Rallying the (Defense Industrial) Base – The Future of Europe’s Defense Industry

European Strategic Dialogue discussion of March 07, 2024 on "Rallying the (Defense Industrial) Base – The Future of Europe’s Defense Industry" with Vassilis Theodosopoulos and Ralph Thiele. Moderator: Jeroen Dobber. Welcoming Remarks: Ambassador (ret.) Dirk Brengelmann.

In cooperation with the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation for Freedom, the Institute of Security and Global Affairs/Leiden University and Sirice (Sorbonne, Paris).

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Recording of a panel discussion via Zoom

This panel focuses on the future of europe's defense industry. Amid a rapidly changing global security environment, Europe is under pressure to take more responsibility for its own security and in the protection of liberal democracies worldwide. For Europe to step up, there is an urgent need to bolster its defence industrial base. After thirty years of deprioritisation, the industry is now expected to boost production, create more synergies and develop new capabilities. This is important for Europe's new security architecture, but also to play a role in addressing the EU's geopolitical challenges. In response to the current wars and geopolitical crises, the EU has launched several initiatives to stimulate the joint development and procurement of arms and their provision to partners. Despite this clear signal, there remains a significant gap between ambition and reality. This discussion will address these European initiatives, identify remaining challenges and obstacles, and explore new ways to make Europe's defense industrial base fit for the future.

Panel:

Welcome:
Ambassador (ret.) Dirk Brengelmann
Senior Fellow at CASSIS

Discussion:
Vassilis Theodosopoulos
Manager Security & Defence, ASD Europe

Ralph Thiele
CEO StratByrd consulting

Moderation:
Jeroen Dobber
Head of the Global Security Hub at Friedrich Naumann Foundation

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It is unrealistic for the USA and Western Europe to catch up with the global South in terms of production capacity and thereby save their world order for the following reason: the old industrialized countries have outsourced their production capacities to the developing countries. The reason for this was that they wanted to generate the greatest possible profit for shareholders through low wages. As a result, the ruling class has placed itself at the forefront of value creation without letting workers share in the profits. For this reason, the old industrial nations are not producing steel and are closing coal mines. Because their industry is no longer competitive with developing countries due to their strong currencies and relatively high wages. For this reason, Western economies can no longer exploit their production potential. That is why Russia, whose arms budget is ten percent as large as that of the USA, produces five times as much artillery. The ruling class in America and Western Europe wants to save a world order that has created the very problem described above. That's impossible.