Europe’s Grand Strategy: Navigating a New World Order

"If one agrees that a ‘good crisis should never go to waste,’ then the post-pandemic world presents the European Union with a unique opportunity. It can either become a global actor with influence adequate to its economic standing, or a passive object of history. Szewczyk’s book is an excellent guide on how to take the first path."
- Radosław Sikorski, Member of the European Parliament and Former Foreign and Defence Minister of Poland

“Bart Szewczyk is the ultimate insider, having served both the United States and the European Union, where his influence can been seen in the emergence of the 'geopolitical Commission'. His timely book is a much-needed call for strategic thinking in Brussels and the member states.”

- Brendan Simms, Professor in the History of International Relations at the University of Cambridge, UK

This book proposes that the European Union should craft a grand strategy to navigate the new world order based on a four-pronged approach. First, European decision-makers (both in Brussels and across EU capitals) should take a broader view of their existential interests at stake and devote greater time and resources to serving them within the wider cause of the liberal order. Second, Europe needs to help reinvigorate the West by restoring a sense of solidarity through fairer distribution of benefits and burdens. Third, it should develop separate strategies for parts of the world, such as Russia and China, where liberal values are not likely to be attainable in the foreseeable future yet order is still necessary. Fourth, Europe needs to clarify its core interests elsewhere and help stabilize the Middle East and Africa. With this book, the author seeks to lay the essential building blocks for developing a European strategy, which is a complex process involving multiple decision-makers and institutions.

Bart M.J. Szewczyk served as Member of the Policy Planning Staff at the US State Department and Adviser on Global Affairs at the European Commission’s think-tank. He is Adjunct Professor at Sciences Po in Paris and author of two books: European Sovereignty, Legitimacy, and Power (2020) and Partners of First Resort: America, Europe, and the Future of the West (with David McKean, 2020).