The collapse of Europe’s security order coincides with a period of global transformation. Both these phenomena threaten to change the international environment that the EU has grown accustomed to and that has served its interests relatively well. They also raise major questions over the sort of actor the EU wants to be – regional or global.
While the immense challenges of internal reform and breathing new life into a now-geopolitical enlargement process suggest a regional focus for the EU’s core strategic priorities, the EU can still take certain measures to avoid losing sight of the rest of the world. If the EU is serious about retaining its influence as a global actor, it must rethink its traditional way of doing business with the ‘Global South’ and learn how to autonomously navigate an unpredictable – and often fractious – multipolar world.
Shada Islam is Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin) and Senior Advisor at the European Policy Centre’s Europe in the World programme.
Prof. Sven Biscop is Director of the Europe in the World programme at Egmont and Professor at Ghent University.
This CEPS Explainer is published as part of CEPS’ Euro-Atlantic Triangle project in partnership with FES Brussels.