The European Initiative for Security Studies

The largest and most diverse European gathering of scholars and practitioners on security issues.

Activities

  • Conference

    The conference moves to a different European city and host institution each year.

  • European Security Studies Prize

    Awarded each year at the conference for the best paper by an early-career researcher, jointly with the Journal of Strategic Studies.

  • Network events

    Online and hybrid events organised by EISS, the COST Action NetSec, and partner institutions.

  • Members' events

    Members get access to members' events: seminars and book talks hosted by the EISS community.

Latest news

All news

Two days in Stockholm

11 - 12 June 2026 · Stockholm University

Jointly organised by the COST Action NetSec, the European Initiative for Security Studies (EISS), and Stockholm University.

Learn more about ESSC 2026
ESSC 2026, Stockholm.
Flagship event

ESSC — The European Security Studies Conference

Full conference archive
ESSC host cities across Europe, 2017 - 2026 A stylized map showing the European cities that have hosted the annual ESSC conference since 2017, with dots marking each host location. Paris — 2017, 2018, 2019 Paris 2017 - 2019 — 2021 2021 Berlin — 2022 Berlin 2022 — 2023 2023 — 2024 2024 — 2025 2025 Stockholm — 2026 Stockholm 2026

Informal is the New Normal: Command and Control as the Choice for the Functional Source of Security Commitment

Joseph Christian Agbagala

Since the end of the Cold War, the decline in the formation of formal treaty-based alliances has coincided with a volatile security environment and the rise of network-enabled military capabilities. Developments such as the US push to prepare for network-centric warfare since the late 1990s, the growing interest in...

Read in the Anthology

Join us today

Tickets to our Annual Conference already include a one-year membership.

  • Student €30 / year
  • PhD & Early-Career Academic €50 / year
  • Established Academic or Professional €80 / year

Members' events Joint Seminar on Election Interference and Disinformation