JOINT Effectiveness Checklist for EU Foreign and Security Policy in Conflict and Crisis Situations
The JOINT Effectiveness Checklist provides a comparatively simple framework for policy-makers and researchers to analyse the effectiveness of the EU’s response to conflicts and crises. It adds value to existing evaluation tools by a) assessing effectiveness relative to the level of difficulty of the policy environment, and b) adapting and further developing existing standard policy […]
Relational Power Europe. Conflict Management and the Future of EU Foreign and Security Policy
The EU has been confronted with mounting challenges in the pursuit of its foreign and security policy. The distribution of power amongst multiple players – from the United States to Russia and China, but also regional players like Iran or Turkey – that espouse conflicting views of order compels the EU and its member states […]
A More Joined-up Union, a Stronger Europe
At first sight, the strategic documents produced by the EU since the early 2000s make for a tedious reading. Brilliantly written as they may be (and some are), they inevitably boil down to a list of security priorities and principles for action. Still, there is more to them than just that. Especially if read in […]
Public Opinion and the European Foreign and Security Policy: Is there a Risk of Politicisation?
This paper explores the current state of contention in the European Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the conditions that could lead to its politicisation. We start from the question about why there has been so little progress in foreign and defence policy integration despite the widespread support for it from both the public […]
Iran’s Retaliatory Attack on Israel Puts the Middle East on the Brink
A few days after Iran’s attack on Israel, it is too early for an overall assessment of the consequences. It is possible, though, to draw some preliminary reflections. Has Iran gained something, or has the attack rather been a strategic setback? And is there a way out? The attack is the culmination of a months-long […]
Rhetorical Confrontation Is No Substitute for the EU’s Iran Policy
The EU’s Iran policy has been in a bind since, in rapid succession, in late summer 2022 any hope for reactivating the 2015 nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) dissipated, the Iranian government violently cracked down on protesters’ demanding greater freedoms and women’s rights, and Russia started using Iranian drones to hit […]
A Decade of Deadlock. The EU’s Shipwreck on Palestine Embodies the EU’s Blockade Problem
The weak, erratic European response to Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel and the latter’s retaliation in Gaza was the natural continuation of a long-standing pathology. For a decade before Hamas’ attacks, EU foreign and security policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had been at a stalemate. The Israel/Palestine file has displayed in a particularly […]
Unlocking EU Foreign and Security Potential: Measures to Mitigate Internal Contestation, Regional Fragmentation and Multipolar Competition
This paper investigates the potential avenues available to the European Union in implementing innovative strategies to mitigate challenges within its foreign and security policy (EUFSP) arising from three primary contextual elements: internal contestation, regional fragmentation and multipolar competition. The paper emphasises the significance of achieving a delicate equilibrium between ameliorating disagreements within the EU and […]
European Public Opinion on the Challenges and Future of EU Foreign and Security Policy
The present report illustrates the results of a survey conducted in six European countries (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland and Spain) to assess public sentiments towards EU Foreign and Security Policy (EUFSP). Notably, the survey reveals a strong demand for more EUFSP, with a majority supporting a move away from the unanimity rule toward majority […]
Challenges Ahead for the EU in Syria – Aid, Sanctions and Normalisation
In May 2023, Arab leaders who had called for ousting Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad during the previous decade warmly welcomed him at the Arab League Summit and agreed to normalise diplomatic ties with Damascus. Syria’s return to the League strengthened Assad’s embattled rule while seriously weakening the opposition and those who still call for inclusive […]
Playing the Long Game in the South China Sea: The Potential and Limits of ASEAN–EU Cooperation
In the South China Sea (SCS), as indeed the wider Indo-Pacific, the European Union is facing a deepening strategic rivalry between China and the United States. In the SCS, China has been able to create physical realities in defiance of international law through the construction of artificial islands in the attempt to sustain its claims […]
The EU’s Geopolitical Enlargement – Ukraine’s Accession Will Make the EU a Stronger Security Actor
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine prompted the European Union to grant candidate country status to Ukraine. This major shift in the EU’s approach was broadly seen by member states as a geopolitical imperative. Indeed, this time the geopolitical significance of enlargement is stronger than ever. A successful enlargement will be an essential part of Western […]