Controlled Loss of Control: The Articulation of Resilience as ‘Empty Signifier’ in EU and NATO Policies

ABSTRACT The objective to make subjects and objects 'resilient' is written into many EU and NATO policies and 'building resilience' has been made a priority of EU‐NATO cooperation. This article critically examines the articulation of resilience as an ‘empty signifier’ in the policy realm, drawing on poststructuralist theory to problematise what resilience is represented to be. It claims that the usage of resilience signifies a controlled loss of control in more insecure and unstable times. Seemingly paradoxically, resilience stands for an unfulfilled, nearly unquestioned demand. The EU and NATO frame resilience as an antidote to internal vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities have been publicly disclosed after recent exogenous shocks: the Covid‐19 pandemic and Russia's 2014 and 2022 invasions of Ukraine. A critical methodology to policy analysis allows to question the appeal of resilience in times of existential crises. Its emptiness makes resilience powerful, enabling a wide range of policy interventions to materialise.