Europe's response to the question of "Who speaks for Europe?" – reportedly posed by Henry Kissinger – should be that Europe's diversity of voices and actions is its strategic strength.
In a world of fluid coalitions, transactional alliances, and overlapping networks of influence, Europe's middle powers can often act more decisively than a cumbersome EU bureaucracy.
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Finding the European Union in today’s crowded global landscape is like hunting for the elusive Wally in those wonderfully maddening puzzle books.
Look closely enough and the cheeky globetrotter (known to many also as “Waldo”) eventually appears. The EU, by contrast, is either harder to spot or missing in action – at least as the collective power that it claims to be.
It is not for want of trying.
EU leaders and foreign ministers gather with exhausting regularity to produce either unimpactful decisions or bland statements on almost every international crisis under the sun.
Yet, whether confronting US bullying, responding forcefully to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, or navigating relations with Iran, Russia, and China, the Union of 27 is either not at the adult’s table or paralyzed by its own contradictions.
Take the upcoming Donald Trump – Xi Jinping encounter. As the two leaders meet in Beijing to redefine their bilateral ties, possibly by creating a “Board of Trade,” the EU is dithering over whether to collectively cut loose from America’s coattails or remain subservient to the whims of a mercurial president.
Similarly, on China.
Brussels’ obsessive focus on “de-risking,” anti-subsidy probes, and the implementation of “anti-coercion instruments” leaves little room for a coherent and proactive, rather than reactive, EU strategy.
Or take Iran.
The EU once played a pivotal role in negotiating a now-defunct nuclear deal with Tehran. Today, as Pakistan and regional powers attempt to broker fresh dialogue between Iran and the US, the EU is not even on the margins of the conversation.
Then there is Gaza.
The EU rightly insists on defending international law when it comes to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But while EU foreign ministers have – finally – agreed on new sanctions against violent extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, imports from their illegal settlements have still not been banned.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement remains in force despite Israel’s repeated violations of human rights obligations enshrined in the pact and international laws.
And although Europe remains indispensable financially and militarily in helping Ukraine fight Russia, it risks being peripheral as ceasefire initiatives gather momentum.
Yet, this is not the full story.