Event report

The guest of our roundtable discussion was Sven Biscop, Belgian polytologist, researcher and professor from the University of Ghent. Sven Biscop specialises in Belgium and the EU’s strategy and foreign affairs, security and defence policy. In its June 2021 book, alongside the US and China, it outlines a strategy for achieving a peaceful and stable world order from the EU’s perspective. Sven Biscop outlined the prospects for the future by summarising recent conflicts and attitudes to conflicts. He said that the rivalry seemed endless since the end of World War II, and in this form it has become meaningless. The aim of the competition is not to win, but to enable everyone to assert their legitimate interests. Technological progress is often viewed by double standards and is immediately perceived as a threat if it comes from other powers than the EU or the US. With regard to the Defence Union, he explained that we would not start from scratch if we were to create it. Different nations have different defensive specialties, so if we could draw from that stock a “the problem” unit, it could be very useful for the EU as a whole. He also talked about logistics and possible financial obstacles and solutions. Among others, the event’s viewers asked questions about the interaction between AI and security policy and energy and security policy.