ICDS Research Fellow and Head of Studies, Tomas Jermalavičius, has become a member of Ares (Armament Industry European Research) group – a new cross-border think-tank launched in early 2016 with the aim of encouraging fresh strategic thinking, developing innovative policy proposals and conducting studies for public and private stakeholders in the European defence industry and technology community.
Ares group is co-ordinated by the Institute of International Relations and Strategy (IRIS), a French think-tank, and its steering and scientific advisory boards include senior researchers from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), German Marshall Fund (GMF), European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Italian Institute of International Affairs (IAI), Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) as well as the Universities of York and Bordeaux IV. Ares group will be publishing short commentaries, policy papers and research reports as well as holding two seminars each year in order to discuss its proposals with the European and national stakeholders. For the ICDS, it is a great opportunity to represent a perspective of small states and the Baltic region in generating the ideas for future European defence research, technology, innovation and industrial cooperation.