Brussels///Institute///for///Geopolitics

Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, joins Luuk van Middelaar, Director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, to reflect on five years as the EU's leading diplomat.

On Thursday 7 November, the leaders of forty-plus states from across Europe will meet in Budapest to discuss the continent’s security challenges. It offers the perfect opportunity for a collective stock-take of the US election result but there will be much more to consider at this strategic forum.

As the US presidential race enters its final stretch, two authors provide an in-depth analysis of what the outcome would mean for Europe. Hans Kribbe draws lessons from Donald Trump’s first term on how to engage with him. Damir Marusic provides clues as to the direction an as-yet untested Kamala Harris might take.

Pipelines have long shaped energy geopolitics, but our maps must soon chart a new type of power line, namely electricity cables.

On 23 October 2024 the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics hosted an event to launch the essay ‘European economic statecraft in search of a future’ by BIG’s co-director Hans Kribbe. It is the first paper in a series on economic security.

Acknowledging new economic security risks, the EU is drafting a toolbox of policy instruments. This essay argues that we also need a strategic debate about the underlying goals and reasons. It identifies the three basic ways Europe can think about economic statecraft and proposes a way forward for the debate.

The resurgence of the term ‘geopolitics’ is often understood as a ‘return’, or even the ‘revenge’, of power politics. Something that was supposed to have disappeared, we now realize had just been neglected, forgotten or even repressed.

When European explorers first ventured across the oceans in search of new lands and riches, they nonchalantly named the places and peoples they encountered. As the West’s global dominance recedes, so too does its semantic grip on the world.

Recognition of a new state is a political act. It sends a signal, not just to the state being added to the international pantheon, but also to friends and foes of the recognizer. This simple map of Palestine’s recognition as a state thus throws light on several key moments and relationships in recent political history.

The Paris Olympics took place during a tense geopolitical period at the heart of Europe. Russian and Belarusian delegations have been banned from this year’s Summer Games. The International Olympic Committee thus leveraged the long-existing connection between sports and political power, which this essay further explores.

The Brussels Institute for Geopolitics (BIG) has hosted a ‘What Can Culture Do?’ roundtable, co-organized with the European Cultural Foundation (ECF). This joint session in Brussels forms part of a series of listening roundtables organized by ECF that are taking place across Europe.

The Brussels Institute for Geopolitics is expanding. We are interested in hearing from professionals with a knack for communication, outstanding news and editorial judgement, strong media networks and excellent writing skills.

The Brussels Institute for Geopolitics is pleased to announce that its Board held its first meeting today. The members of the Board have elected State Secretary Heiko Thoms as Chair and Ms Rita Faden as Vice-Chair. Composed of seven individuals who will serve a two-year term, the Board brings a wealth of experience and expertise to guide and oversee the institute's strategic development.

In an era marked by great power competition, states increasingly use energy as a strategic tool. This report sets out why and how Europe should revamp its energy diplomacy to navigate the green transition and to secure supplies.

This paper maps the tensions, dilemmas and daunting homework the EU faces, now that it has committed to a next round of enlargement.

The Institute’s first publication addresses the future of the European Political Community ahead of its second meeting in Moldova.