Over the past few days, Sabrina Medeiros participated as a speaker and attendee at the Paris Defense & Strategy Forum alongside partners from the InterAgency Institute. The event brought together leading experts to discuss European security, defense cooperation, and technological innovation.
Key Takeaways from the Forum
🔹 Strategic Investment in Defense
The event reinforced the need for greater European autonomy in defense industries, emphasizing that at least 30% of defense budgets should be allocated to procurement and innovation to ensure long-term security and industrial cooperation.
🔹 Multilateralism & UN Security Council Reform
France continues to position multilateralism as a strategic goal, advocating for UN Security Council reform to include two African nations, Brazil, and India as permanent members—an initiative aligned with broader efforts to rebalance global governance structures.
🔹 France-Germany Partnership & European Autonomy
The France-Germany defense alliance remains crucial, but the discussion highlighted the need for a broader and more inclusive cooperative framework. Notably, there is a growing acceptance within France for Germany to take a leadership role in European defense matters.
🔹 Beyond the U.S. Security Umbrella
One of the significant shifts in this year’s discussions was the perception that the U.S. security umbrella is no longer "waterproof." This raised urgent debates on Europe’s strategic independence, NATO’s future, and the continent’s evolving defense landscape.
🔹 Avoiding Fragmentation in European Defense
A key challenge remains: balancing national interests with collective defense efforts. Many countries seek to keep defense investments local, which risks fragmenting European security strategies. The forum highlighted the importance of harmonized policies to ensure cooperation without compromising national interests.
🔹 Wargaming & Future Security Scenarios
An interactive highlight of the event was the wargaming area, where participants explored risk assessment, AI regulations, and military innovation through simulations and scenario-based exercises—a critical tool for understanding the complexities of modern defense strategies.
LusoGlobe's Contribution
Sabrina Medeiros actively contributed to discussions on integrating Defense Industrial and Technological Bases (DITB) into regulatory debates on Human Control and AI Risk Assessment in Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). These conversations are essential for shaping the ethical and effective governance of AI in defense.
🔗 See the full list of speakers here: Paris Defense & Strategy Forum