Bastien Nivet, head of undergraduate Grande Ecole Programme at EMLV, took part in an IRSEM workshop. Various faculty members, researchers, and historians worldwide provided their perspectives on “Transatlantic Relations in an Era of Renewed Great Power Competition”.
The French Military School Strategic Research Institute, known by its French acronym IRSEM is a governmental strategic research organization at the crossroads between the Defence and academic fields.
Transatlantic Relations in an Era of Renewed Great Power Competition
One of the latest events held by IRSEM was the workshop “Transatlantic Relations in an Era of Renewed Great Power Competition“.
As the French Strategic Research Institute explains the initiative on its website, “great power competition is back”. This climate affects several “key dimensions of contemporary world politics, including transatlantic relations.
In today’s world, it has become impossible to understand the present and future of the ties that bind the US and Europe without analyzing the growing competition between the US and China. This workshop explores this interconnection. It will analyze how the competition among the Great Powers impact critical sectors of transatlantic relations”. The workshop’s findings will be disseminated through a collective book.
Bastien Nivet’s insights on Europe’s strategic stance
Bastien Nivet intervened alongside his co-author Delphine Deschaud-Dutard (Université Grenoble-Alpes) on “The EU and the Return of Great Power Competition: An Opportunity for More Strategic Substance?“.
Together, they reminded participants that the EU has long been analyzed – by academics –, and perceived – by practitioners –, as an international actor who is somehow “outside” of the game of power politics.
The EU and its predecessor (EEC) have been characterized by a long history of external relations, policies and influence, but a relative historical denial of classic power politics, the being a paradoxical player on the world stage.
Today’s context of return to Great power competition challenges this European stance, visible both in EU policies and discourse. So how is the EU reacting to the return of Great power politics? Has it re-conceptualized its strategic perspective and discourse accordingly?
The authors insisted on the noticeable recent evolutions of the EU’s narrative on its international role. This strategic shift leans more towards a more comfortable use of power and a relative normalization of this concept when used in EU documents or speech acts.
They also showcased the recent efforts of the EU to develop some of its weaknesses on the way to a more robust international stance, not least in the diplomatic and military realm.
Yet, according to Bastien Nivet and Delphine Deschaud-Dutard, “these evolutions remain uncertain and also raise internal contradictions or difficulties among EU member states themselves”.
Relative works of Bastien Nivet include his latest book (in French) questioning European Power: http://www.pub-editions.fr/index.php/auteurs/n/nivet-bastien/l-europe-puissance-mythes-et-realites-une-etude-critique-du-concept-d-europe-puissance-4867.html.
Know more about EMLV’s Grande Ecole Programme
