Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to identify the main ‘cracks’ in Europe’s post-war geopolitical architecture. The paper’s central contention is that Europe is undergoing a balance of power crisis that is animated by three structural developments. The first is U.S, retrenchment in Europe. The second relates to Germany’s economic, political and diplomatic ascent in Europe, and its emerging leadership position within the EU. And the third is Russia’s push to recreate a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and subvert the Western liberal order on the continent. A key theme in this paper is the powerful tension between power and weakness that defines the role of Europe's three main powers: the US, Germany and Russia. The paper argues that even though these three countries are and are likely to remain the most significant powers in Europe, none of them has the wherewithal, legitimacy (notably in the case of Russia) or willingness (in that of Germany) to provide order in the way the U.S. has done in the past. The result: it's no one's Europe.
Panel: European Grand Strategy
Cite this presentation
@inproceedings{eiss-2018-what-political-forces-shape-european-security-on-the-world-stage,
author = {Luis Simón},
title = {What Political Forces Shape European Security on the World Stage?},
booktitle = {European Security Studies Conference 2018},
year = {2018},
url = {https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2018-what-political-forces-shape-european-security-on-the-world-stage.html}
}