The return of geopolitics? Europe a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

By Monika Gabriela Bartoszewicz, 30.03.2023 11:43

According to most commentators, the war in Ukraine has prompted a renewal of Western unity. From sanctions to weapons deliveries, from shifts in energy policy to agreements on military spending, Western countries have largely acted in lockstep and seem more united than ever. After the shock of Brexit, the EU seems energised; after the declarations of ‘brain death’, NATO seems essential; after the embarrassments of Trumpism, Biden returns America to its ‘natural’ role of world leadership. Some even go as far as suggesting this marks a return of American-Western global dominance: after the shock of the Afghanistan withdrawal, America has regained its confidence, and competence, on the world stage. The fact that many European countries will pay a heavy price in terms of energy costs and the effects of US domestic subsidies is only seen as proof of the strength of the US-led Western order. Or is all not as rosy as it seems? Many commentators note that Western countries are fast exhausting their supplies of crucial munitions, weapons deliveries are subject to increasingly bitter spats between Germany and others, and whilst the immediate crisis of winter energy prices may have been averted, Europe will no doubt pay a huge price as it moves away from cheap and plentiful Russian energy.  

Is this era one of renewed Western and American hegemony? What are the fault-lines in the supposed unity of Western nations? Does the coming era of reshoring and protectionism threaten the alliance between the US and the EU? Is the West really ready for an era of confrontations and conflicts?  

 

The other panel members included

• Prof. Jean-Robert Raviot, Professor in Russian and Post-Soviet studies, Université Paris Nanterre 
• Dr. Philip Cunliffe, Associate Professor in International Relations, University College London 
• Niccolo Soldo, Author and Analyst, Fisted By Foucault 
• Dr. Arta Moeini, Research Director, Institute for Peace & Diplomacy