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.
The European Security Strategy of 2003 calls for an active, capable and coherent EU security policy and for a common ‘strategic culture’ in Europe. Since then much progress has been […]
Studia Diplomatica
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND EFFECTIVE MULTILATERALISM -Global Perceptions of the European Union at the United Nations, F. Creed -Recent evolutions in European Union Development Aid: more Europe, more aid, less development?, […]
in The EU-Russia Review, Issue Two, Nov. 2006, Editor Fraser Cameron. This second issue of the EU-Russia Centre Review is devoted to the future of EU-Russia relations. There is hardly […]
External publications
De diagnose is al vaak gesteld: België en Nederland hebben een curieuze relatie. Er is veel dat hen samenbrengt: twee kleine/middelgrote staten aan de Noordzee, in de noordwestelijke hoek van […]
External publications
De aanvaarding van de Europese Veiligheidsstrategie (EVS), Een veiliger Europa in een betere wereld, door de Europese Raad op 12 december 2003 was een grote stap voor de EU, maar […]
External publications
in Katie Verlin Laatikainen & Karen E. Smith (eds.), The European Union at the United Nations. Intersecting Multilateralisms, Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan, 2006, pp. 115-132. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)