Introducing: the CELIS-L&G Blogseries
Welcome, readers, to the inaugural blog post of a new collaboration between the academic journal Law & Geoeconomics (L&G) and the CELIS Institute. To set the tone, we decided to sit down with some of the guiding minds behind this new series to better understand developments in geoeconomics and economic security, and to explore why this initiative is so important right now.
To dive right in: How do you see the state of geoeconomics now?
Mikael Wigell, Editor, Law & Geoeconomics: Geoeconomics has moved from the margins to the very centre of international affairs. What was once a niche analytical lens is now the organising logic of great-power competition, supply-chain restructuring, and the strategic turn in economic policy across advanced economies. We are living through a shift where states increasingly pursue power through the control of economic flows – technology, capital, data, critical resources – rather than through traditional territorial competition. This creates more flow friction, and catalyses patterns of re-globalization. The U.S., Europe, China, and rising middle powers all use geoeconomic tools differently, forcing us to rethink old binaries of “open” versus “closed” economies, or “market” versus “state” capitalist systems. Geoeconomics is also no longer simply a practice of states but a systemic logic reshaping the incentives of companies, regulators, and institutions alike. Both states and firms operate within a landscape where economic decisions have immediate security consequences, and vice versa.
Steffen Hindelang, Executive Director and Co-Founder, CELIS Institute: Before answering, one first needs to clarify what is meant by “geoeconomics”. While the previous period was characterised by liberalisation and a separation or better, a greater distance between State and market, geoeconomics, at least in my understanding, refers to a model in which the State intervenes much more actively in markets and deliberately uses economic instruments for strategic and political purposes. These interventions do not only address real or perceived security threats; they also redistribute wealth among nations and within societies. Is it something new under the sun? I do not think so. That said, Europe, in particular, finds itself “sandwiched” between the United States and China, and it has so far struggled to fully leverage the size and maturity of its internal market. If Europe fails to deepen its internal market through far-reaching integration, especially in banking and other services, and by fostering innovation and competition, and if it does not protect its interests by (re-)building hard-power capabilities, it will struggle to secure prosperity for its citizens. For the EU and its Member States, this is one of the toughest challenges in their recent history: they must overcome national egoisms and Kleinstaaterei to remain relevant.
Sarah Bauerle Danzman, Editor, Law & Geoeconomics: Geoeconomics is a capacious term, and it is also a political term. For that reason, scholars need to be thoughtful about what we mean when we use the word “geoeconomics” to describe our object of inquiry.
For me, geoeconomics is the use of economic levers – either offensively or defensively – to achieve geopolitical objectives. But, of course, defining geoeconomics in this way (which is a standard definition) makes it clear that geoeconomics is nothing new and, indeed, has been a major, if not dominant, strategic tool of choice forever.
Clearly, the current interest in geoeconomics is driven by something new. I locate the novel aspect of geoeconomics in a growing ideological commitment to elevate security over economic prosperity and in a growing sense of comfort with breaking rules-based commitments to orderly economic exchange in service of geopolitical interests.
While governments are increasingly developing a strategic posture toward a more muscular geoeconomic age, global firms seem to fall behind. As a group, they are flummoxed by governmental actions that impede global exchange. As a result, business interests and governments are largely talking past each other.
Where do you see the complementarities, overlaps, and divergences between L&G and CELIS?
SBD: CELIS has quickly established itself as the premier reference point for the intersection of the policy and practice of investment security, with deep expertise on the legal practitioner side. Its convenings on the subject bring top-level experts from around the globe to discuss in great detail the intricacies of the legal structures around investment security and investment screening.
L&G is a forum for the multidisciplinary study of geoeconomics broadly defined. As such, scholarship published in L&G can provide further research – grounded in theory and empirical richness - to inform and augment the sharp, practical discussions and policy analysis that have come to define CELIS.
SH: CELIS is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to investment screening and economic security. It is policy-driven and provides a global community platform focused on economic security in practice, while Law & Geoeconomics is a scholarly journal producing theoretical and conceptual analyses on geoeconomic statecraft. They are highly complementary. CELIS shapes the policy debate and identifies real-world issues, while L&G provides academic depth and conceptual structure.
MW: Law & Geoeconomics and CELIS operate in the same intellectual terrain but from complementary vantage points.
In terms of complementarities, L&G brings an explicitly interdisciplinary perspective. It seeks to bridge security studies, political economy, and legal scholarship to understand how states use economic instruments for power political purposes, and its consequences for international economics, law and politics. For its part, CELIS has deep legal and regulatory expertise, especially on investment screening, trade instruments, and the evolving EU economic security architecture. Together, we offer a 360-degree view of how geoeconomic practice is shaped, constrained, and enabled by law.
There are also some useful overlaps between L&G and CELIS. Both communities analyse how the global economy is being restructured by security concerns. Both work at the intersection of state policy, markets, and corporate strategy. And both aim to support evidence-based, non-ideological debate.
Of course, there are always divergences, but this brings nuance. While L&G approaches geoeconomics from a conceptual and strategic-theoretical angle, CELIS approaches geoeconomics more through legal frameworks, institutional design, and practical implementation. These differences are strengths as they allow for richer debate and more grounded analysis.
What are some of the things you hope to get from the cooperation between L&G and CELIS? Why is this important or necessary during these times?
MW: The strategic turn in global economic policy is moving faster than our conceptual and legal frameworks. No single discipline can keep up on its own. This cooperation matters because policymakers need integrated insights not only on what geoeconomic tools are, but how they operate within legal constraints and commercial realities. Parallel to this, companies face regulatory regimes that are evolving at unprecedented speed and with uneven global coordination. And finally, researchers need spaces where strategic, legal, and economic perspectives are in dialogue with each other rather than siloed. By combining the strengths of L&G and CELIS, we can create a platform that helps shape the European and international debate with more nuance and rigour.
SBD: I hope that our cooperation will add an element of rigorous scholarship to a central topic in the study of international economic relations.
SH: By aligning CELIS’s access to thought leaders among policymakers, regulators, and industry with L&G’s academic rigor, we can help develop a more coherent understanding of economic security and strengthen Europe’s and other regions’ ability to act strategically rather than reactively.
Could you let readers know – especially those that might want to get involved – what the L&G x CELIS collaboration will be doing more specifically in this space?
SBD: We will be acting as a bridge between the technical sophistication and precision that characterizes CELIS events and CELIS fellows and L&G’s ability to cultivate, support, and publish rigorous legal and social scientific analysis on topics relevant to geoeconomics. By convening high-quality workshops, we are helping to build a multidisciplinary field of study while ensuring that opportunities for fruitful dialogue between scholars and practitioners are foundational to the field’s conceptual, theoretical, and empirical development.
SH: Specifically, we will jointly build and maintain a dedicated “CELIS–L&G Blog Series” on the CELIS Blog, drawing on published L&G articles, responses to them, and papers or workshop contributions curated by L&G. CELIS will provide the platform, editorial infrastructure, and visibility, while both sides will jointly promote the series and explore further events or thematic collaborations that reinforce the link between academic scholarship and policy-relevant debate.
MW: Our collaboration officially kicks off with this blog post, with contributions from L&G and CELIS! But beyond this, the collaboration will entail a joint blog, featuring short analyses, interviews, and curated debates on emerging geoeconomic and legal trends. We will also co-host events, from workshops to roundtables, that bring together practitioners, scholars, and policymakers. A great example of this was the L&G– CELIS academic workshop that we hosted alongside the 2025 CFIS event in Berlin. We’ll look to develop a joint thematic series on investment screening, strategic competitiveness, industrial policy, and the future of economic security governance. Over time, we can build a shared knowledge infrastructure that connects academic research with policy practice.
The goal is to make the bridge between law and geoeconomics more systematic and visible.
Final question! For CELIS: what do you like about L&G? For L&G: what do you like about CELIS?
SH: I value L&G’s dedication to interdisciplinarity and their commitment to strong partnerships with actors across the field, building valuable networks of academics across disciplines and regions. L&G provides a valuable and much-needed platform for research that straddles law, economics, and geopolitics & security studies, and creates a place for work that is sometimes hard pressed to find a space in traditional journals.
On a more personal note, the L&G editorial team is a reliable partner and a lot of fun to work with, which is always a good sign when you seek to deepen engagement!
MW: From the perspective of Law & Geoeconomics, what stands out about CELIS is its commitment to building a community with real practical impact. CELIS has succeeded in turning a specialised area – investment screening and economic security law – into a vibrant ecosystem where lawyers, economists, and policymakers engage on equal footing.
What I value most is CELIS’s ability to translate complex legal developments into operational insight. In a moment when geoeconomic instruments are proliferating, such as screening mechanisms and export controls, this kind of legal clarity is indispensable. CELIS helps ensure that geoeconomic debates are not only analytically compelling but legally grounded and institutionally realistic.
SBD: I love that CELIS brings together experts for high candor, highly precise, and deeply serious discussion of investment security at the policy and implementation level. As a scholar of geoeconomics, having an opportunity to talk to individuals “doing” geoeconomics within governments and the private sector provides me with the context and insights necessary to sharpen my conceptual, theoretical, and empirical understanding of this dynamic and incredibly impactful area of study.
Thank you to Steffen, Mikael, and Sarah for your comments and insights. With this introduction, we very much look forward to what is to come in the blog.
We also look forward to your contributions! If you are interested in writing for the L&G x CELIS blog space, please contact Floor Doppen at fd@celis.institute or Cordelia Buchanan Ponczek at cordelia.ponczek@fiia.fi with “L&G x CELIS blog” in the subject line. We welcome a plurality of views and backgrounds. If you’d like to submit an academic article to L&G, please use the contact the editorial team at submissions@lawgeoeconomics.org. If you’d like to get involved with the work of the CELIS Institute, please contact fd@celis.institute.
