NetSec Policy Workshop 2027

The workshop and its policy brief examine how European security is shaped by vulnerabilities, threats and actors that cross national borders and conventional distinctions. The Mediterranean basin, which links Europe with North Africa and the Middle East, is the workshop's main analytical focus.

The workshop has three pillars: transnational non-state actors and the threats arising from their cross-border activities, high-tech and hybrid challenges that exploit digital, informational and societal vulnerabilities, and threats and vulnerabilities related to energy and supply chain security. Across the three, it asks how states, institutions and societies can counter or manage transnational threats, improve prevention and preparedness, and reinforce coordination while protecting democratic freedoms and fundamental rights.

Multilevel security governance connects the pillars. The workshop looks at how national governments, European institutions, regional and local authorities, international organisations, private actors and civil society can coordinate effective responses.

Organisers

• Prof. Carmen Márquez Carrasco (Universidad de Sevilla, Spain)
• Prof. Pavlos Koktsidis (Anatolia American University, Greece)
• Sara Russo (University of Turin, Italy)

Pillar 1. Blurring boundaries: transnational actors, networks and the internal–external security nexus

This pillar examines the security implications of non-state actors and networks whose activities, recruitment, financing and ideological influence extend across national borders. Its focus includes violent extremist movements, religious or ideological, terrorism and organised crime, as well as the diffusion of external conflicts into European societies through transnational popular mobilisation, polarisation and violence. It looks at the links between conflicts beyond Europe and domestic security challenges, and at preventive responses that remain compatible with democratic pluralism and fundamental rights.

Topics include:

• Transnational extremism, radicalisation and terrorism
• Organised crime, illicit trafficking and cross-border networks
• Conflict-related transnational mobilisation and the domestic spillover of external conflicts
• Militias, proxies and state–non-state interactions
• Prevention, disengagement, deradicalisation and cross-border cooperation

Connecting question: How do transnational non-state networks transmit or amplify security threats across borders, and how can European institutions respond effectively while safeguarding fundamental rights?

Pillar 2. Hybrid and technology-enabled security challenges: vulnerabilities and resilience

This pillar explores how technological capabilities and hybrid methods are used to disrupt institutions, manipulate public perceptions and exploit vulnerabilities in European states and societies. It covers cyberattacks, psychological and influence operations, foreign information manipulation and disinformation campaigns, particularly through social media and digital platforms. It considers how these methods combine with political, economic or physical pressure, and how institutions and societies can strengthen digital security, public awareness and resilience without undermining openness and democratic debate.

Topics include:

• Cyberattacks, cyber-enabled disruption and digital infrastructure security
• Psychological and influence operations, including foreign information manipulation
• Disinformation campaigns, social-media manipulation and online polarisation
• Emerging technologies and the changing tools of hybrid interference
• Institutional preparedness, societal resilience and democratic safeguards

Connecting question: How should European states and societies identify, govern and build resilience against hybrid threats that exploit vulnerabilities across institutional, societal and informational boundaries?

Pillar 3. Energy and supply chain security

This pillar examines how energy interdependence shapes European security. Europe's energy security depends on networks of producers, transit states and infrastructure across the Mediterranean and neighbouring regions. The pillar considers the protection of existing energy infrastructure, access to resources and the development of new energy corridors, including pipelines, ports and electricity interconnectors. It also addresses geopolitical competition over resources and routes, energy-related disputes, and the scope for regional and European cooperation.

Topics include:

• Supply chain security and strategic interdependence
• Protection of critical infrastructure and the development of new energy corridors
• Regional geopolitical competition and energy-related disputes
• Coordination and design of joint energy security policies

Connecting question: How can Europe and its regional partners govern energy interdependence to secure supply chains and critical infrastructure, manage geopolitical competition and disputes, and strengthen European security through coordinated regional action?

Applications close on Friday 18 December 2026. Send the completed application form and your CV to Prof. Pavlos Koktsidis (pkoktsid@act.edu) and Prof. Carmen Márquez Carrasco (cmarque@us.es).

The form asks for the title of your proposed presentation, whether you are a NetSec member, a statement of up to 300 words on your motivation for taking part and its expected impact on your career, and up to 200 words on your transportation costs (airfare, ground transport, train).