Commentaries
Bad theatre
In this article Sven Biscop argues that it is futile to put troops on the streets of European capitals when the real battle against ISIS needs to be fought at […]
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
No Belgian armed forces is unaffordable
In this Security Policy Brief Jo Coelmont examines the challenges Belgium is facing at present. On the one hand there is the declared political objective to henceforth provide its defence […]
Commentaries
Ukraine, another ‘Iraq moment’ for Europe?
This short commentary draws some parallels between the Ukrainian crisis today and the Iraqi intervention in 2003, notably with regard to internal European divisions and the need for a ‘strategic […]
Multipolar myths and unipolar fantasies
Is the world becoming multipolar or will it remain unipolar? Analysts disagree, but it might be that this does not matter too much and that we better skip polarity terminology altogether.
Commentaries
Thou shalt not arm those who cannot win
In this article, Sven Biscop argues that Ukraine should not be armed by Western powers for fear of escalating the crisis. He makes a plea for a diplomatic resolution to […]
Commentaries
The future of European Geostrategy
Daniel Fiott draws conclusions from the lecture series on the future of European geostrategy, which Egmont and the Institute for European Studies of the VUB organized last fall. All 10 […]