16-18 June 2025, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
Do allies require spending up to 5% of GDP to deliver an effective alliance? Or does this latter depend on how available resources are spent and used? Would it be more relevant to spend 3% only but wisely? How much is required to deliver expected outcomes? It might not be only a matter of how much is spent but the nature of threats and how to answer them. In addition, a lot can be said about how resources are allocated inside budgets between human resources and capabilities, infrastructures, deployability…
To understand stakes and issues and define the right defence policy, it is therefore necessary to look at budgetary, economic but also political and geostrategic dimensions – opening the door to innovative approaches to produce international security in domestic and collective perspectives.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has revived the role of the Atlantic Alliance as the means to improve collective security of European democracies. Not only did member states reassess their commitment to collective security but hitherto neutral democracies, Finland and Sweden, joined the Alliance. Contrary to the Atlantic Alliance, in its 76th year of existence, past alliances were usually contextual and short-lived. Thus, the notion of burden sharing necessarily takes a more cooperative than transactional meaning in enduring alliances.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, several evolutions and transformations have dramatically changed the art of war. The use of new capabilities has improved the effectiveness of troops. Civilian innovations are disrupting the equipment choices as well as how to operate. In addition, the “grey zone” battles, the use of drones as well as cyber and electronic warfare have effectively widened the concept of war to a degree unimaginable in the past century. These technological and operational transformations challenge the classical perspective on the alliance burden sharing from the 1960s.
This seminar proposes to deal with this (non-exhaustive) list of topics from any relevant disciplines (economics, political science, war studies, geo-economics, geo-strategy…):
How much to spend? What are the relevant thresholds?
Is it better to get more money now vs constant additional resources in the long run?
How to spend allocated budgets? What is the right split between personnel, personnel, equipment, deployment, operations and maintenance?
Do off-the-shelf acquisitions provide the adequate answer with regard stakes and issues? Can a stronger domestic industry contribute to international security in a longer perspective?
To which extend do dual infrastructures and resources contribute to deliver international security?
What does military efficiency stand for? How to define it and design KPIs? What could collective military efficiency correspond to?
Can high levels of military expenditures be sustainable financially and/or effective militarily?
The steering committee is open to suggestions going beyond these questions related to the theme of this year’s seminar.
This seminar is co-organised by Jean Belin (Bordeaux University, France), Renaud Bellais (Grenoble Alpes University, France), Ugurhan Berkok (Queen’s University and Royal Military College, Canada), Martin Chovančík (Masaryk University, Czech Republic) and Julien Malizard (IHEDN Defence Economics Chair, Paris, France).Conference organizers can be contacted and abstracts sent to: workshopdefense@u-bordeaux.fr
Abstracts (up to 400 words) should be submitted to the organizers before 1st April 2025 to be considered for the seminar. Selected contributions will be announced no later than 15 April 2025.
