Matthias Waechter Book order

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is a turning point for the European Union in many different respects. Practically all the EU's policy areas are affected by it, from its common foreign and security policy to its position in relation to its allies, like the United States, and to key geopolitical actors such as China. The war impacts our energy security, energy costs, and the way we need to organise our transition to carbon-neutral sources. Inflation has returned to Europe, and many citizens feel overwhelmed by the accumulation of crises since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. The essays assembled in this book were written by researchers affiliated to the CIFE (Centre international de formation europeenne) in Nice and Berlin. They address various challenges to the EU triggered by the turning point of 2022.

In the years before the Covid-19 crisis confronted the world with unprecedented challenges, the EU showed two sides of On the one hand, it gave cause for hope, having overcome several crises and presenting itself to the world as a defender of multilateralism and a stronghold of democracy. On the other hand, however, its weaknesses remained its lack of coherence in foreign and security policy; its insufficient influence in its neighbouring regions; and its internal contradictions with regard to upholding the rule of law among its member states. The essays gathered here offer a review of two years of EU politics.