I527-290 ESRIF Final Report (WEB).indd - European Commission

Culture as a factor in the perception/definition of threat Culture as a factor in the response to threat
Model I / Normative values
Model III / Common symbols
Focus on institutional foundations that provide values on which
decision-making is based:
Ideas and habits defining national characteristics of security and governing
threat perception; explanation of formation of action repertories as assumed
as independent variable in model IV
Cultural factors
influencing the
national approach to
security (research)
governance
Deriving common values from coordinated threat assessments and
common security capability plans; development of a common
European security identity along with standardisation and certification
of security solutions
Example: A country that has a security culture centred on prevention and
foresight as the symbol for security will have normative difficulty to engage in
security research coordination centred on response/reaction and to accept topics
such as civil protection as elements of a European security (research) agenda.
(e.g. national interagency
coordination vs.
international
standardisation)
Problem: May lead to the development of separate national values and
themes for national security research (coordination) and for European
security research (coordination)
Example: A certain normative concept of civil society present in a EU
member state may prevent that state from participation in international
security (research) coordination, especially in the field of technical
solutions to security problems, because this runs counter to that state’s
conception of liberty and self-determination of its people.
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