The EU's international environment is increasingly characterized by power politics, great-power rivalry, ideological contestation and war. This has challenged the liberal-internationalist identity that has been at the heart of the EU since its birth. This book examines how the EU has responded to these new realities. It analyses the introduction of a flurry of concepts including European sovereignty, strategic autonomy, civilization, responsibility and strategic compass, and asks whether these signal a reconsideration of foreign policy objectives, a new strategic orientation or possibly a paradigm shift.

The book develops a theoretical framework on policy paradigms, worldviews, grand strategy, strategic narratives and the drivers of institutional change followed by chapters on the anti-liberal challenge, the evolution of the EU framework of ideas, the search for grand strategy and strategic autonomy, the response to Russian aggression and imperial thinking, and continuity and change in EU unity, working groups, green leadership and strategic communication.