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A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep into a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***Earlier this month, the European Commission released its first-ever defense industrial strategy, which it said “sets a clear, long-term vision to achieve defence industrial readiness in the European Union” in the face of “Russia’s unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine.” We asked top experts on the European defense industry to weigh in on the strategy and how effective it will actually be in boosting Europe’s defense industrial capacity. Read more below. Ulrike Franke Senior Fellow European Council on Foreign RelationsThe European Union Commission has put forward an ambitious defense industrial strategy. Europeans, the strategy foresees, should buy more weapons. They must buy them together. And they must buy them in Europe. The strategy shows that the European Union is coming of age on defense. Over are the days when the bloc was hiding behind a “peace continent” narrative, justifying complacency with pacifism.The best news in the strategy is the integration of Ukraine into the European Union’s defense industrial base – a mutually beneficial arrangement. The bloc will open an innovation office in Kyiv. An E.U.-Ukrainian defense industry forum will be held in 2024. A partnership with Ukraine to “swiftly achieve defence readiness” will be established. And, crucially, Ukraine will be able to participate in joint procurement and Ukrainian defense companies will be supported in their industrial ramp-up. No other non-E.U. member state gets this kind of partnership. The European Commission is trying to do its part. Luis Simón Director, Centre for Security, Diplomacy, and Strategy, Vrije Universiteit Brussels & Director, Brussels Office of the Elcano Royal InstituteThe European Defence Industrial Strategy –