From ESDP to CSDP : Time for some Strategy
in Diploweb.com, 16 Jan. 2010. (Photo credit: European Council, © European Union 2004-2014)
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
From the new G20 to a new multilateral order
Entering a new decade with a new Treaty, the EU now possesses more tools to adapt and cope with an increasingly complex, multipolar and interdependent world. Of course, the Lisbon […]
To rule the waves: why a maritime geostrategy is needed to sustain European Union
In this paper of the Grand Strategy Project series, young British scholar James Rogers argues that we Europeans must begin to focus more on maritime geostrategy. (Photo credit: Mogens Engelund, […]
A need for strategy in a multipolar world: recommendations to the EU after Lisbon
The Lisbon Treaty now having entered into force, it is time for the EU to get back to work and more specifically to focus on its foreign policy. In a […]
A strategy for the European Union in the post-cold war international system: a third-party
In this first paper of the Grand Strategy Project series, French expert Frédéric Ramel describes the EU as being a third party more than a strategic actor. In a world […]
Un Haut Représentant a besoin d’une Grande Stratégie
After the nomination of the new president of the Concil of European Union, Mr Herman Van Rompuy and the nomination of Cathy Ashton as new high representative, what will be the real strategy of […]