Mapping the European Union’s interests

18 January 2011

By Jales Rogers, European Geostrategy

The Egmont Institute (Royal Institute for International Relations) in Brussels has just published my latest booklet on European geostrategy in the twenty-first century, where I introduce the concept of the European Union’s ‘Grand Area’:

I project that this region – the ‘Grand Area’ – will become the biggest concern and geostrategic interest for the European Union over the coming decades. Not only is this region the most important zone for the future of European industrial expansion and the durability of the European economy more generally, but it is also the most likely space to experience geopolitical struggle as emerging and surrounding great powers seek to control its plentiful resources.

I argue that the time has come for a new geography of European power, which should be based around a sophisticated ‘forward presence’ that emphasises the preventative dimension of military power. As I point out, this would allow the European Union and its Member States to overcome the sporadic and reactive approach they have taken to security since the foundation of the European Security and Defence Policy in the late 1990s. It will also provision them with the means to uphold their interests and values in an uncertain world over the coming decades.

• Please click here to download the entire booklet.