Britain and France are nuclear powers, partners in NATO and the EU, permanent members of the UN Security Council, and are Europe’s leading security actors. Together they represent the EU’s best (only?) hope of building a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and, finally, sharing with the US the burden of collective Western defence in an increasingly unstable and dangerous world. Britain and France have taken major steps to pool their defence capabilities. What do they need to do to be more effective global security actors? A panel of defence and foreign policy experts will debate the options.

Claire Chick is Head of Defence at the Franco-British Council. She has a PhD in Defence from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University and has lectured in European Politics for twelve years. Her academic research has focused on the building of a European dimension in security and she has focused on the Franco-British relationship since 1954.

Dr Bastian Giegerich is Director of Defence and Military Analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a political scientist specialising in security and defence issues. From August 2010 until February 2015 he worked for the German Ministry of Defence, both in research and policy roles, while also serving as the IISS Consulting Senior Fellow for European Security. He joined the IISS on a post-doctoral fellowship on European defence issues and has since conducted work supported by the private sector, international organizations, and foundations.

Karen Smith is Professor of International Relations and Director of the European Foreign Policy Unit at LSE. She received the 2007 Anna Lindh Award for outstanding research on European foreign and security policy.