From Normative Power To Geopolitical Europe:the Repositioning Of The EU

In 2019,the new President of the European Commission,Ursula von der Leyen,proposed the creation of a “geopolitical Commission”.Then High Representative,Josep Borrell Fontelles,interpreted it and proposed the concept of “geopolitical Europe”.The existing studies mainly analyzed the origin and connotation of “geopolitical Europe”,but do not systematically analyze its official discourse and the relationship with other related concepts,such as “strategic autonomy”,it is not helpful to understand “geopolitical Europe” and the re-positioning of the EU without a comparative analysis with the last identity,that is “normative power Europe”.Based on this,this paper analyzes “geopolitical Europe” from the aspects of connotation,background and policy,and evaluates the possibility of the EU becoming a geopolitical power,it is found that the concept of“geopolitical Europe” reveals the ambition of EU to be a geopolitical power,marks the repositioning of EU,and is the result of the co-shaping of the international environment and the changes within EU.The EU’s current foreign policy shows that it has begun to build a“geopolitical Europe”.To be a “geopolitical Europe”,the EU will face inherent flaws in its decision-making system and the constraints of Transatlantic relations,and the Russo-Ukraine war will be a catalyst.The war between Russia and Ukraine caused Europe to feel a strong security threat and further strengthened Europe’s willingness to develop its defence capabilities and build a“geopolitical Europe”,which will help the EU overcome these difficulties and use its economic advantages to build a “geopolitical Europe” As a result,the EU’s geopolitical influence will grow,that will go some way towards reversing Europe’s paralysis between the east and the west after World War II,but it will also exacerbate geopolitical rivalries.