Muddling through? Defense policy paradigms after the war in Ukraine between transformation and readjustment: the case of Italy

How did the Russian invasion of Ukraine shape European security? The manuscript aims to answer this question by looking at the evolution of defense policy paradigms. Apparently, the Russian aggression has boosted a return of “territorial defense,” after decades of crisis management operations. Yet, moving along this trajectory could be more problematic than expected. Rather than a “paradigm shift,” the degree of change could more limited (e.g., “readjustment”). Relying on the case of Italy, the paper assesses the degree, and the path, of transformation. The article claims that crisis management remains vital for Italy, which is navigating muddling through in the field of defense policy. This Forum aims to disentangle how the war in Ukraine has changed the organization of European security. The paper contributes by looking at how actors perceive and assure security thought the analysis of defense policy paradigms.