New Springer Book Explores Geopolitical and Security Challenges in Risk Management

How can European societies strengthen their preparedness and resilience in an increasingly complex security environment?

A new open-access book, Geopolitical and Security Issues in Risk Management, published by Springer in October 2026, examines this question from the perspectives of civil protection, risk governance, security and societal resilience.

The volume is part of Springer’s Civil Protection, Disaster Management, and Resilience series and brings together research addressing contemporary security challenges in Europe.

Understanding interconnected risks

Today’s security challenges rarely occur in isolation. Geopolitical tensions, hybrid threats, technological dependencies, environmental changes and disruptions to essential services can interact, creating complex and potentially prolonged crises.

The book examines several dimensions of these challenges, including civil protection in the changing European security environment, chemical safety, digital vulnerabilities, the role of the cultural sector in civil defence, international crisis response, vital service continuity and community preparedness.

A common consideration across these topics is the need to move beyond addressing individual risks separately and towards more integrated approaches to crisis preparedness and resilience.

Community preparedness and essential services

As the editor of the volume, I also contributed two chapters addressing topics closely related to my research interests.

The chapter Disaster and Crisis Preparedness of Communities examines the implications of interconnected and potentially prolonged crises for community preparedness and resilience.

The chapter Resilience and Service Continuity for Vital Services Providers in Multimodal Crises, co-authored with Jaanus Kaugerand and Taivo Kangilaski, addresses the challenges of maintaining essential services when several crises occur simultaneously.

These topics highlight an important consideration: societal resilience depends not only on the capabilities of public authorities and emergency services, but also on the preparedness of communities, organisations and critical service providers.

Research and collaboration

The book was developed in the context of the EUMA project, with the participation of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, and brings together contributions from researchers and specialists addressing different aspects of civil protection and risk management.

I hope the volume will provide useful perspectives for researchers, policymakers and practitioners working to strengthen European security, civil protection and societal resilience.

The complete book is available free of charge through Springer:

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-13840-8

Savimaa R., (Ed.) (2026): Geopolitical and Security Issues in Risk Management. In: Glade T., Billing P., Bony-Dandrieux A., McMullan C., Savimaa R., Schrott L., Sommario
E., van Westen C.J. (Series Eds.): Civil Protection, Disaster Management, and Resilience (Vol. 6), Springer Nature: Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-13840-8