Introduction

Aiming at responding to new realities in world politics, the European Union (EU) has introduced a flurry of concepts, for instance when the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and the High Representative Josep Borrell, took office. They highlighted geopolitics but the framework of ideas is much wider and includes key concepts such as European sovereignty, strategic autonomy, civilization, resilience, strategic compass, responsibility, and Zeitenwende (European Council, 2003; EEAS, 2016; EEAS, 2022; European Council, 2024). Each of these concepts has triggered an avalanche of debates, focusing on how the concepts should be interpreted, their relevance and their prudence.1 Combined, the employment of the concepts and the ongoing policy debates suggest that the politics of EU foreign policy has entered a dynamic phase and foreign policy objectives, instruments as well as policymakers’ worldviews are in a process of reconsideration. What does this mean to the deeper framework of ideas that underlies EU foreign policy thinking? This is the key motivation and puzzle behind this volume.

A liberal-internationalist identity has been at the heart of the EU since its birth, evidenced in numerous foundational documents and successive EU foreign policy strategies, most notably the Declaration on European Identity (EC, 1973), the European Security Strategy (European Council, 2003) and the EU Global Strategy (EEAS, 2016). In recent years, this liberal-internationalist identity has faced new realities both at home and abroad. Major parts of the world tend increasingly to contest the liberal-internationalist ideal, envisioned and promoted by the EU.