The EU awards the Jean Monnet EUDEFENCE Chair in European Security and Defence to Nebrija University

The escalation of tension in Europe caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the problem of European energy dependence, hybrid warfare, the use of cybernetic technology for disinformation, artificial intelligence and the increasing militarisation of space are only the spearhead of a new international geopolitical restructuring in which concepts such as security and defence are evolving by leaps and bounds. Thus, the European Union has awarded the Jean Monnet EUDEFENCE Chair to Nebrija University, the first European Security and Defence Chair awarded in Spain and the second at continental level. Directed by Juan Cayón Peña, Jean Monnet EUDEFENCE aims to contribute to the dissemination of security and defence issues in the European Union within the University and the general public. 

For its director, this new chair, together with the recently inaugurated Department of Security and Defence within the Faculty of Law and International Relations, "consolidates Nebrija University as a reference institution" in the field of Security and Defence.

"Nebrija University has been working for years on the new challenges of postmodernity. We were the first to have a Bachelor's Degree in Security, which has been completed with various Master's programmes and the PhD in Security and Risk and Conflict Analysis. Thanks to the Jean Monnet EUDEFENCE Chair, we have achieved a training offer that is unparalleled in Spain and very prominent on the international scene," acknowledges Cayón.

Co-financed by the European Union and the Nebrija University, the Jean Monnet EUDEFENCE Chair is aimed at all those who are interested in learning about the changing reality of the world around us and, above all, who want to enrich their knowledge of European security and defence.

The course is open to all interested parties, free of charge and online, and provides access to certification.

The teaching, which will consist of 120 hours per year, will always be in virtual format. It will be run by the team led by Cayón, with the participation of Dr Rogelio Pérez Bustamante and Dr Julio Guinea Bonillo, both renowned experts on European issues. A weekly three-hour session will be organised in which students will enjoy the corresponding master class and will carry out activities on official documents, studies, technical discussions, press releases and other vectors of knowledge of the reality of European security and defence. All interested students and teachers can register free of charge by filling in this form. 

Students should complement their knowledge with the seminars organised by the Chair, one per semester, in which high-level personalities will participate to enrich their all-embracing vision of the subject, "so necessary when dealing with complex issues such as those that determine current geopolitics and the tensions that affect Security and Defence in the European environment", concludes Cayón.