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 Commission once compared the EU, an economic giant dependent on multiple energy suppliers, to “Gulliver in chains.” One of the great promises of the European Green Deal, aside […]
Commentaries
Alarm bells are ringing. While Ukrainian forces are struggling on the frontline, unequipped for a long war of attrition, Russia is cranking up its arms production, Europe is falling behind […]
External publications
In May 2023, I wrote on the arduous quest of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to “unite the pan-Blue camp and all non-Green forces” during the contentious presidential primaries for the […]
Commentaries
The EU is facing a problem that is familiar to business leaders and corporate chieftains around the world: how to expand without exploding. Overreach threatens the EU too. *****
As Africa experiences a new coup wave establishing military governments across the continent, the EU grapples with fundamental questions about what direction to take. In the past three years several […]
The Gaza war, the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Yemeni civil war, the Syrian civil war, and the Nagorno-Karbach conflict, to name a few conflicts on the edges of Europe, have […]