Gabriella Gricius

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European security decision-making has entered a new era marked by heightened urgency, greater complexity, and deeper integration between national and supranational actors. This project investigates how European security decisions have evolved post-2022 by examining two critical cases: (1) the formation of a Nordic security community through trilateral defense agreements and shared operational planning in the Arctic, and (2) the elevation of critical infrastructure protection in the North Sea in response to hybrid threats. Drawing on qualitative interviews with policymakers across national ministries and EU institutions, alongside document and discourse analysis, the project maps the constellation of actors and institutional interactions involved in these decisions.

Beyond tracing institutional shifts, the project also interrogates how policymakers navigate the interdisciplinary nature of complex issue areas like Arctic security and hybrid warfare. In such contexts, actors must balance inputs from environmental scientists, security professionals, economists, and diplomatic strategists - often privileging some forms of expertise over others. This raises fundamental questions about how priorities are set, how knowledge travels within policymaking networks, and what implications these choices have for European strategic autonomy.

By linking empirical research on decision-making processes with theoretical insights into knowledge prioritization and institutional complexity, this project contributes to the fields of European security, crisis governance, and interdisciplinary policy studies. It also holds practical relevance for improving communication between scientific and policy communities in addressing emerging security challenges.