The transformation of EU and NATO security narratives: Towards resilience and total defence?

Amidst multiplying crises at the global level, the dominant narratives of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have come under strain. Drawing on narrative approaches, we argue that the EU’s previous dominant narrative of ‘peace’ has been replaced by one of ‘resilience’. For NATO, resilience has worked to complement past dominant narratives of military deterrence and liberal security community. This narrative shift has been facilitated by external shocks and the role of narrative entrepreneurs. Intriguingly, this article finds evidence of increasing narrative convergence among these two main European security providers. In a context of deteriorating crises, we have witnessed a shift in the meaning of resilience from a transformational process (‘the ability to reform’) towards a more inward-looking and defensive notion of resilience. In the face of a potential ‘total war’, a resilience narrative supporting the goal of total defence through the strengthening of societal resilience is currently emerging within both the EU and NATO.