As we have previously reported, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has provided an unprecedented opportunity for western allies to work together on common responses. NATO and the European Union continue to work together providing much needed military and financial assistance to the government of Ukraine.
Online Council of Presidents (22 June 2023)
The irregular arrivals of migrants to the EU increased in 2021 and 2022 across most routes, showing the need to find a common and comprehensive approach to this phenomenon, as proposed in September 2020 by the European Commission in its New Pact on Migration and Asylum”.
Words are not sufficient. For too long, the EU has satisfied itself with a diplomacy of words, often moralistic and idealistic, but powerless in front of chaos and atrocities, as we saw in Yugoslavia and in many subsequent instances, with consequences, which Europe is the first to suffer from. The reason is that Member States, rather than integrating defence into a democratic construction where they would have a say, prefer to accept the humiliation and subservience that
are the price to pay for American protection. Doing so, not only do the Union and its Member States earn the contempt of other powers, but they also lose the respect of their own citizens.
The citizens of Europe are tired of the strategic babble of their leaders and the alphabet soup of acronyms they have been throwing around over the years under the pretence of building a “Europe of Defence”. They should stop talking and start acting. If they truly mean it, they should lose no time in creating the much-touted “European Defence Union”, another word for the “common defence” heralded in 1992 in the Maastricht treaty, for which Europe has been waiting for too long. Only then will they finally conquer the strategic autonomy they confusedly aspire to.
The webinar “European Green Deal and Defence” will take place on the 1st october, from 18:00 to 19:30 (Brussels time). The event is organized by the EURODEFENSE EWG 1b working group with the aim of presenting and discussing the findings of the European working group 26b ‘’Energy, Climate, Security and Defence’’.
The West, and in particular the USA, has a long history of often violent and usually unsuccessful attempts at regime changes. After the Cold War the US-neo-conservative global strategy was based on US supremacy and exceptionalism and its goal was global control. The act of terrorism of 9/11 was a consequence of the role of the USA in the Middle East; blind support for the State of Israel, the first Gulf war, activating Muslim activists to get the Russians out of Afghanistan and support for dictatorial regimes.
The European Commission has underlined several times how strategic autonomy should encompass a variety of sectors, ranging from economy to security. With the election of Joe Biden in the United States the pillar of security and defense, fundamental to European strategic autonomy has received growing attention.
What do we mean by European diplomacy? What progress do we need to make with community institutions so that we go forward together in a world in movement? What experience, tools, mechanisms and competences already exist within the European Union? What place does Europe have in the international organisations? Without forgetting the importance also of transatlantic relations, these are the type of strategic question which will direct the debate initiated by EuroDéfense-France on 18 October 2021.
Technology permeates every aspect of our daily lives. However, its increased presence has posed a significant challenge to our liberties. Western democracies need to re-adapt in order to concretely regulate tech and prevent potential new forms of interferences for its institutions. Especially in Europe have democratic states felt the need to develop new normative approaches and regulations to provide a framework regulating Big Tech companies and preventing them from abusing their power.
Au-delà de l’interrogation de ses petits-enfants Jacques Favin Lévêque répond aux jeunes et aux moins jeunes. Il évoque les multiples défis du 21ème siècle et leur délivre un message de confiance et d’espoir pour parachever la construction européenne. Du même auteur : « Construire l’avenir avec sagesse » édité par la Société des écrivains.
Faut-il à nouveau une Ostpolitik (une politique orientale) ? En Allemagne, certains plaident en ce sens, ainsi un ancien dirigeant politique issu de la SPD, Matthias Platzeck, dans un livre paru en 2020. Nombreux sont cependant ceux critiquant l’appel du Président français à un dialogue stratégique avec la Russie. Le débat est ouvert. L’université de Bonn et l’Institut français ont organisé en novembre 2020 une table ronde sur ce sujet : « Avons-nous besoin d’une Ostpolitik 2.0 ? Visions depuis l’Allemagne et la France ». Il est intéressant d’envisager ces deux visions.
