Commentaries
Why Belgium is not Europe’s jihadi base
International experts and journalists have resorted to Belgium-bashing and finger-pointing. They call Belgium a “failed state,” our police and intelligence services “incompetent.”
Europe in the World
In a world that is largely driven by competition and rivalry (and partnership, yet) between great powers, understanding the Grand Strategy of each of these powers is crucial. So is developing a Grand Strategy for the EU itself. An EU that acts as one, as one pole of the multipolar world on a par with the other powers, is the only way to safeguard the way of life that the Member States of the EU have chosen, based on democracy, the free market, and equality.
Power cannot be divided: a global player must have political, economic, as well as military power. To that end, the Europe in the World Programme analyses the diplomacy and defence of the US, China, and Russia, and of the EU, NATO, and their members. We also focus on geoeconomics, researching Open Strategic Autonomy and the Global Gateway as key EU instruments, as well as the geoeconomic approaches of the other powers.
Defence policy is our third main axis of research, with a particular focus on European defence and its interaction with NATO, but also on nuclear deterrence and the deterrence of hybrid threats. Throughout all three research axis, we devote special attention to the role of Belgium, including notably the development of its own National Security Strategy and diplomatic and military capabilities.
Publications
The Global Strategy – reinvigorating the EU’s multilateral agenda?
The EU’s effective multilateralism doctrine is hardly a defining characteristic of the international system of today. While established multilateral structures are far from reflective of the realities of the twenty-first […]
Commentaries
Staying Belgian, investing in Europe
After the attacks in Brussels, investing in Europe is the only answer: European intelligence, European defence, European democracy, says Sven Biscop.
Commentaries
Securing the ‘middle spaces’: geography, strategy and the future of European power
In this final articke in a five-part series on defence and the EU Global Strategy, Luis Simón argues that any European strategy must not neglect the geopolitically relevant spaces in between […]
Geopolitics with European characteristics: An essay on pragmatic idealism, equality, and strategy
In today’s world, cooperation and competition co-exist. The same powers that work against each other in one case, are working together in the other. Is a value-based EU foreign policy […]
Commentaries
Three plus one: a military level of ambition for Europeans
In this fourth contribution in a five-part series on defence and the EU Global Strategy, Alexander Mattelaer looks at transatlantic burden-sharing and European defence.