The strategic effect of European Union operations
The European Union is certainly active through its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP): witness the large number of past and present military and civilian operations, across the globe. But […]
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
Permanent structured cooperation in defence: building effective European armed forces
If the European Union is to be ready to share in the responsibility for global security and building a better world, as the European Security Strategy states, it is evident […]
Terrorism and other transnational threats in the Sahel: what role for the EU?
On 16 March 2010, foreign ministers from a number of Saharan and Sahel countries—Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania and Niger—met in Algeria to discuss the evolving threat of […]
EU seeks truly strategic partners
On the EU’s strategic partnerships, their meaning and purposes. This commentary was published ahead of the 2010 European Council that addressed this issue. It was published simultaneously in French under […]
De patstelling in het Afghaanse ‘oorlogje’
in De Morgen, 15 Sept. 2010. (Photo credit: Pixabay)
Countering Afghan narcotics: a litmus test for effective NATO and Russia cooperation?
Afghan opiates kill 100,000 people a year globally. Every year NATO countries lose over 10,000 people to heroin overdoses. In Russia an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people die of drug […]