Europe in a world of power politics

Power politics is no longer a warning on the horizon. It is the organising principle of today’s international order. Economic weight, industrial capacity and military power are once again tightly intertwined, and the balance is shifting fast.

For two centuries, Europe was part of the world’s centre of gravity. That era is over. As the United States reorients its priorities and China consolidates its industrial and strategic power, Europe increasingly finds itself in between: economically dependent, militarily constrained and politically fragmented.

In early April, Jonathan Holslag will examine the world as it stands then, fully aware that events may once again have moved the ground beneath our feet. Starting from the latest geopolitical developments, he will analyse what has really changed behind the language of strategic autonomy and rearmament, and what largely remains rhetoric.

The conversation will explore how Europe’s declining industrial base, its dependence on external energy and technology, and its limited willingness to bear strategic costs have translated into loss of influence, from Ukraine to Africa and beyond.