With the United States turning away from Europe, Russia’s aggressive foreign policy, and the rise of China, there are growing calls for the EU to become an assertive ”geopolitical power“. The report by Matthias Demibinski and Dirk Peters argues that there are limits to this expansion of the EU’s geopolitical power. In their report, they portray the EU as a ”bureaucratic power“ and analyze the most important innovations in EU security policy in recent years: the attempt to establish its own military intervention force and the support for Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression. This shows that the EU can develop the capacity to act in security policy – but especially in areas where it does not act militarily itself.
Dr. Matthias Dembinski was a Senior Researcher at PRIF and is on of the project directors of the PATTERN project on the role of the past in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Dr. Dirk Peters is a Senior Researcher at PRIF. He conducts research on EU security policy, the disintegration of international cooperation, parliaments, and military operations.