The geopolitical EU

The EU's neighbourhood is increasingly hostile and unstable, great power competition between China and the US is drawing in Europe, and climate change poses ever-growing economic, social and geopolitical challenges. The US's precipitate withdrawal from Afghanistan showed that even under Joe Biden the US may act in its own interests first, with minimal consultation with its allies. In such an environment, the EU needs to reconsider how it acts on the global stage in order to protect its prosperity and security. It needs to develop the tools to face these challenges effectively, boosting its diplomacy, its defence capabilities, and its instruments for tackling internal security issues.