Security – sustainable and integrated

Here, the WBGU draws on the concept of ‘integrated security’ as used in Germany’s National Security Strategy, but interprets its meaning much more broadly than in the current discourse and in Germany’s National Security Council. Shaping security policy as a policy for the future requires the sustainable protection of our life-support systems and, in addition, the targeted promotion of social cohesion as the foundation of internal, external and economic security and democracy’s ability to act. Furthermore, it is important to guarantee information integrity as the basis for a robust (wehrhaft) democracy, to use technologies and raw materials in a balanced way and reduce one-sided dependencies, as well as to strengthen international relations.

A future-oriented, integrated security policy should address the challenges associated with these fields of action – climate and environmental protection, social cohesion, information integrity, increased technological and raw-material sovereignty and international cooperation – and incorporate them into a multidimensional security architecture. This is how a cooperative, long-term, resilient and sustainable security policy can be achieved.

The start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine on 24 February 2022 also shook German and European societies to their foundations. A new feeling of insecurity began to spread. The US government’s National Security Strategy published in 2025 and its recent actions and territorial claims, some of which violate international law, also underline the need for Europe and the European Union to expand their own defence capabilities independently of the USA. However, limiting security-policy debates exclusively to present-day defence-policy issues and expanding military capacity ignores the considerable existing and constantly increasing risks to our life-support systems, social cohesion and our own ability to act, and thus the risks to a robust (wehrhaft) democracy, to sovereignty and reliable international relations.

The WBGU therefore urgently recommends retaining the German government’s concept of integrated security, and implementing it in all its security-relevant dimensions. In order to complement the debate on military security and to expand strategic and partnership-based international cooperation, the WBGU presents specific recommendations for action. The recommendations are by way of example and not exhaustive. In the coming months, they will be supplemented, fleshed out and substantiated in separate report sections. Thus, we aim to offer a basis for discussion in order to broaden and deepen the ongoing security-policy debates by adding essential factors and thematic areas.

_{*From a scientific perspective, climate is part of the environment. However, in order to give the topic greater visibility, we refer to 'environment and climate' in this report.}