Geopolitical uncertainties and the resurgence of security and defence needs present both opportunities and challenges for creativity and innovation management. At both the organizational and the individual levels, we are confronted with multiple ethically challenging choices. Given the changing global security and defence realities, we outline the ethical dilemma for creativity and innovation management scholars and propose an emerging agenda for our field. Our position is that, as citizens of open and democratic societies, we must not withdraw from defending the very values and institutions that have allowed us to pursue our profession freely. With this article, we contribute to an emerging discourse in creativity and innovation management research by making a call for ethical and societal frameworks to guide our profession and by proposing directions for future research on innovation in the defence and security realm.