Europe's psychology of weakness: can it learn to exercise power in the world?
hosted by Professor
Nathalie Tocci
Steven Everts
Director, EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)
Europe is facing a power-political world marked by predatory states, eroding norms and the growing use of many forms of coercion. This should be Europe's moment to step forward. Trump, Putin and Xi are all, in different ways, forcing Europeans to confront their dependencies; public opinion increasingly supports a stronger European role; and Europe still possesses considerable latent economic, technological and military strengths.
Yet Europe remains too often trapped in a cycle of react, hope, repeat: responding to crises, hoping external conditions will improve and postponing harder choices about its international posture and responsibility.
This talk asks what it would take for Europe to escape that psychology of weakness and recover the strategic initiative. It will explore what this means in practice for European defence, support for Ukraine, relations with the United States, economic security and Europe's wider struggle for global influence. Will the new European Security Strategy be the chance for renewal?
Steven Everts
Prior to joining the EUISS, Dr Everts was at the European External Action Service (EEAS) where he served as Senior Advisor to the HR/VP on Strategy and Communications. Previously, he was a Senior Advisor in the Asia-Pacific Department of the EEAS, acting as the Alternate EU SOM for the ASEM process. He was also a Member of the Cabinet of HR/VP Catherine Ashton with responsibility for Asia and the Pacific, Turkey, and the general issue of how to frame and strengthen the EU's relations with its strategic partners. Between 2005 and 2009, Steven Everts worked for SG/HR Javier Solana, both as his Personal Representative for Energy and Foreign Policy and as a Member of his Cabinet.
Before his time at the EU, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the London-based Centre for European Reform and Director of the CER's transatlantic programme, which covered the full range of US-European relations.
He holds a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford and an MA in Political Science from Leiden University in the Netherlands.
If you cannot attend the event in-person and wish to watch the session online, please register below:
