The Emergence of EU Defense Research Policy - From Innovation to Militarization

This book explores European security and defense R&D policy, unveiling the strategic, industrial, institutional and ideational sources of the European Commission's military research initiative. Starting from a well-defined empirical epicentre-the rise of non-civilian R&D priorities in the European Union-this book covers interrelated themes and topics such as

• approaches to arms production and R&D collaboration
• relationships between European R&D-related institutions
• technology and research foundations of European security policy
• past and present European armament collaborations
• transatlantic R&D collaboration
• the militarization of border security.

Divided into 5 sections, the enclosed chapters explore the EU technology and innovation policy in regards to security, industrial competitiveness and military capabilities. The terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001 provided a window of opportunity for the introduction of security as a distinct European R&D priority. In fact, since 2002, the Preparatory Action for Security Research (PASR) has funded 45 million euros to 39 research consortia to conduct security R&D. While the idea of pooling defense research efforts and programmes in Europe is not new, the establishment of institutions like the European Defense Agency (EDA) are a major step into institutionalizing European agencies involvement in supporting defense technology research. It is against this backdrop of policy developments that this book is positioned, in addition to addressing some of the political, economic, industrial and philosophical questions that arise.

Featuring contributions from a variety of academic fields and industries, this book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, students and policy makers in the fields of security policy, international relations, innovation, European studies and military studies.


Nikolaos Karampekios obtained his PhD in EU technology policy jointly from the University of Athens and the National Technical University of Athens. Currently, he is conducting postdoctoral research on the innovation potential of the Swiss security industry at the Centre for Security Economics and Technology (C SET), University of St. Gallen, funded by a Swiss confederation scholarship. His research interests include security research and industrial policy, innovation policy, and the relationship between defence and security. His work has appeared in (indicatively) Géopolitiques et Géostratégies Régionales, Military Power Review, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Allgemeine Schweizerische Militärzeitschrift, and Foreign Affairs (Greek edition). In 2015, he co-edited a book on the European Defence Agency (Roultedge Press). Since 2014, he is employed as a researcher-analyst at the Greek National Documentation Center engaged in (co)-authoring the bi-annual report of the national research, technology and innovation level, performing bibliometric analyses as well as other R&D-metrics (business demographics, tax incentives, etc.).
Iraklis Oikonomou holds a PhD in International Politics from the University of Wales Aberystwyth and has conducted post-doctoral research at Ghent University and Sussex University, funded by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. His main research interests are European integration theory, the political economy of EU armaments policy, and EU space policy militarisation. His work has appeared in, among others, Wissenschaft & Frieden, Space Policy, Rethinking Marxism, Monthly Review, Studia Diplomatica, Agora without Frontiers, The Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs, and Intelligence and National Security. He is co-editor (with N. Karampekios) of the volume Arming Europe? The European Defence Agency (Routledge, 2015) and (with H. Golemis) of the volume Poulantzas Today (Nissos, 2012; in Greek). He has also guest-edited three special issues of the Greek journal Utopia and contributed chapters to the following titles: European Space Policy: European integration and the final frontier (Routledge, 2016); Militarism and International Relations: Political Economy, Security, Theory (Routledge, 2012); and Explaining European Security and Defence Policy: Theory in Action (Macmillan, 2012).
Dr. Elias G. Carayannis is Full Professor of Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, as well as co-Founder and co-Director of the Global and Entrepreneurial Finance Research Institute (GEFRI) and Director of Research on Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, European Union Research Center, (EURC) at the School of Business of the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Dr. Carayannis' teaching and research activities focus on the areas of strategic Government-University-Industry R&D partnerships, technology road-mapping, technology transfer and commercialization, international science and technology policy, technological entrepreneurship and regional economic development.
Dr. Carayannis has several publications in both academic and practitioner journals, including IEEE Transactions in Engineering Management, Research Policy, Journal of R&D Management, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, International Journal of Technology Management, Technovation, Journal of Technology Transfer, Engineering Management Journal, Journal of Growth and Change, Review of Regional Studies, International Journal of Global Energy Issues, International Journal of Environment and Pollution, Le Progres Technique, and Focus on Change Management. He has also published more than twenty books to date on science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship with Springer, CRC Press, Praeger/Greenwood, Palgrave/MacMillan and Edward Elgar, and has several more projects under contract.