This article is written by Naouma Kourti, officer in the European Commission.

  • The problem: War has come back to Europe and looks to stay for a while. Will the EU turn to a war economy and what does that mean for EU’s policymakers?
  • Why it matters: Increasingly, EU and member states divert funds towards defence. Geopolitics require our minds and hearts to make space for war thoughts.
  • The solution: GenZers for innovation, research for technological advantage, mental health care and a plan to eradicate territorial war worldwide.

During the Munich Security Conference, 16–18 February 2024, the many heads of state, foreign ministers and other high-ranking individuals who participated engaged in interesting discussions about the current global security circumstances. A lot was about the EU becoming a more responsible partner of the US in keeping peace and order in the world. From the several panels that dealt with Ukraine, it emerged that the EU has to do more to help Ukraine not only to withstand the Russian aggression but to win this war. To this end, EU NATO members will not only need to reach but also exceed the 2% of GDP defence budgets.

Conference participants noted the slow decision processes in the free and liberal democratic Western world, where public opinions have to be prepared, debates have to be fed with evidence and decision-making requires broad consensus. Material support for the war requires the availability and transparency of funds, orders and payments (watch discussions of these matters on YouTube here and here). Such processes often hinder the successful deployment of resources in Ukraine’s war operations as needed. Instead, Russia has already turned to a war economy in which Russian people not only are not allowed to express criticisms of the war and mourn for the loss of so many young people and the opposition leader Navalny but have to serve their president by either going to fight or work in the armament industry. (The conference is well documented on YouTube, where all panel discussions can be found.)

With a planet to save and a space to explore, territorial disputes seem at least shortsighted and, at most, childish.

The conflict in Ukraine echoes territorial wars of centuries ago, in which land was conquered centimetre by centimetre. As history repeats itself, elderly leaders dictate and young soldiers pay with their lives. Given the primitive ferocity of territorial wars, surviving soldiers are mutilated and traumatised. Ukraine soldiers and the society as a whole suffer already from war fatigue.

However, this is not an article concerned with the cost of war, about which many things have been written previously. The aim is to draw attention to the fact that the techno-socio-demographic fabric of Europe is different to any previous time and any plans for war have to take the following factors into consideration.

Generation Z

Russia is merciless in throwing its Generation Z (GenZ) into the war to be killed after they had been trapped in the country and not allowed to escape from it. Europe resonated deeply with the despair of the Russian youth forced into a war they never sought, alongside the anguish of their demonstrating mothers.

Worldwide, GenZ (those born approximately between 1995 and 2015) are digital natives and tech keen, individualistic in their ways of learning and communicating and cherish diversity and equality. As R. Luttrell & K. McGrath write in their book Gen Z, they have superhero characteristics and “…have an uphill battle to right the world and save the earth”.

Parents have invested a lot in their children’s education and society puts great expectations and hopes on these kids, particularly in what concerns the turn to sustainability. This is the generation most concerned about climate change and biodiversity loss.

Caught between the realms of reality and virtuality, individuals find themselves increasingly anxious at the mere notion of being separated from their mobile phones, even for a brief moment. Connectedness and rapidity of information are more valued than secrecy and accuracy. They can quickly analyse and synthesise visual elements, which they often prefer more than text-based information. The war in Ukraine demonstrated that remotely operating a drone may be the most valuable capability of all.

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Young enthusiasts of strategy and war games often possess an impressive grasp of First and Second World War history, surpassing even the knowledge of many within the older Generation X cohort prevalent in military leadership. Their youthful ingenuity enables them to devise innovative and unpredictable war strategies. Moreover, by positioning Gen Z to bring innovative technology into the organisation, leaders can capitalise on their technological prowess and offer a sense of motivation. This cohort can help teach earlier generations about the latest in social media and digital technologies (L.F. Lewis, L.M. Rohloff).

While Gen Z is the largest demographic cohort globally, this trend does not hold true in Europe, where Millennials and Generation X outnumber Gen Z. Consequently, relying on Generation Z for military conscription would exacerbate Europe's demographic challenge, as it would draw from a smaller pool of individuals compared to the older cohorts.

Individuals of this generation would be much more suitable in providing innovative strategic advice to NATO’s headquarters, inventing and testing new digital technology for its applicability on conflicts and territorial disputes or making research for the many wicked problems of our societies.

Research

Defence budgets once had the tendency to devour research budgets. But this is not the case anymore. In the Munich security conference, Bettina Stark-Wanziger, Germany’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, said openly that “research is security” and wants to find ways to lower the wall between civil and military research. In the panel discussion, the minister expressed her security concerns in relation to research collaboration with Chinese scientists and said that there is no space for science diplomacy in the current geopolitical setting.

From drones and AI to satellite imagery and cyberattacks, all are used in Ukraine’s war. Therefore, Ukraine’s battlegrounds are living laboratories for a great deal of tech companies. Silicon Valley’s tech is now to be found in Kiev’s Unit City, along with many others. Unit City wants to be the main innovation hub in Europe. According to the magazine Time, Ukrainian armed forces, who say they have a software engineer deployed with each battalion, is driving a new kind of experimentation in military AI and none would ever look at a defence product unless it has the ‘tested in Ukraine’ stamp on it. Ukraine is the number one contributor to the world's development in science and technology, according to the latest The Good Country Index.

Policymakers should make sure that this hype for defence research does not earmark all available funds. Research should continue in all fields and in particular in those fields favoured by Gen Z such as climate change, peacebuilding and mental health care. In Ukraine, Virtual Reality (VR) is used as Peacetech, i.e. to create an immersive showing of what is happening on the battlefield, to strengthen support for Ukraine from its allies, stay updated and utilise this information for new/other ways of supporting Ukraine. In a similar way, VR has been used for mental health relief for traumatised children and displaced people (Y. Glybchenko).

Care against trauma and moral injury

EU’s Gen Z was confronted with trauma and mental illness throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the first generation to drop taboos around mental illness. It is the generation that openly talks about this problem and therefore, it is the generation ready to take concrete steps to provide relief on a global scale (G.S. Hafstand).

War also creates trauma; moreover, it creates moral injury. There are numerous studies about veterans with PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) or PMIE (potential morally injurious event) disorder, or both. These conditions hit veterans and undermine their successful reintegration into society, becoming a source of pain, poverty and misery for them and their families. The US has been facing this problem for decades and they have set up a broad programme of measures to help veterans. Nevertheless, many are not adequately and timely treated (V. Williamson et al., G. Botero Jr. et al).

Refugees are another reality of armed conflict. Traumatised by war, people move out of conflict zones and become refugees in neighbouring countries, the EU, the US, etc. A successful integration into the society of the host country can be achieved only by acknowledging and treating their trauma. The current anti-migration policies in most Western countries add to the traumas of these people instead of healing it. Starting with its refugees, the EU should develop the measures needed to also treat eventual veterans coming back from future EU/NATO-led missions to armed conflicts (M. Sohail Ahmad et al., Buchcik J. et al).

Policies and health organisations should step up their efforts to deal with trauma. Platforms should be developed in the EU and worldwide for people from all ages, genders, ethnicities and race to have access to treatments and expert consultation, online or in person. This is a wonderful way to increase empathy, inclusiveness and care in the world, which then will reduce aggression, violence and war.

Strategic deterrence of territorial wars

German philosopher Helmut Rosa said in an interview with Der Spiegel: “...the great threats of humanity at its beginning were war and pandemics. Today, not only didn’t we eradicate those, we created some new ones like the nuclear bomb and climate change.” He provocatively concludes that humanity not only doesn’t learn, but it is “plain stupid and it better be abolished”.

There are many reasons for war, but it should be possible to abolish all territorial wars. States and their borders are by now well-established agricultural goods and other commodities reach everyone through international trade. More people live in cities than in rural areas. This means territory does not guarantee wealth. No matter the established worldwide order and the formed alliances, territorial wars can be banned forever. Armed territorial conflicts often happen among countries in military power asymmetries, where the more armed country attacks, the less armed one, with nuclear weapons adding to asymmetries. If asymmetries are eliminated, the probability of a territorial war is diminished. This doesn’t mean that all countries should be armed the same or own nuclear power. It only means that an aggressor will be denied his military superiority, which will have a pre-emptive effect (S. Zilincik, et al).

Humanity’s future

It is by far more difficult preserving life than wasting it in wars. The biggest challenge we face is how to keep our planet a living one for as much time as possible, eradicate poverty and ensure longevity for all.

Health in old age and longevity are new issues that concern increasingly modern medicine. In the last 50 years humanity gained an average of 20 more years of life span through the medical miracle. Adding an additional 20 years is by far more challenging.

Climate change and loss of biodiversity pose risks to all humankind. A reconciliation and negotiation with nature seems inevitable in order to survive as a species.

Last but not least, space will always be a frontier to the unknown and understanding our universe will require far more research and scientific collaboration than we have had up to now.

A new economy is emerging based on the three above pillars — longevity, reconciliation with nature and space exploration — and away from the traditional one based on fossil fuels, waste and armaments.

With a planet to save and a space to explore, territorial disputes seem at least shortsighted and, at most, childish. Let’s hope humanity will soon leave them behind.

(The ideas exposed are solely those of the writer and do not reflect any positions of the organisation in which she works.)

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