Which strategy for CSDP?
General Perruche identifies which elements would be required to craft a strategy for the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, and why in the EU this exercise is particularly difficult. […]
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
Death of an institution. The end for Western European Union, a future for European defence
On 31 March 2010 the ten Member States of Western European Union (WEU) announced that the last organs, staffs and activities of that institution would be laid to rest by […]
Assessing the EU’s strategic partnerships in the UN system
In this Security Policy Brief, Thomas Renard and Bas Hooijmaaijers look at the relationship between the EU and its ten strategic partners in the UN system, focussing on the UNGA, […]
Pooling & sharing: from slow march to quick march?
On 23 May, the Ministers of Defence of the EU27 will assess the first outcome of the “Ghent Framework” for pooling & sharing of military capabilities. While some defence establishments […]
De wereld na Bin Laden
The death of Osama Bin Laden is a good new. But his role in Al Qaeeda was out since 2004(in Dutch) in De Standaard, 3 May 2011. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The treachery of strategies: a call for true EU strategic partnerships
In September 2010, the European Council discussed for the first time the European Union’s (EU) strategic partnerships, a foreign policy concept that was until then unknown to most people – […]