In her political program for the 2024-2029 legislative cycle, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized that we are living through an era defined by geostrategic rivalries and widespread instability. The multilateral, rules-based international order, established in the post-World War II period and bolstered by decades of economic globalization, now finds itself in crisis. The optimism that characterized Fukuyama's "End of History" thesis in the 1990s was undermined by a series of seismic events, including the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the 2008 global economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent regional conflicts such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the Gaza crisis in 2023. Additionally, the rise of actors like China and the surge in populist and protectionist movements have driven a shift towards a more realist and pragmatic approach to foreign policy, where national interests increasingly prevail in a competitive and unilateral global landscape. The European Union has had to recalibrate its stance in response to these dynamics, advancing its strategic autonomy with a more pragmatic vision for its external action.
Reflecting on the deliberations of the 2001 European Council of Laeken, convened in response to the 9/11 attacks, this panel revisits the question of the EU’s role within this transformed global order. The panel comprises six papers addressing key dimensions of this issue: (1) how the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has adapted to the evolving international landscape, (2) the creation of the European Diplomatic Academy (EUDA) to strengthen EU diplomacy, (3) the EU’s role as a promoter of gender norms, (4) attitudes of EU citizens toward further integration within CFSP, (5) the EU’s foreign policy towards Africa, and (6) EU-China relations.