Quel est le but de notre engagement en Afghanistan?
in L’Echo, 02 Sept. 2008. (Photo credit: EUPOL Afghanistan, © European Union, 1995-2014)
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
External publications
Permanent structured cooperation and the future of ESDP: transformation and integration
The efficiency problem of Europe’s armed forces is well known: of an impressive overall number of over two million men and women in uniform in the EU-27, only a meagre […]
In de voetsporen van de tsaren… of van Bismarck? Rik Coolsaet over Georgië, Rusland en het negentiende-eeuwse Pruisen
in De Standaard, 23 Aug. 2008. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Navo moet missie in Afghanistan herbekijken
SVEN BISCOP gelooft niet dat de Navo-missie in Afghanistan zoals ze nu loopt veel resultaat zal opleveren. Pas wanneer de missie een duidelijke strategie heeft en een haalbaar doel, is […]
A quoi sert l’Union Européenne au 21ème siècle?
Discours donné lors de la Conférence inaugurale des cours d’été du Mouvement européen basque. (Photo credit: rockcohen, Flickr)
The Lisbon treaty and ESDP: transformation and integration
In the few years since its inception following the 1998 Franco-British Saint- Malo Summit, the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) has progressed enormously, certainly when compared with the preceding […]