence of international sanctioning as an EU foreign policy practice There and back again : how UK-EU de-institutionalisation after Brexit shaped re-engagement after Ukraine This article explores how Russia’s 2022 invasion reshaped UK–EU security ties, arguing that Brexit legacies and path dependency have limited and phased, rather than fully renewed, cooperation. Read more There and back again : how UK-EU de-institutionalisation after Brexit shaped re-engagement after Ukraine