Commentaries
A Belgian army for European defence
Sven Biscop outlines a realistic but real ambition for the Belgian armed forces. The key though is long-term budgetary stability. This article is available in Dutch only. This commentary appeared […]
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
Time to think about a European Union operated airlift capability?
The European Council of June 2015 will assess concrete progress regarding its conclusions of December 2013 and provide further guidance in the most promising areas. This could be the right […]
Commentaries
Bluff poker of the Belgian Defense Staff?
In this article Jo Coelmont advocates the Belgian Defence staff is not playing any bluff poker as suggested in an article published earlier by the De Standard
Commentaries
CSDP: what is it good for?
Sven Biscop asks his readers to look back at and question the original raison d’être of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy.
External publications
Taking EU-Iran relations beyond the nuclear file
Engaging in dialogue with Iran on issues beyond the nuclear program is unlikely to lead to an EU-Iranian partnership in the short term. But it is hard to see how […]
The Arab spring in comparative perspective
Egmont’s Sven Biscop, with Stefan Borg (Swedish Institute of International Affairs), contributed the chapter on the role of the EU to this assessment of the Arab Spring, which was commissioned […]