Re-Empowering Belgian Foreign Policy
Belgium’s existing foreign policy framework was never designed to cope with the return of war and the decay of the rules-based international order. As a result, the country’s international position […]
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
Making Sense of European Disunity on Nuclear Weapon Questions
The world is entering an era of nuclear disorder. Therefore, this article aims to examine the European engagement with nuclear weapon questions at the beginning of this disorder. The research […]
Commentaries
The Coffee Machine
A few years ago we acquired a shiny new coffee machine for the common room at the Egmont Institute. A beautiful piece of equipment, which produces a truly impressive noise […]
Commentaries
No Time to Waste in Rebuilding the Belgian Armed Forces
The voters have dealt the cards. Now it is up to the winning parties from both parts of the country to negotiate a federal government. In 2020, Belgium almost broke […]
Back to the Future: Applying Cold War Wisdom to Modern Belgian Defence
Dust off the Cold War files that are lying under mounds of dust in the archives of our European Defence chancelleries. Bring back willing retired officers to share their knowledge […]
Commentaries
Protect, Strengthen, Prepare: Deterrence through Awareness, the Benefits of Implicit Attribution
To counter the increasingly aggressive hybrid campaign raging on their soil, the EU and its members states are grappling with the challenge to develop efficient instruments to counter this elusive […]