Across Europe, governments are reviving a Cold War doctrine with renewed urgency: National security is anchored not only in military power, but in the resilience of society as a whole. Power grids, digital infrastructure and supply chains are no longer economic assets — they are strategic pillars of national defense and targets of hybrid warfare. Citizens are not bystanders to defense; they are part of it. Whole-of-society resilience has emerged as a strategic concept — one that resonates strongly with debates and experiences in Taiwan.

For decades, security in Europe was defined in conventional terms: armies, borders and military alliances. After 1990, this understanding broadened, shaped by a European belief, and expectation of a more peaceful and stable future. That assumption no longer holds. 

Modern threats are multi-dimensional and simultaneous, combining cyberattacks, foreign information manipulation and interference, energy disruptions, pandemics or extreme weather events — often at the same time.