Commentaries
Will the foreign fighters issue ever end?
Rik Coolsaet questions the supposed socio-economic root causes of the phenomenon of foreign fighters. This commentary appeared in European Geostrategy on 19 April 2015.
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
Commentaries
Rather no government of technocrats
The “De Morgen” Newspaper chose Sven Biscop as defence minister in a hypothetical government of technocrats for Belgium. But Belgian and EU policy needs to become more political, not more […]
Commentaries
Half a grand strategy is not enough
Sven Biscop points out that the EU is caught between member states that do not have a strategy and those that do but who do not have the means to […]
Commentaries
Letter from Brussels
“What should the EU do?” This is how most, if not all, policymakers in the Belgian foreign ministry react when a crisis occurs in, say, Ukraine or Syria. But as […]
Commentaries
To join or not to join: The AIIB and the EU’s dilemma
As China announced the launch of its new development bank, the AIIB, the lack of debate in many EU capitals – and at the EU level itself – was particularly striking. Is […]
Commentaries
Strategy: what is it good for?
Sven Biscop outlines how we should think about strategy in the context of a forthcoming reflection on a new strategy for EU foreign policy.