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Open track 28: Third Country Cooperation in EU Foreign and Security Policy in the era of geopolitics (II).
Time:
Tuesday, 03/Sept/2024:
4:15pm - 5:45pm
Session Chair: Marianna Lovato Discussant: Helene Sjursen
Location:Economics: Sala Conferenze
Via Antonio Rosmini
Capacity: 91
Presentations
Third Country Cooperation in EU Foreign and Security Policy in the era of geopolitics (II).
Chair(s): Marianna Lovato (Université Libre de Bruxelles - VUB)
Discussant(s): Helene Sjursen (ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo)
This series of two panels looks at third country cooperation with the EU in the field of foreign, security and defence policy. Analysing the dynamics of third countries’ relations with the EU from both an inside- out and an outside-in perspective, the panels address the perspectives of the European Union itself, as well as those of third states. Particular concerns are to discuss to what extent we observe changes to patterns of cooperation against the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions, to specify what might characterise these changes, as well as discuss how they may be theoretically accounted for. Addressing these concerns, panellists map both formal and informal dimensions of third country cooperation with the EU, as well as analyse the form and content of cooperative arrangements. Thus, exploring both theoretical and empirical aspects of third country cooperation in the era og geopolitics, papers analyse 1) specific substantive issues and cases (Russia’s war in Ukraine, space policy), and 2) specific geographical areas/countries (United Kingdom, Norway, the US, Canada, Japan).
Presentations of the Symposium
‘Geopolitical Europe’: The European Union as a signaling actor in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Niels Willigen, Nicolas Blarel Leiden University
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 posed a significant challenge to European foreign policy. The war forced the EU to react and resulted according to some in a geopolitical shift in EU foreign policy. Several institutions and high-ranking officials, including the President of the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Policy, argued that the EU should become a geopolitical actor that knows how to execute hard power. This paper explores one element of the supposed geopolitical turn in EU foreign policy. It analyzes the EU’s signaling (strategic communication) to Russia, the USA and NATO and aims to answer the question to what extent the signaling represents a geopolitical turn.
Transatlantic Security Cooperation and The New Space Age
Mai'a K. Davis Cross Northeastern University
In the next 15 years, the global space economy will likely grow from $450 billion to surpass $1 trillion, signaling the start of a new Space Age. So far, the US accounts for half of this investment, with Europe in second place. Unprecedented cooperative initiatives are underway as the US and Europe work closely together on the Artemis program’s return to the Moon and the establishment of Gateway, a permanent multinational lunar base. What accounts for this resurgence in collective efforts to explore and expand into space? And will growing tensions on Earth derail these cooperative efforts, ratcheting up a sense that space is actually the next battlefield? Will China’s explicit goal to surpass the US as the dominant actor in space, lead countries to cross the line into weaponization of space for the first time? Drawing upon archival research, policy documents, and participant observation of key space actors, this paper analyzes the narratives at the intersection of transatlantic security cooperation and the US’s and Europe’s shared goals in space. It uncovers the intricacies by which transatlantic security cooperation influences transatlantic space policy, and argues that through space diplomacy the US and Europe are actually pulling the world away from a future that turns space into the next battlefield.
