@misc{01JZQ2FV4514YBV74YW41MC8CY,
  abstract     = {{Geopolitics has become the new buzzword in debates by and about the European Union (EU). In today’s world order run amok by geopolitical tensions and conflicts, European political leaders widely recognize that the EU should follow suit. Whenever one might situate the tipping point, it seems palpable that we are witnessing a shift from a civilian or normative towards a geopolitical power EU in the 21st century. It seems that EU foreign policy has been “coming of age” and going through a “maturation” process. This geopolitical shift appears to be evident when looking at the policy areas that I am most familiar with, namely EU trade and development policies. But is the EU really of late becoming more geopolitical? What constitutes evidence for such a shift? And what does it say about the discipline of EU studies, if this is how we tend to see the EU? Without denying that highly relevant changes have been unfolding in EU discourses and practices, we would argue that, below the surface, important but less noticeable and frequently overlooked continuities also exist. The EU’s geopolitical desires are not completely new, even if they may manifest themselves differently. As critical researchers have shown time and again, whether focusing on accession processes, neighborhood policies, development cooperation, trade agreements, or other forms of international interventions: the EU has never been a naïve soft power. Hence, the apparently newfound awakening of the EU as a weak, naïve, soft power towards a stronger, more realist, hard power may be nuanced or even problematized. This is not a new argument, as it has been a key concern by critical geopolitics and postcolonial/decolonial approaches to European and international politics. In this editorial, I limit myself to two key insights, again focusing mostly on EU trade and development policies. Beyond and beneath the much-stressed newness of EU “partnerships” and the apparent changes in how they presumably address international challenges, geopolitical continuities can be seen.}},
  author       = {{Orbie, Jan}},
  issn         = {{1384-6299}},
  keywords     = {{European Union,Colonial,geopolitical,soft power,trade,development}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1--10}},
  series       = {{EUROPEAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REVIEW}},
  title        = {{The EU has never been a sleeping beauty}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.54648/eerr2025009}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

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