Competing Visions for the European Union Grand Strategy

Abstract:
What should be the grand strategy of the European Union (EU)? What are the main arguments about the EU’s role in the world that compete in public discourses in Europe? What are their sources and characteristics? The objective of this paper is to identify, clarify, and discuss critically four alternative grand strategies for the EU that can be termed Euro-neutralism, Superpower EU, Euro-Atlanticism, and Civilian power EU. These four grand strategic conceptions underline the policy debates regarding the EU security strategy as well as its implementation. First, I defi ne the notion of grand strategy and I explain its signifi cance for foreign policy making. Second, I uncover and discuss the four competing visions for the EU grand strategy