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

Pierre de Boissieu, former secretary-general of the European Council, recently stated, ‘the events of 1989 may have led us in Europe to believe that it was over, that we were at peace, but in reality, what took place was a great disarmament. Military disarmament, of course, but above all a disarmament of our linguistic weapons to define ourselves, to describe ourselves as Europeans.’

By the spring of 2018, it was clear that Europe’s efforts to seduce, educate and impress the president had come to nothing. The harder its leaders pressed, the more abrasive he became. Trump looked at the world, as he put it, “from a real-estate perspective”, and because he was entirely unapologetic about who he was, he could neither be reasoned nor shamed into becoming someone else.

A map of Ukraine’s borders over the last one hundred years offers a lens through which to view the complex territorial history of Central and Eastern Europe.

At the start of the new year, leaders have an opportunity to capture and shape the geopolitical mood of the moment from their country’s point of view.

Picture Don Vito Corleone at his daughter’s wedding in The Godfather, showered with  gifts and the fawning gestures of his guests, consulting with his consigliere and family members, offering protection or help in exchange for loyalty, debt and future service. So appears Trump in Mar-a-Lago.

The expansion of BRICS, an informal political bloc, is indicative of the shifting dynamics of global power. This map, capturing three distinct stages of its development, spotlights the group’s evolving composition and its performance against the G7 countries.

Josep Borrell joined Luuk van Middelaar for a conversation at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics for his final political event as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

In what will be his last public appearance in the role before bowing out, 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.