Sven Biscop

Prof. Dr. Sven Biscop directs the Europe in the World programme at the Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels, and lectures at Ghent University. His new book, "Grand Strategy in 10 Words – A Guide to Great Power Politics in the 21st Century", came out in June.

The Red Sea as a core business for the EU

The EU is preparing to launch a maritime operation to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthis from Yemen. A welcome and necessary decision; and none too late, two months after the attacks started. What once…

Ukraine: military offensives, hybrid attacks – and no peace in sight

“In war everything is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. Those difficulties add up and cause friction, which nobody can really imagine who has not witnessed war”. Thus Clausewitz. An effective plan of attack is based on a simple…

Russia invades Ukraine: the dangerous weakness of a superpower

What is an extra slice of Ukrainian territory to Russia? A war of aggression no longer fits in our European logic, but it does in that of President Putin. He seeks to permanently position Russia as a great power to be taken into account,…

The European Strategic Compass: Entering the Fray

The Strategic Compass for the EU’s security and defence policy, to be adopted in 2022, must generate immediate action. The best way of ensuring that is to prepare new capability initiatives and, potentially, new operational engagements now,…

Biden and Europe, values and interests

Before his trip to Europe, President Biden spoke of its purpose as “rallying the democracies”. But international politics is not just a clash between the democrats and the dictators. Indeed, Americans and Europeans count quite a few…

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