The event-agency-structure framework for explaining continuity and change in foreign and defence policy in Europe: the case of Germany prior to and after the <i>Zeitenwende</i>
Journal: Defence Studies
Year: 2025

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine many European states began to change their foreign and defence policies. The paper develops and test-drives a new framework to account for variation in the timing, scope, scale, speed and longevity of changes. Why did they happen at this point and not sooner? The Event-Agency-Structure framework revolves around the interplay of factors situated on three analytical planes to explain transitions between political times and degrees of policy change. It