Do you want to stay informed about this journal? Click the buttons to subscribe to our alerts.
Reacting to the Decline of the West?
The European Union’s Embrace of Strategic Hedging
In: European Review of International StudiesAbstract
This article discusses the European Union (EU)’s strategic adaptation to the relative decline of the United States (US)-led Western world order by introducing the concept of hedging: a strategy of concomitant engagement with the system leader and its competitors aiming to minimise the risks of confrontation with either of them. To grasp the EU’s shift towards strategic hedging, the article analyses the subsequent 2003 Security Strategy, 2008 Implementation Report, 2015 Strategic Review and ongoing 2016 Global Strategy, and then puts the latter’s core concepts of ‘principled pragmatism’ and ‘strategic autonomy’ into perspective vis-à-vis international developments since 2016, related to ‘America First’ and the Sino-American rivalry. The article ultimately argues that, confronted with global power diffusion but constrained by the preponderance of transatlanticism, hedging has become a primary strategic option for the EU to emancipate from the US without alienating it and to compensate for the waning of the Western world order.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Alcaro, Riccardo. ‘Contestation and Transformation. Final Thoughts on the Liberal International Order’. The International Spectator, vol. 53, no. 1 (2018), pp. 152–167.
-
Alcaro, Riccardo. ‘The Fraying Transatlantic Order and Europe’s Struggle in a Multipolar World’. In America’s allies and the decline of US hegemony, eds Justin Massie and Jonathan Paquin (London: Routledge, 2019), pp. 143–160.
-
Art, Robert J. ‘Europe Hedges Its Security Bets’. In Balance of Power: Theory and Practice in the 21st Century, eds T. V. Paul, James J. Wirtz and Michel Fortmann (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004), pp. 179–213.
-
Becher, Klaus. ‘Has-Been, Wannabe, or Leader: Europe’s Role in the World after the 2003 European Security Strategy’. European Security, vol. 13, no. 4 (2004), pp. 345–359.
-
Belis, David et al. ‘Climate Diplomacy and the Rise of ‘Multiple Bilateralism’ between China, India and the EU’. Carbon & Climate Law Review, vol. 85, no. 12 (2018), pp. 1–16.
-
Binhuwaidin, Mohammed. ‘Oman’s Response to a Rising Iran: A Case of Strategic Hedging’. Journal of Arabian Studies, vol. 9, no. 1 (2019), pp. 1–12.
-
Biscop, Sven. ‘The EU global strategy: realpolitik with European characteristics’. Egmont Security Policy Brief, no. 75 (Brussels: Egmont Institute, June 2016).
-
Biscop, Sven. European Strategy in the 21st Century: New Future for Old Power (London and New York: Routledge, 2019).
-
Biscop, Sven. ‘The Lonely Strategist: Who but the High Representative and the eeas Cares About the EU Global Strategy?’ European Foreign Affairs Review, vol. 26, no. 1 (2021), pp. 25–34.
-
Biscop, Sven, Joylon Howorth and Bastian Giegerich. ‘Europe: A Time For Strategy’. Egmont Paper, no. 27 (Brussels: Egmont Institute, January 2009).
-
Borrell, Josep. ‘Embracing Europe’s Power’. Project-Syndicate.org (8 February 2020). Available at: www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/embracing-europe-s-power-by-josep-borrell-2020-02?barrier=accesspaylog.
-
Borrell, Josep. ‘The Sinatra Doctrine. How the EU Should Deal with the US-China Competition’. IAI Papers, no. 20|24 (Rome: Istituto Affari Internazionali, September 2020).
-
Borrell, Josep. ‘Why European Strategic Autonomy Matters’. EEAS.europa.eu (Brussels, 3 December 2020). Available at: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/89865/Why%20European%20strategic%20autonomy%20matters.
-
Brooks, Stephen G. and William C. Wohlforth. ‘Hard Times for Soft Balancing’. International Security, vol. 30, no. 1 (2005), pp. 72–108.
-
Ciorciari, John D. ‘The Variable Effectiveness of Hedging Strategies’. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, vol. 19, no. 3 (2019), pp. 523–555.
-
Ciorciari, John D. and Jürgen Haacke. ‘Hedging in International Relations: An Introduction’. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, vol. 19, no. 3 (2019), pp. 367–374.
-
Council of the European Union. Council Decision (CFSP)2017/2315 establishing permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) and determining the list of participating Member States. (Brussels, 11 December). Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32017D2315&from=EN.
-
Council of the European Union. Council Conclusions on Security and Defence. (Brussels, 17 June 2020). Available at: www.consilium.europa.eu/media/44521/st08910-en20.pdf.
-
Demmelhuber, Thomas. ‘Playing the Diversity Card: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy under the Salmans’. The International Spectator, vol. 54, no. 4 (2019), pp. 109–124.
-
Didier, Brice. ‘The European Union and the Liberal International Order in the Age of ‘America First: Attempted Hedging and the Willingness-Capacity Gap’’. Journal of Contemporary European Research, vol. 17, no. 1 (2021), pp. 23–42.
-
European Commission. Communication from the Commission to the Parliament, the Council, the European economic and social committee and the Committee of Regions launching the European Defence Fund, COM(2017)295final. (Brussels, 7 June 2017). Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/23605/attachments/2/translations/en/renditions/native.
-
European Commission. EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment – The Agreement in Principle (Brussels, 30 December 2020). Available at: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2020/december/tradoc_159242.pdf.
-
European Commission and High Representative. Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council: Elements for a new EU strategy on China, JOIN(2016)30final (Brussels, 22 June 2016). Available at: https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/docs/china/docs/joint_communication_to_the_european_parliament_and_the_council_-_elements_for_a_new_eu_strategy_on_china.pdf.
-
European Commission and High Representative. Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council: EU-China – A Strategic Outlook, JOIN(2019)5final (Brussels, 12 March 2019). Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-eu-china-a-strategic-outlook.pdf.
-
European Commission and High Representative. Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council: A new EU-US agenda for global change, JOIN(2020)22final (Brussels, 2 December 2020). Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020JC0022&from=EN.
-
European Council. A Secure Europe in a Better World: European Security Strategy (Brussels, 2003).
-
European Council. Brussels European Council 14 December 2007 – Presidency Conclusions (Brussels, 2007).
-
European Council. Report on the Implementation of the European Security Strategy – Providing Security in a Changing World (Brussels, 2008).
-
European External Action Service. The European Union in a changing global environment – A more connected, contested and complex world (Brussels, 2015).
-
European External Action Service. Joint statement of the 20th EU-China Summit (Brussels, 17 July 2018). Available at: https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/china_en/48424/Joint%20statement%20of%20the%2020th%20EU-China%20Summit.
-
Foot, Rosemary. ‘Chinese Strategies in a US-Hegemonic Global Order: Accommodating and Hedging’. International Affairs, vol. 82, no. 1 (2006), pp. 77–94.
-
Goh, Evelyn. ‘Meeting the China challenge: the U.S. in Southeast Asian regional security strategies’. Policy Studies, no. 16 (Washington, DC: East-West Center, 2005).
-
Guzansky, Yoel. ‘The Foreign-Policy Tools of Small Powers: Strategic Hedging in the Persian Gulf’. Middle East Policy, vol. 22, no. 1 (2015), pp. 112–122.
-
Haacke, Jürgen. ‘The Concept of Hedging and its Application to Southeast Asia: A Critique and a Proposal for a Modified Conceptual and Methodological Framework’. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, vol. 19, no. 3 (2019), pp. 375–417.
-
He, Kai. ‘Undermining Adversaries: Unipolarity, Threat Perception, and Negative Balancing Strategies after the Cold War’. Security Studies, vol. 21 (2012), pp. 154–191.
-
Hemmings, John. ‘Hedging: The Real U.S. Policy Towards China?’ TheDiplomat.com (13 May 2013). Available at: https://thediplomat.com/2013/05/hedging-the-real-u-s-policy-towards-china/.
-
High Representative. Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe (Brussels: 2016).
-
Howorth, Jolyon. ‘The EU as a Global Actor: Grand Strategy for a Global Grand Bargain?’ Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 48, no. 3 (2010), pp. 455–474.
-
Howorth, Jolyon. ‘EU Global Strategy in a changing world: Brussels’ approach to the emerging powers’. Contemporary Security Policy, vol. 37, no. 3 (2017), pp. 389–401.
-
Joffe, Josef. ‘Defying History and Theory: The United States as the ‘Last Superpower’’. In America Unrivalled, ed. G. John Ikenberry (Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2002), pp. 155–180.
-
Juncos, Ana E. ‘Resilience as the new EU foreign policy paradigm: a pragmatist turn?’ European Security, vol. 26, no. 1 (2017), pp. 1–18.
-
Koga, Kei. ‘The Concept of ‘Hedging’ Revisited: The Case of Japan’s Foreign Policy Strategy in East Asia’s Power Shift’. International Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 4 (2018), pp. 633–660.
-
Korolev, Alexander. ‘Shrinking Room for Hedging: System-Unit Dynamics and Behavior of Smaller Powers’. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, vol. 19, no. 3 (2019), pp. 419–452.
-
Kuik, Cheng-Chwee. ‘How Do Weaker States Hedge? Unpacking asean states’ alignment behavior towards China’. Journal of Contemporary China, vol. 25, no. 100 (2016), pp. 500–514.
-
Lake, David A. ‘Anarchy, Hierarchy, and the Variety of International Relations’. International Organization, vol. 50, no. 1 (1996), pp. 1–33.
-
Leyen, Ursula von der. A Union that strives for more: My agenda for Europe. Political guidelines for the next European Commission 2019–2024 (Brussels, 16 July 2019). Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/political-guidelines-next-commission_en.pdf.
-
Liff, Adam P. ‘Unambivalent Alignment: Japan’s China Strategy, the US Alliance, and the ‘Hedging’ Fallacy’. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, vol. 19, no. 3 (2019), pp. 453–491.
-
Lim, Darren J. and Zack Cooper. ‘Reassessing Hedging: The Logic of Alignment in East Asia’. Security Studies, vol. 24, no. 4 (2015), pp. 696–727.
-
Lim, Darren J. and Rohan Mukherjee. ‘Hedging in South Asia: Balancing Economic and Security Interests amid Sino-Indian Competition’. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, vol. 19, no. 3 (2109), pp. 493–522.
-
Medeiros, Evan S. ‘Strategic Hedging and the Future of Asia-Pacific Stability’. The Washington Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1 (2005), pp. 145–167.
-
Meunier, Sophie and Kalypso Nicolaidis. ‘The Geopoliticization of European Trade and Investment Policies’. Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 57, S1 (2019), pp. 103–113.
-
Munich Security Conference. Munich Security Report 2020 (Munich, February 2020). Available at: https://securityconference.org/assets/user_upload/MunichSecurityReport2020.pdf.
-
Pape, Robert A. ‘Soft Balancing Against the United States’. International Security, vol. 30, no. 1 (2005), pp. 7–45.
-
Paul, T. V. ‘Introduction: The Enduring Axioms of Balance of Power Theory’. In Balance of Power: Theory and Practice in the 21st Century, eds T. V. Paul, James J. Wirtz and Michel Fortmann (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004), pp. 1–25.
-
Paul, T. V. ‘Soft Balancing in the Age of U.S. Primacy’. International Security, vol. 30, no. 1 (2005), pp. 46–71.
-
Roy, Denny. ‘Southeast Asia and China: Balancing or Bandwagoning’. Contemporary Southeast Asia, vol. 27, no. 2 (2005), pp. 305–322.
-
Salman, Mohammad and Gustaaf Geeraerts. ‘Strategic Hedging and Balancing Model under the Unipolarity’. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association conference (Chicago: 16–19 April 2015).
-
Schunz, Simon and Brice Didier. ‘The European Union’s Evolving Role in Response to US Waning Hegemony’. In America’s allies and the decline of US hegemony, eds Justin Massie and Jonathan Paquin (London: Routledge, 2019), pp. 176–193.
-
Siemers, David J. ‘Principled pragmatism: Abraham Lincoln’s Method of Political Analysis’. Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 4 (2004), pp. 804–827.
-
Tessman, Brock. ‘System Structure and State Strategy: Adding Hedging to the Menu’. Security Studies, vol. 21, no. 2 (2012), pp. 192–231.
-
Tessman, Brock and Wojtek Wolfe. ‘Great Powers and Strategic Hedging: The Case of Chinese Energy Security Strategy’. International Studies Review, vol. 13, no. 2 (2011), pp. 214–240.
-
Tocci, Nathalie and Riccardo Alcaro. ‘Rethinking Transatlantic Relations in a Multipolar Era’. International Politics, vol. 51, no. 3 (2014), pp. 366–389.
-
Toje, Asle. ‘The EU Security Strategy Revised: Europe Hedging its Bets’. European Foreign Affairs Review, vol. 15, no. 2 (2010), pp. 171–190.
-
Tran, Phuc Thi et al. ‘Vietnam’s Strategic Hedging Vis-à-vis China: The Roles of the European Union and Russia’. Revista Brasileira de Politica Internacional, vol. 56, no. 1 (2013), pp. 163–182.
-
U.S. Department of State. Reaffirming and Reimagining America’s Alliances – Speech by Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, at NATO Headquarters (Brussels, 24 March 2021). Available at: www.state.gov/reaffirming-and-reimagining-americas-alliances/.
-
U.S. Department of State. Joint Statement by the Secretary of State of the United States of America and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the European Commission (Brussels, 24 March 2021). Available at: www.state.gov/joint-statement-by-the-secretary-of-state-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-eu-high-representative-for-foreign-affairs-and-security-policy-vice-president-of-the-european-commission/.
-
Vander Vennet, Nikolas and Mohammad Salman. ‘Strategic Hedging and Changes in Geopolitical Capabilities for Second-Tier States’. Chinese Political Science Review, vol. 4, no. 6 (2019), pp. 86–134.
-
Wallace, William. ‘European Foreign Policy since the Cold War: How Ambitious, How Inhibited?’ British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 19, no. 1 (2017), pp. 77–90.
-
Walt, Stephen M. ‘Keeping the World ‘Off Balance’: Self-restraint and U.S. Foreign Policy’. In America Unrivalled, ed. G. John Ikenberry (Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2002), pp. 121–154.
-
White House. National Security Strategy (Washington, DC: 2002).
-
White House. National Security Strategy of the United States of America (Washington, DC: 2017).
-
White House. Interim National Security Strategic Guidance (Washington, DC: 2021).
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 578 | 158 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 90 | 32 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 193 | 54 | 5 |
Reacting to the Decline of the West?
The European Union’s Embrace of Strategic Hedging
In: European Review of International StudiesAbstract
This article discusses the European Union (EU)’s strategic adaptation to the relative decline of the United States (US)-led Western world order by introducing the concept of hedging: a strategy of concomitant engagement with the system leader and its competitors aiming to minimise the risks of confrontation with either of them. To grasp the EU’s shift towards strategic hedging, the article analyses the subsequent 2003 Security Strategy, 2008 Implementation Report, 2015 Strategic Review and ongoing 2016 Global Strategy, and then puts the latter’s core concepts of ‘principled pragmatism’ and ‘strategic autonomy’ into perspective vis-à-vis international developments since 2016, related to ‘America First’ and the Sino-American rivalry. The article ultimately argues that, confronted with global power diffusion but constrained by the preponderance of transatlanticism, hedging has become a primary strategic option for the EU to emancipate from the US without alienating it and to compensate for the waning of the Western world order.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 578 | 158 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 90 | 32 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 193 | 54 | 5 |