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Moritz Wei

Biographic Data

ID3922414
NAMEMoritz Wei
GIVEN NAMESMoritz
FAMILY NAMEWei
SIGNATUREWEI M
AFFILIATIONSLudwig-Maximilians-Universität München
ORCID0000-0001-9311-6480
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS27
TOTAL CITATIONS249
AUTHOR COUNT27
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2008
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX8
  • Rule-takers or rule-makers? How regional hubs design digital governance frameworks

    Open Access•Sandra Bandemer, Benjamin Daßler et al.•ARTICLE•Globalizations•2026

    Geoeconomic competition is transforming digital governance. Existing scholarship emphasizes either dependencies on digital ‘empires’ – the US, EU, China – or domestic autonomy as primary determinants of third countries’ digital governance frameworks. Focusing on regional digital hubs – Turkey, India, South Africa – we argue that these states are not merely rule-takers, but rule-makers in their own right. Drawing on liberal theories of preference …

  • Bringing society (back) in? Defence transformations across Europe in the Zeitenwende

    Open Access•Joakim Berndtsson, Andreas Kruck et al.•ARTICLE•West European Politics•2026

  • Taking the EU Seriously: Dual Security Management in the New Geopolitics

    Open Access•Benjamin Daßler, Moritz Wei et al.•ARTICLE•Global Studies Quarterly•2026

    Today’s revival of geopolitics is challenging the global order and leaving the European Union (EU) seemingly squeezed between the United States as a reluctant hegemon and rising powers such as China. Most importantly, the EU lacks the currency of geopolitics, namely its own military capabilities. How can it nevertheless project power in these new geopolitics? We argue that the EU is emerging as a dual security manager. It aligns with like-minded …

  • The political economy of cybersecurity: Governments, firms and opportunity structures for business power

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Nicolas Krieger•ARTICLE•Arms Control•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 15

  • Politics of de-risking: How the EU confronts vulnerabilities in critical digital infrastructures

    Open Access•Sandra Bandemer, Benjamin Daßler et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2025•Cited by: 3•References: 25

  • Beyond the European Army Illusion: A Prudent Strategy for the Real European Zeitenwende

    Open Access•Benjamin Daßler, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•JCMS Journal of Common Market…•2025•References: 19

  • Introducing Organizational (Dis)Entanglements: How Scholarship on Regime Complexity and Power Dynamics Helps Make Sense of International Order-Making

    Open Access•Stephanie C Hofmann, Yuqian Cai et al.•ARTICLE•International Studies Review•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 22

    Scholars and pundits focusing on the changing international order and its possible fragmentation often pay little attention to the manifold relationships between international organizations (IOs). Neglecting inter-organizational relationships, we argue, biases discussions towards doomsday predictions and reinforces the perception of global fragmentation. In this Forum, we address these biases by bringing together two strands of IR scholarship: po…

  • Disentangling Leviathan on its home turf: Authority foundations, policy instruments, and the making of security

    Open Access•Andreas Kruck, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Regulation & Governance•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 85

    Making security has been Leviathan's home turf and its prime responsibility. Yet, while security states in advanced democracies share this uniform purpose, there is vast variation in how they legitimize and how they make security policies. First, the political authority of elected policy‐makers is sometimes superseded by the epistemic authority of experts. Second, states make security, in some instances, by drawing on their own capacities, wherea…

  • Navigating Regime Complexes in Turbulent Times—The EU’s Interaction with Other International Organizations in Crises

    Open Access•Benjamin Daßler, Sandra Bandemer et al.•ARTICLE•Politische Vierteljahresschrift.…•2024•Cited by: 3•References: 23

    Over the past decades, the European Union (EU) has confronted multiple crises, which have prompted swift political responses from the EU’s member states and institutions. While there is a broad literature about the EU’s internal responses to crises, we know much less about the EU’s interactions with external actors. Because the EU is part of issue-specific regime complexes, it has cultivated relationships with international organizations (IOs) ac…

  • The regulatory security state in Europe

    Andreas Kruck, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2023•Cited by: 27•References: 90

    The 'regulatory state' has prevailed in almost every sector of European public policy. The provision of security, however, is still widely viewed as the domain of the 'positive state', which rests on political authority and autonomous capacities. Challenging this presumption, we argue that expertise – as foundation of authority – and rules – as policy instruments – also shape the provision of European security by national and, in particular, supr…

  • Networked politics and the supply of European defence integration

    Moritz Wei, Felix Biermann•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2022•Cited by: 7•References: 38

    Defence integration is frequently in demand but hardly supplied. Sovereignty concerns and a desire for national control constrain integration of the core state power of arms production. The European Aeronautic, Defence and Space (EADS) company (today's Airbus Group) stands out as an exception to this rule. How was this instance of defence integration supplied? We suggest a two-step network mechanism. First, the structure of national networks shap…

  • The rise of cybersecurity warriors

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Small Wars and Insurgencies•2022•References: 39

    The increasing demand for cybersecurity has been met by a global supply, namely, a rapidly growing market of private companies that offer their services worldwide. Cybersecurity firms develop both defensive (e.g. protection of own networks) and offensive innovations (e.g. development of zero days), whereby they provide operational capacities and expertise to overstrained states. Yet, there is hardly any systematic knowledge of these new cybersecu…

  • Power without a cause ? Germany’s conflict avoidance and the integration of European defence procurement

    Felix Biermann, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Integration•2021•Cited by: 6•References: 10

    Germany’s state elites and general public have consistently preferred deepening integration of defence procurement at the European Union (EU) level. However, the German government has repeatedly acted against this well-established preference. First, it wanted the European Defence Agency to become a full-fledged armaments agency but tolerated its marginalization into a symbolic entity. Second, it preferred to ban protectionist defence procurement …

  • Varieties of privatization: Informal networks, trust and state control of the commanding heights

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Review of International Political…•2020•Cited by: 15•References: 14

    Why did ordoliberal Germany unconditionally privatize its aerospace and defense industries in the 1980s, whereas the neoliberal government in the United Kingdom established significant state control? To shed light on this puzzle, this article builds on the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) and theorizes how different production regimes – complemented by distinct legal traditions – shape governments’ decisions about how to privatize state-owned indust…

  • Disarmed principals: Institutional Resilience and the Non-Enforcement of Delegation

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Tim Heinkelmann‐wild•ARTICLE•European Political Science Review•2020•Cited by: 7•References: 53

    Governments across the world increasingly rely on non-state agents for managing even the most sensitive tasks that range from running critical infrastructures to protecting citizens. While private agents frequently underperform, governments as principals tend nonethelessnotto enforce delegation contracts. Why? We suggest the mechanism of institutional resilience. A preexisting set of rules shapes non-enforcement through the combination of (i) its…

  • From Wealth to Power? The Failure of Layered Reforms in India's Defense Sector

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of Global Security Studies•2019•Cited by: 3•References: 21

    This article puts forward a historical institutionalist explanation of how rising powers translate increased wealth into military strength. It develops microfoundations for path dependence and applies them empirically as an approach to defense procurement. The Indian government layered market reforms onto a state-run defense sector. It aimed to exploit competition in its massive acquisition of combat fighter aircraft after 2007. Yet, despite form…

  • Political (non-)reform in the euro crisis and the refugee crisis: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Explanation

    Felix Biermann, Nina Guérin et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2019•Cited by: 67•References: 26

    The objective of this contribution is to account for the different political reform trajectories resulting from two of the most recent governance challenges faced by the European Union (EU), the so-called euro and refugee crises. While the euro crisis triggered various EU-level reforms, the refugee crisis has produced calls for policy and institutional reforms, most of which have – to date – not been adopted or implemented. We employ a liberal in…

  • Securing cyberspace: How states design governance arrangements

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Vytautas Jankauskas•ARTICLE•Governance•2019•Cited by: 18•References: 35

    The functioning of modern societies increasingly depends on secure cyberspace. Given states' lacking capacities to protect this novel domain, governments draw on a variety of third parties for support. Yet, they face a challenge. While imposed control may limit third parties' competence, the abandonment of hierarchical control contradicts the widespread notion of national security. How do states navigate between these functional and national secu…

  • State vs. market in India: How (not) to integrate foreign contractors in the domestic defense-industrial sector

    Moritz Wei, Moritz Weiss•ARTICLE•Comparative Strategy•2018

    India has evolved not only as a rising power in Asia, but as the world’s largest arms importer. While facing some international threats, its defense-industrial policy is primarily driven by domestic opportunities and constraints. India’s enormous market size enables technology transfers, whereas domestic factors fundamentally exacerbate their effective utilization. Most significantly, attempts to liberalize the defense industries face the challen…

  • How to become a first mover? Mechanisms of military innovation and the development of drones

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•European Journal of International…•2017•Cited by: 6•References: 18

    States generate the hardware of military power by either developing new technologies as first mover or adopting demonstrated technology as second mover. Given that military drones have arguably demonstrated effectiveness and thus proliferate, scholars have produced profound insights into today’s second mover dynamics. Yet, the preceding political process of developing this military technology remains poorly understood. The article’s objective is …

  • Judicialized Law‐Making and Opportunistic Enforcement: Explaining the EU's Challenge of National Defence Offsets

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Michael Blauberger•ARTICLE•JCMS Journal of Common Market…•2016•Cited by: 13•References: 25

    This article seeks to explain how the European Union (EU) – by challenging national defence offsets – managed to move into a highly sensitive policy area under formerly exclusive Member State competence. Whereas major accounts of integration depict defence policy as a least likely case, our process‐tracing analysis shows that the EU's recent challenge of defence offsets was a case of supranational self‐empowerment. We theorize two consecutive str…

  • Who's in the cockpit? The political economy of collaborative aircraft decisions

    Marc R Devore, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Review of International Political…•2013•Cited by: 18•References: 11

    Few issues are more important to states’ security than their ability to acquire modern weaponry. Today, advanced industrial democracies possess three options for doing this. In principle, they can: autonomously produce their own armaments, import them from foreign suppliers, or collaborate with other states to co-produce common weapons. In this study, we examine the factors driving state decisions to either collaboratively or autonomously procure…

  • If you can't beat me, join me!’ How the Commission pushed and pulled member states into legislating defence procurement

    Michael Blauberger, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2013•Cited by: 37•References: 21

    The smooth adoption of the European Union (EU) defence procurement directive in 2009 is puzzling, because member states had fiercely opposed legislation for the sensitive defence-industrial sector before. We argue that the Commission's strategic usage of judicial politics changed member states' opportunity structure and, by this, transformed a blocking majority of member states into legislative consensus. As it drew on new case law, the Commissio…

  • Transaction Costs and the Establishment of the European Security and Defense Policy

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Security Studies•2012•Cited by: 12

    This article explains the establishment of the European Union's Security and Defense Policy (esdp) in 1998–99 and its institutional design. I argue that both the soft balancing explanation and the “second wave” of approaches fall short. In contrast, the article shows that liberal-institutionalist thought and transaction costs economics offer a heuristically promising perspective. Most crucially, the pivotal concept of asset specificity provides e…

  • Power and signals: Explaining the German approach to European security

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of International…•2009•Cited by: 2•References: 23

Next
  • Political (non-)reform in the euro crisis and the refugee crisis: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Explanation

    Felix Biermann, Nina Guérin et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2019•Cited by: 67•References: 26

    The objective of this contribution is to account for the different political reform trajectories resulting from two of the most recent governance challenges faced by the European Union (EU), the so-called euro and refugee crises. While the euro crisis triggered various EU-level reforms, the refugee crisis has produced calls for policy and institutional reforms, most of which have – to date – not been adopted or implemented. We employ a liberal in…

  • If you can't beat me, join me!’ How the Commission pushed and pulled member states into legislating defence procurement

    Michael Blauberger, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2013•Cited by: 37•References: 21

    The smooth adoption of the European Union (EU) defence procurement directive in 2009 is puzzling, because member states had fiercely opposed legislation for the sensitive defence-industrial sector before. We argue that the Commission's strategic usage of judicial politics changed member states' opportunity structure and, by this, transformed a blocking majority of member states into legislative consensus. As it drew on new case law, the Commissio…

  • The regulatory security state in Europe

    Andreas Kruck, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2023•Cited by: 27•References: 90

    The 'regulatory state' has prevailed in almost every sector of European public policy. The provision of security, however, is still widely viewed as the domain of the 'positive state', which rests on political authority and autonomous capacities. Challenging this presumption, we argue that expertise – as foundation of authority – and rules – as policy instruments – also shape the provision of European security by national and, in particular, supr…

  • Securing cyberspace: How states design governance arrangements

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Vytautas Jankauskas•ARTICLE•Governance•2019•Cited by: 18•References: 35

    The functioning of modern societies increasingly depends on secure cyberspace. Given states' lacking capacities to protect this novel domain, governments draw on a variety of third parties for support. Yet, they face a challenge. While imposed control may limit third parties' competence, the abandonment of hierarchical control contradicts the widespread notion of national security. How do states navigate between these functional and national secu…

  • Who's in the cockpit? The political economy of collaborative aircraft decisions

    Marc R Devore, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Review of International Political…•2013•Cited by: 18•References: 11

    Few issues are more important to states’ security than their ability to acquire modern weaponry. Today, advanced industrial democracies possess three options for doing this. In principle, they can: autonomously produce their own armaments, import them from foreign suppliers, or collaborate with other states to co-produce common weapons. In this study, we examine the factors driving state decisions to either collaboratively or autonomously procure…

  • Varieties of privatization: Informal networks, trust and state control of the commanding heights

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Review of International Political…•2020•Cited by: 15•References: 14

    Why did ordoliberal Germany unconditionally privatize its aerospace and defense industries in the 1980s, whereas the neoliberal government in the United Kingdom established significant state control? To shed light on this puzzle, this article builds on the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) and theorizes how different production regimes – complemented by distinct legal traditions – shape governments’ decisions about how to privatize state-owned indust…

  • Judicialized Law‐Making and Opportunistic Enforcement: Explaining the EU's Challenge of National Defence Offsets

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Michael Blauberger•ARTICLE•JCMS Journal of Common Market…•2016•Cited by: 13•References: 25

    This article seeks to explain how the European Union (EU) – by challenging national defence offsets – managed to move into a highly sensitive policy area under formerly exclusive Member State competence. Whereas major accounts of integration depict defence policy as a least likely case, our process‐tracing analysis shows that the EU's recent challenge of defence offsets was a case of supranational self‐empowerment. We theorize two consecutive str…

  • Transaction Costs and the Establishment of the European Security and Defense Policy

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Security Studies•2012•Cited by: 12

    This article explains the establishment of the European Union's Security and Defense Policy (esdp) in 1998–99 and its institutional design. I argue that both the soft balancing explanation and the “second wave” of approaches fall short. In contrast, the article shows that liberal-institutionalist thought and transaction costs economics offer a heuristically promising perspective. Most crucially, the pivotal concept of asset specificity provides e…

  • Networked politics and the supply of European defence integration

    Moritz Wei, Felix Biermann•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2022•Cited by: 7•References: 38

    Defence integration is frequently in demand but hardly supplied. Sovereignty concerns and a desire for national control constrain integration of the core state power of arms production. The European Aeronautic, Defence and Space (EADS) company (today's Airbus Group) stands out as an exception to this rule. How was this instance of defence integration supplied? We suggest a two-step network mechanism. First, the structure of national networks shap…

  • Disarmed principals: Institutional Resilience and the Non-Enforcement of Delegation

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Tim Heinkelmann‐wild•ARTICLE•European Political Science Review•2020•Cited by: 7•References: 53

    Governments across the world increasingly rely on non-state agents for managing even the most sensitive tasks that range from running critical infrastructures to protecting citizens. While private agents frequently underperform, governments as principals tend nonethelessnotto enforce delegation contracts. Why? We suggest the mechanism of institutional resilience. A preexisting set of rules shapes non-enforcement through the combination of (i) its…

  • Power without a cause ? Germany’s conflict avoidance and the integration of European defence procurement

    Felix Biermann, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Integration•2021•Cited by: 6•References: 10

    Germany’s state elites and general public have consistently preferred deepening integration of defence procurement at the European Union (EU) level. However, the German government has repeatedly acted against this well-established preference. First, it wanted the European Defence Agency to become a full-fledged armaments agency but tolerated its marginalization into a symbolic entity. Second, it preferred to ban protectionist defence procurement …

  • How to become a first mover? Mechanisms of military innovation and the development of drones

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•European Journal of International…•2017•Cited by: 6•References: 18

    States generate the hardware of military power by either developing new technologies as first mover or adopting demonstrated technology as second mover. Given that military drones have arguably demonstrated effectiveness and thus proliferate, scholars have produced profound insights into today’s second mover dynamics. Yet, the preceding political process of developing this military technology remains poorly understood. The article’s objective is …

  • Politics of de-risking: How the EU confronts vulnerabilities in critical digital infrastructures

    Open Access•Sandra Bandemer, Benjamin Daßler et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2025•Cited by: 3•References: 25

  • Navigating Regime Complexes in Turbulent Times—The EU’s Interaction with Other International Organizations in Crises

    Open Access•Benjamin Daßler, Sandra Bandemer et al.•ARTICLE•Politische Vierteljahresschrift.…•2024•Cited by: 3•References: 23

    Over the past decades, the European Union (EU) has confronted multiple crises, which have prompted swift political responses from the EU’s member states and institutions. While there is a broad literature about the EU’s internal responses to crises, we know much less about the EU’s interactions with external actors. Because the EU is part of issue-specific regime complexes, it has cultivated relationships with international organizations (IOs) ac…

  • From Wealth to Power? The Failure of Layered Reforms in India's Defense Sector

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of Global Security Studies•2019•Cited by: 3•References: 21

    This article puts forward a historical institutionalist explanation of how rising powers translate increased wealth into military strength. It develops microfoundations for path dependence and applies them empirically as an approach to defense procurement. The Indian government layered market reforms onto a state-run defense sector. It aimed to exploit competition in its massive acquisition of combat fighter aircraft after 2007. Yet, despite form…

  • Power and signals: Explaining the German approach to European security

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of International…•2009•Cited by: 2•References: 23

  • The political economy of cybersecurity: Governments, firms and opportunity structures for business power

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Nicolas Krieger•ARTICLE•Arms Control•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 15

  • Introducing Organizational (Dis)Entanglements: How Scholarship on Regime Complexity and Power Dynamics Helps Make Sense of International Order-Making

    Open Access•Stephanie C Hofmann, Yuqian Cai et al.•ARTICLE•International Studies Review•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 22

    Scholars and pundits focusing on the changing international order and its possible fragmentation often pay little attention to the manifold relationships between international organizations (IOs). Neglecting inter-organizational relationships, we argue, biases discussions towards doomsday predictions and reinforces the perception of global fragmentation. In this Forum, we address these biases by bringing together two strands of IR scholarship: po…

  • Disentangling Leviathan on its home turf: Authority foundations, policy instruments, and the making of security

    Open Access•Andreas Kruck, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Regulation & Governance•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 85

    Making security has been Leviathan's home turf and its prime responsibility. Yet, while security states in advanced democracies share this uniform purpose, there is vast variation in how they legitimize and how they make security policies. First, the political authority of elected policy‐makers is sometimes superseded by the epistemic authority of experts. Second, states make security, in some instances, by drawing on their own capacities, wherea…

  • Security Re-Divided: The Distinctiveness of Policy-Making in ESDP and JHA

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Moritz Weiss et al.•ARTICLE•Cooperation and Conflict•2009•Cited by: 1•References: 10

    In this article, we argue that the premature abolishment of the allegedly anachronistic concepts of internal versus external security is of doubtful heuristic value for the study of security practices. The two domains may gradually converge from the perspective of problems, but do so much less in terms of political practices. We show that security policy is pursued according to different systems of rules. It follows distinct institutional logics.…

  • The 'Political Economy of Conflicts: A Window of Opportunity for CFSP

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of Contemporary European…•2008•Cited by: 1•References: 19

    The European Union (EU) is frequently criticised for lacking substantive military capabilities and thus not being able to conduct an effective security policy. The objective of this article is to challenge the underlying assumptions of this critique in light of the features of contemporary security problems and the ‘demands’ they pose to effective security policy. Firstly, the article points towards some conceptual fallacies that these assumption…

  • The 'Political Economy of Conflicts: A Window of Opportunity for CFSP

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of Contemporary European…•2008•Cited by: 1•References: 19

    The European Union (EU) is frequently criticised for lacking substantive military capabilities and thus not being able to conduct an effective security policy. The objective of this article is to challenge the underlying assumptions of this critique in light of the features of contemporary security problems and the ‘demands’ they pose to effective security policy. Firstly, the article points towards some conceptual fallacies that these assumption…

  • Power and signals: Explaining the German approach to European security

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of International…•2009•Cited by: 2•References: 23

  • Security Re-Divided: The Distinctiveness of Policy-Making in ESDP and JHA

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Moritz Weiss et al.•ARTICLE•Cooperation and Conflict•2009•Cited by: 1•References: 10

    In this article, we argue that the premature abolishment of the allegedly anachronistic concepts of internal versus external security is of doubtful heuristic value for the study of security practices. The two domains may gradually converge from the perspective of problems, but do so much less in terms of political practices. We show that security policy is pursued according to different systems of rules. It follows distinct institutional logics.…

  • Transaction Costs and the Establishment of the European Security and Defense Policy

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Security Studies•2012•Cited by: 12

    This article explains the establishment of the European Union's Security and Defense Policy (esdp) in 1998–99 and its institutional design. I argue that both the soft balancing explanation and the “second wave” of approaches fall short. In contrast, the article shows that liberal-institutionalist thought and transaction costs economics offer a heuristically promising perspective. Most crucially, the pivotal concept of asset specificity provides e…

  • Who's in the cockpit? The political economy of collaborative aircraft decisions

    Marc R Devore, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Review of International Political…•2013•Cited by: 18•References: 11

    Few issues are more important to states’ security than their ability to acquire modern weaponry. Today, advanced industrial democracies possess three options for doing this. In principle, they can: autonomously produce their own armaments, import them from foreign suppliers, or collaborate with other states to co-produce common weapons. In this study, we examine the factors driving state decisions to either collaboratively or autonomously procure…

  • If you can't beat me, join me!’ How the Commission pushed and pulled member states into legislating defence procurement

    Michael Blauberger, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2013•Cited by: 37•References: 21

    The smooth adoption of the European Union (EU) defence procurement directive in 2009 is puzzling, because member states had fiercely opposed legislation for the sensitive defence-industrial sector before. We argue that the Commission's strategic usage of judicial politics changed member states' opportunity structure and, by this, transformed a blocking majority of member states into legislative consensus. As it drew on new case law, the Commissio…

  • Judicialized Law‐Making and Opportunistic Enforcement: Explaining the EU's Challenge of National Defence Offsets

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Michael Blauberger•ARTICLE•JCMS Journal of Common Market…•2016•Cited by: 13•References: 25

    This article seeks to explain how the European Union (EU) – by challenging national defence offsets – managed to move into a highly sensitive policy area under formerly exclusive Member State competence. Whereas major accounts of integration depict defence policy as a least likely case, our process‐tracing analysis shows that the EU's recent challenge of defence offsets was a case of supranational self‐empowerment. We theorize two consecutive str…

  • How to become a first mover? Mechanisms of military innovation and the development of drones

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•European Journal of International…•2017•Cited by: 6•References: 18

    States generate the hardware of military power by either developing new technologies as first mover or adopting demonstrated technology as second mover. Given that military drones have arguably demonstrated effectiveness and thus proliferate, scholars have produced profound insights into today’s second mover dynamics. Yet, the preceding political process of developing this military technology remains poorly understood. The article’s objective is …

  • State vs. market in India: How (not) to integrate foreign contractors in the domestic defense-industrial sector

    Moritz Wei, Moritz Weiss•ARTICLE•Comparative Strategy•2018

    India has evolved not only as a rising power in Asia, but as the world’s largest arms importer. While facing some international threats, its defense-industrial policy is primarily driven by domestic opportunities and constraints. India’s enormous market size enables technology transfers, whereas domestic factors fundamentally exacerbate their effective utilization. Most significantly, attempts to liberalize the defense industries face the challen…

  • From Wealth to Power? The Failure of Layered Reforms in India's Defense Sector

    Open Access•Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of Global Security Studies•2019•Cited by: 3•References: 21

    This article puts forward a historical institutionalist explanation of how rising powers translate increased wealth into military strength. It develops microfoundations for path dependence and applies them empirically as an approach to defense procurement. The Indian government layered market reforms onto a state-run defense sector. It aimed to exploit competition in its massive acquisition of combat fighter aircraft after 2007. Yet, despite form…

  • Political (non-)reform in the euro crisis and the refugee crisis: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Explanation

    Felix Biermann, Nina Guérin et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2019•Cited by: 67•References: 26

    The objective of this contribution is to account for the different political reform trajectories resulting from two of the most recent governance challenges faced by the European Union (EU), the so-called euro and refugee crises. While the euro crisis triggered various EU-level reforms, the refugee crisis has produced calls for policy and institutional reforms, most of which have – to date – not been adopted or implemented. We employ a liberal in…

  • Securing cyberspace: How states design governance arrangements

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Vytautas Jankauskas•ARTICLE•Governance•2019•Cited by: 18•References: 35

    The functioning of modern societies increasingly depends on secure cyberspace. Given states' lacking capacities to protect this novel domain, governments draw on a variety of third parties for support. Yet, they face a challenge. While imposed control may limit third parties' competence, the abandonment of hierarchical control contradicts the widespread notion of national security. How do states navigate between these functional and national secu…

  • Varieties of privatization: Informal networks, trust and state control of the commanding heights

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Review of International Political…•2020•Cited by: 15•References: 14

    Why did ordoliberal Germany unconditionally privatize its aerospace and defense industries in the 1980s, whereas the neoliberal government in the United Kingdom established significant state control? To shed light on this puzzle, this article builds on the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) and theorizes how different production regimes – complemented by distinct legal traditions – shape governments’ decisions about how to privatize state-owned indust…

  • Disarmed principals: Institutional Resilience and the Non-Enforcement of Delegation

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Tim Heinkelmann‐wild•ARTICLE•European Political Science Review•2020•Cited by: 7•References: 53

    Governments across the world increasingly rely on non-state agents for managing even the most sensitive tasks that range from running critical infrastructures to protecting citizens. While private agents frequently underperform, governments as principals tend nonethelessnotto enforce delegation contracts. Why? We suggest the mechanism of institutional resilience. A preexisting set of rules shapes non-enforcement through the combination of (i) its…

  • Power without a cause ? Germany’s conflict avoidance and the integration of European defence procurement

    Felix Biermann, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Integration•2021•Cited by: 6•References: 10

    Germany’s state elites and general public have consistently preferred deepening integration of defence procurement at the European Union (EU) level. However, the German government has repeatedly acted against this well-established preference. First, it wanted the European Defence Agency to become a full-fledged armaments agency but tolerated its marginalization into a symbolic entity. Second, it preferred to ban protectionist defence procurement …

  • Networked politics and the supply of European defence integration

    Moritz Wei, Felix Biermann•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2022•Cited by: 7•References: 38

    Defence integration is frequently in demand but hardly supplied. Sovereignty concerns and a desire for national control constrain integration of the core state power of arms production. The European Aeronautic, Defence and Space (EADS) company (today's Airbus Group) stands out as an exception to this rule. How was this instance of defence integration supplied? We suggest a two-step network mechanism. First, the structure of national networks shap…

  • The rise of cybersecurity warriors

    Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Small Wars and Insurgencies•2022•References: 39

    The increasing demand for cybersecurity has been met by a global supply, namely, a rapidly growing market of private companies that offer their services worldwide. Cybersecurity firms develop both defensive (e.g. protection of own networks) and offensive innovations (e.g. development of zero days), whereby they provide operational capacities and expertise to overstrained states. Yet, there is hardly any systematic knowledge of these new cybersecu…

  • The regulatory security state in Europe

    Andreas Kruck, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2023•Cited by: 27•References: 90

    The 'regulatory state' has prevailed in almost every sector of European public policy. The provision of security, however, is still widely viewed as the domain of the 'positive state', which rests on political authority and autonomous capacities. Challenging this presumption, we argue that expertise – as foundation of authority – and rules – as policy instruments – also shape the provision of European security by national and, in particular, supr…

  • Navigating Regime Complexes in Turbulent Times—The EU’s Interaction with Other International Organizations in Crises

    Open Access•Benjamin Daßler, Sandra Bandemer et al.•ARTICLE•Politische Vierteljahresschrift.…•2024•Cited by: 3•References: 23

    Over the past decades, the European Union (EU) has confronted multiple crises, which have prompted swift political responses from the EU’s member states and institutions. While there is a broad literature about the EU’s internal responses to crises, we know much less about the EU’s interactions with external actors. Because the EU is part of issue-specific regime complexes, it has cultivated relationships with international organizations (IOs) ac…

  • The political economy of cybersecurity: Governments, firms and opportunity structures for business power

    Open Access•Moritz Wei, Nicolas Krieger•ARTICLE•Arms Control•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 15

  • Politics of de-risking: How the EU confronts vulnerabilities in critical digital infrastructures

    Open Access•Sandra Bandemer, Benjamin Daßler et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of European Public Policy•2025•Cited by: 3•References: 25

  • Beyond the European Army Illusion: A Prudent Strategy for the Real European Zeitenwende

    Open Access•Benjamin Daßler, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•JCMS Journal of Common Market…•2025•References: 19

  • Introducing Organizational (Dis)Entanglements: How Scholarship on Regime Complexity and Power Dynamics Helps Make Sense of International Order-Making

    Open Access•Stephanie C Hofmann, Yuqian Cai et al.•ARTICLE•International Studies Review•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 22

    Scholars and pundits focusing on the changing international order and its possible fragmentation often pay little attention to the manifold relationships between international organizations (IOs). Neglecting inter-organizational relationships, we argue, biases discussions towards doomsday predictions and reinforces the perception of global fragmentation. In this Forum, we address these biases by bringing together two strands of IR scholarship: po…

  • Disentangling Leviathan on its home turf: Authority foundations, policy instruments, and the making of security

    Open Access•Andreas Kruck, Moritz Wei•ARTICLE•Regulation & Governance•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 85

    Making security has been Leviathan's home turf and its prime responsibility. Yet, while security states in advanced democracies share this uniform purpose, there is vast variation in how they legitimize and how they make security policies. First, the political authority of elected policy‐makers is sometimes superseded by the epistemic authority of experts. Second, states make security, in some instances, by drawing on their own capacities, wherea…

  • Rule-takers or rule-makers? How regional hubs design digital governance frameworks

    Open Access•Sandra Bandemer, Benjamin Daßler et al.•ARTICLE•Globalizations•2026

    Geoeconomic competition is transforming digital governance. Existing scholarship emphasizes either dependencies on digital ‘empires’ – the US, EU, China – or domestic autonomy as primary determinants of third countries’ digital governance frameworks. Focusing on regional digital hubs – Turkey, India, South Africa – we argue that these states are not merely rule-takers, but rule-makers in their own right. Drawing on liberal theories of preference …

Political science (23 works) · Economics (18 works) · Law (18 works) · Politics (18 works) · Law (17 works) · Business (14 works) · European union (11 works) · European Union Policy and Governance (11 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies (9 works)

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