As the world order established after the end of the Cold War becomes increasingly fragile before our very eyes, the war against Ukraine enters its fifth year. But it is not only in Europe that war is raging. Global uncertainty is growing as major powers increasingly openly claim spheres of influence for themselves. This makes the question of a future European security order ever more urgent.
In a joint project, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Institute for Global Reconstitution (IGRec) examine possible new security orders for Europe and their implications for the European Union and its neighbouring countries. A particular focus lies on the future role of the OSCE.
On 20 January 2026, we met with international experts for a vivid roundtable discussion. The event started with two inputs by the authors of our first policy papers:
• Tom Sauer, Professor of International Politics at the University of Antwerp and currently Visiting Scholar at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University.
• Nadja Douglas, Research Fellow, Project “Core Partners in the New OSCE Think Tank Network” at SWP, and Research Fellow at the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS).
After that Alexandra Dienes, Senior Researcher at the FES Regional Office for International Cooperation Cooperation & Peace in Vienna, commented the contributions and presented the “Peace Matrix”, developed by FES ROCPE and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
We thank the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for their kind support throughout the project and look forward for further discussions on peace and European security architecture.
