Commentaries
Biden’s Visit: Five Must-Do’s in Brussels
Trump’s approach to international organisations reminded one of Groucho Marx: “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member”. It was wise, therefore, to postpone the […]
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
Analysing the EU Global Strategy on foreign and security policy
In his contribution to the 4th edition of the CSDP Handbook, Sven Biscop analyses the genesis of EU strategy, from the “pre-strategic” days of the 1990s, to the European Security […]
Lost in translation? The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment and EU–China trade relations
This Discussion Paper analyses the scope and contents of the ambitious Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) between the EU and China following the cooling down of relations due to sanctions and countersanctions […]
Commentaries
Strengthening rather than merging Belgian intelligence services
Right-wing extremist Jurgen Conings has been on the loose for two weeks, raising fundamental questions about radicalisation in the armed forces notably. Some Members of Parliament have proposed to merge […]
Commentaries
Pivoting Stabilisation in the Sahel: competing visions and implementation checkpoints
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has recently announced greater transparency from (and better conditionality with) Sahelian leaders following a visit to the region in April. This follows intentions for mutual accountability between the […]
Commentaries
De kanarie in de koolmijn van onze nationale veiligheid
De geloofwaardigheid van onze defensie kalft af. Los het gebrek aan werkingsmiddelen nu op en schuif het niet door naar een volgende regering. It was also published in French in […]