Converging and Conflicting Ethical Values in the Internal/External Security Continuum in Europe (INEX)

The aim of the INEX (converging and conflicting ethical values in the internal/external security continuum in Europe) project is to contribute to existing understandings of European security through an innovative analysis of the value based premises and ethical consequences of the internal/external security continuum. While this continuum is studied in ongoing research, it contains essential value assumptions and ethical consequences that have remained largely under-studied, with significant consequences for both European policy and law-making in further security practices. It is the aim of the project to fill this lacuna by supplementing the current state-of-the art research on the continuum with an ethical and value-oriented analysis. Thus, INEX advances and tests the hypothesis that the practices that make up the internal/external security continuum are driven by an implicit logic of ethical values, that these values contribute significantly to structuring the continuum of security practices, and that they consequently have significant implications for the how present and future security policy should be formulated and implemented. The scientific research proposed by INEX is structured in two main phases, designed around two research axes: thematic and geopolitical.  

Phase I will seek to document, clarify and analyze the ethical value assumptions implicit in four main dimensions of internal/external security practice: (1) the proliferation of security technologies for surveillance and border control; (2) the transnational legal dilemmas of European security practice; (3) the proliferation and shifting roles of security professionals; (4) the ethical implications of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) /European Defence and Security Policy (ESDP) implementation and its linkages to internal security challenges. This phase of the research provides the initial conceptualisation of these themes, developed from the empirical examination of security practices in Europe.

Phase II will articulate and evaluate the above ethical themes relative to the provisional results and future ambitions of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) by examining in detail six representative countries covered by the arrangement ENP (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt). The ENP will serve as the lens through which the geopolitical adaptability of the internal/external security continuum, and the security practices described by the four themes above, is tested on a comparative geographical basis. This work will serve both as a set of transversal test cases evaluating the validity of the principles produced by Phase I and will contribute to correcting and expanding the relation between ethical values and security.

Expected results:

The state-of-the-art research carried out by the project will result in a variety of different outputs aimed primarily at relevant policymakers, researchers and educators. It will present analyses of current security challenges with particular attention given to the human side of the issues. On this basis it will make informed policy recommendations for improving security practices and meeting the new challenges of the internal/external security continuum.

For more information about the project, current activites, events and publications please visit the official INEX homepage.
NOTE: The official INEX homepage is temporarily offline, but we are working to get it back online as soon as possible. All deliverables, policy briefs and milestone reports are available by clicking on the subpages on the right side of this page.
Newsitems, past events and other relevant project information will be available on this page here soon too. Please contact vicack @ prio.no when necessary.