The ‘Turning Point: Realising a Sustainable Security Architecture for Europe’ project – referred to as ‘Rethinking European Security’ – is driven by the need to generate a sustainable security systems change in Europe and beyond.
Project Overview
The global security landscape is undergoing profound changes. With the rise of multipolarity or multiorder and increasing geopolitical tensions, we are facing a fundamental crisis in the international rules-based order. This is evident also in Europe, where governments grapple with security challenges ranging from war to climate change.
‘Turning Point: Realising a Sustainable Security Architecture for Europe’ – or ‘Rethinking European Security’ – is aimed at driving fundamental change in how Europe can devise a sustainable security architecture that encompasses new and old threats to peace and stability in Europe.
The collapse of post-Cold War diplomacy underscores the need for a new European security architecture–one that, in the short term, organises security in opposition to Russia but, in the long term, envisions a framework that includes Russia as a European state, however, a sustainable security architecture should also recognise that climate change will increasingly lead to human, national and global security challenges.
Through five Track 1.5 regional workshops (2024-2025) across Europe, the project brings together government officials and experts from 30+ OSCE member states to co-develop a New Model for Security in Europe. Discussions, guided by research-based working papers produced by BASIC, explore how to balance traditional, human, energy, and climate security. These working papers, developed for each regional workshop, identify key issues in need of consideration to build a new security architecture.
- Vienna Workshop (May 2024) – Attended by Russian experts.
- Warsaw Workshop (September 2024) – Attended by experts and officials from Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
- Istanbul Workshop (February 2025) – Attended by experts and officials from Moldova, Georgia, Türkiye, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Belarus (expert only).
The final “New Model for Security in Europe” report, shaped by workshop participants, will be launched at a high-level conference in Vienna in 2025. With participation from Track 1 and Track 2 actors, as well as representatives from international organisations and institutions, this conference will mark a turning point in European security discourse–transforming ideas into actionable policy.
Meet the Team
Dr Gry Thomasen – Research Director, BASIC
Dr Lisa Vickers – Policy Fellow, BASIC
Richard Reeve – Coordinator, Rethinking Security and Non-Resident Fellow, BASIC
We are grateful for the generous support of our funders, with special thanks to the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation, whose support has made this project possible.
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