Commentaries
A geopolitical Commission: a powerful strategy?
The “geopolitical commission” that President-elect Ursula von der Leyen announced implies, most importantly, that the EU has to adapt to a world of great powers. The EU still aims at […]
Commentaries
Publications
Commentaries
Commentary: An EU Security Council and a European Commissioner for Security and Defence: the final pieces of the Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy puzzle?
These last few years the EU has taken considerable steps to give more substance to its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Nearly all the pieces of the puzzle are […]
Commentaries
Nuclear weapons in Belgium: calls for disarmament need to consider the impact on national security
Recent media coverage about the nuclear role of Kleine Brogel airbase has drawn attention to Belgium’s role in NATO’s nuclear deterrence. Meaningful political debate thereof needs to carefully consider the […]
Commentaries
Summer reading by Johan Verbeke – The Geography of Thought
Personal recommendation: A few years ago I stumbled on a little book in the Georgetown University bookshop written by former Yale University Professor Richard Nisbett, published by the Free Press […]
Commentaries
The puzzle of the EU’s China strategy is falling into place
Can Europe do more about China’s rise than watch it happen and hope for the best? Some are so alarmed by China’s growing influence that they start preparing for World […]
Commentaries
Two elephants in one room: Sino-American competition and the EU at the Shangri-La Dialogue
“When elephants fight, the grass suffers, but when they make love, the grass suffers also”: this quote from Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew became the running theme at […]