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 […]
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
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 […]
Georgia at a Crossroads: An Increasingly Illiberal Domestic Policy is Becoming an Obstacle to EU Accession
Georgia faces a defining moment. The recent adoption of a Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, modelled on Russian legislation, clashes with Georgia’s goal of EU accession. The law allows […]
External publications
The Long Shadow? China’s Military Rise in the Indo-Pacific and its Global Implications
China’s growing power and increasingly aggressive military posture in the Indo-Pacific poses short- and long-term challenges, not only for its direct neighbours but also for nations far beyond the region […]
Figures on the Billiard Table: EU-China Dynamics in the Wake of the 2024 European Elections
“Red over green, white over green, new figures emerged like signs; quickly they blew away, nothing remained; music without melody, painting without representation; just squares, rectangles, diamonds, in large numbers; […]