🧠🛡️ Hybrid conflict begins in the mind – and Europe’s defence begins with bolstering its cognitive resilience. Faced with Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference on a huge scale, the challenge now is to anchor various countermeasures in a coherent pan-European strategy. 🔗 shorturl.at/A5x1E

Missed last week’s European Sovereignty Days at BIG? Read the reports of our insightful conversations with leading experts - or listen again - via the links. ⬇️ 🟡 Digital sovereignty w/ Marietje Schaake + Paul Timmers: 🔗 shorturl.at/MhkHq 🟡 Strategic autonomy w/ SAAB and Indra: 🔗 shorturl.at/iKGXL

💡BIG’s latest map captures the growing geostrategic relevance of the South Caucasus, as the contest over transit routes becomes central to Moscow’s weakening influence, China’s expanding footprint and Europe’s search for resilient corridors. 🔗 Map and full article: shorturl.at/i6wWy

🤝❓ The European Political Community gathers today in Yerevan – and Canada will join for the first time. From the ‘geopolitics of the guestlist’ to the summit's appealing informality, our #EPC Report explores the format's unexpected staying power – and where it goes next. ⬇️ 🔗 shorturl.at/mTqQx

🔋⚡ BIG’s event, moderated by Thijs Van de Graaf, with Jilles van den Beukel, Brendan Devlin and Maria Pastukhova, explored how Iran-related tensions and Strait of Hormuz disruptions are reshaping the EU’s outlook. 🔗 Read the report and listen again: shorturl.at/K2UyD

As Péter Magyar lands in Brussels today, we asked one of his key allies in the EU capital to draw back the curtain on his Tisza party's vision for the 'new Hungary' and its new place in the European geopolitical order. 🔗 Read our Four BIG Questions to Márton Hajdú here: shorturl.at/qBRnr

The European Defence Agency could be the engine for Europe’s rearmament – if the political will to empower it can be found. Claude-France Arnould, fmr. EDA Chief Exec and BIG Fellow, sets out what needs to be done for the Agency to live up to its potential.⬇️ 🔗 Read her paper here: shorturl.at/XcNGU

BIG’s Luuk van Middelaar contributed to Why Europe Matters, a new documentary bringing together leading voices from across the continent to confront a central question: can Europe turn its strengths into collective power amid rising geopolitical pressure? 🔗 Full film here: shorturl.at/CCaBt

🚨 One week to go: join Thijs Van de Graaf with Jilles van den Beukel, Brendan Devlin and Maria Pastukhova for a timely discussion on Europe’s energy security in an age of conflict. Register here: shorturl.at/jpSQB #Energy #Geopolitics #Europe #EnergySecurity #EnergyTransition

🚨🗓️ BIG’s European Sovereignty Days are coming up. ⬇️ In the run-up to Europe Day, we’re convening a season of vital and insightful conversations with leading European experts on energy, climate, digital and defence. Join us - and let's think BIG together. 🔗 Info and registration: shorturl.at/s0H9y

SAFE was designed as a source of cheap loans, backed by EU joint borrowing, to support Europe’s rearmament. Yet the funds are not immune to politicking. Our latest map shows how defence spending is shaped by political and institutional tensions, as well as military necessity. ➡️🔗 shorturl.at/fcuXN

The direct language from Donald Tusk and Micheál Martin on Hungary’s links with Russia marks a shift: from projecting cohesion at all costs to confronting the rupture within. What is now taking shape is a recalibration: a recognition that unity cannot simply be declared, it must be defended.

Europe is still operating by the logic of a world that no longer exists. From Gaza to the Gulf, the 'Old Normal' is crumbling. Martin Leng argues Europe’s strategic interest lies in recognising that the old rules no longer apply. 🔗 shorturl.at/7IOV8

Europe’s pharma sector is facing a ‘three-body problem’ of AI, US pricing pressure and Chinese innovation. To endure, it must adapt. In a new BIG Briefing, Milena Richter sets out the challenges - and opportunities - for Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and room for action. 🔗➡️ shorturl.at/zjv04

In a new BIG op-ed, @franspaulvdputten.bsky.social argues the EU needs a clear China strategy now, not in the middle of a crisis. As US–China rivalry sharpens, Europe must stop reacting under pressure and define its interests, its limits, and its strategic autonomy. 🔗 shorturl.at/wsxX1

🌍BIG, the Clingendael Institute and the Egmont Institute organised a workshop focused on how Member States can make the Global Gateway work in practice - from Team National structures and Team Europe to private-sector engagement and partner-country needs. 🔗 Read post-event report: shorturl.at/HRaGp

Amid the fog of an unwanted war, Europe has shown sang-froid. But can it now show coherence? In her latest for BIG, Claude-France Arnould warns that EU overreach and institutional rivalry risk undermining Europe’s credibility. 🔗 Read her full take: shorturl.at/0SsuO

Europe needs strategic foresight that is politically usable, not just bureaucratically cautious. A new BIG paper by Kate O’Riordan and Eliott de Smedt Day argues for scenario planning to build a stronger pan-European strategic culture. 🔗: shorturl.at/vbUXj

The 21st century human experience is one of relentless flux and systemic upheaval. Yet in Europe at least, we have far more in common than a sense of atomisation in a breaking world - hard-won unity as a source of meaning and a foundation for action. ➡️🔗 shorturl.at/viGIn @europeanfuture.bsky.social

☂️ Nuclear deterrence with a European dimension is becoming an operational reality. Between American strategic withdrawal and the Russian menace, Macron has offered a glimpse of what operationalization looks like. Read the full analysis by Claude-France Arnould here: shorturl.at/8UL5i

🛢️ As Gulf tensions rattle energy markets, Europe is again reminded of its exposure to external fossil fuel shocks. In our 4 BIG Questions interview, @thijsvandegraaf.bsky.social says diversification helped - but real security means cutting fossil fuel dependence.🔗Full interview: shorturl.at/mgOPD

🧩As geopolitical risk reshapes investment, partnerships and market access, companies are starting to embed it into strategy - not just risk management. BIG’s Thomas Laffitte explores how firms are bringing geopolitical judgement into corporate governance. 🔗 Full paper here: shorturl.at/GD6jK

In a dangerous world, the EU is under pressure to step up defence spending. Our new Report by @vestertborger.bsky.social takes stock of the financial mechanisms, budgetary politics and hard choices behind the existential challenge of our time – defending Europe. 📖🔗 Read it here: shorturl.at/JaHoh

On the 4th anniversary of land warfare’s grim return to European soil, BIG convened an expert webinar to take stock of the situation on the ground – and reflect upon the wider geostrategic implications of Ukraine’s struggle. Watch the conversation below ⬇️ or read the report here: shorturl.at/C37EZ

Four years of war in Ukraine has turned geopolitical positioning into domestic political rifts. Across Central/Eastern Europe, populists are using this divide to their advantage, with the upcoming Hungarian elections – and Orbán’s latest manoeuvres – a telling case in point. ➡️🔗 shorturl.at/6vQfJ

The EU’s #SAFE instrument will make nearly €150bn of loans available for Member States to buy weaponry and defence systems. Investment plans for FR, CZ and HU are still under assessment by the Commission - but for 16 others, the Council of the #EU is now releasing the funds. Here's who gets what. ⬇️

Join us to reflect on Ukraine’s resilience, Europe’s reckoning and the strategic questions demanding answers. On 24 February, BIG is hosting a webinar on Ukraine’s endurance and Europe’s strategic choices, with Mariana Budjeryn, Ed Arnold and Oleksandra Azarkhina. 🔗 Register: shorturl.at/UAaRg

Europe is looking to the stars in 2026 - but “failure to launch” is a real risk 🔭 Uncoordinated national “coopetition” can fragment delivery. In his latest essay for BIG, Alban Guyomarc’h argues tech roadmaps can bridge rhetoric to deployable systems. Read the full article here: 🔗 shorturl.at/0KaDO

Time for Brexit Britain to come in from the cold? With the ‘Special Relationship’ turning sour, and the next UK-EU summit pencilled in for the spring, BIG’s Martin Leng argues that the UK should re-embrace its European destiny while it still remains politically possible. ➡️🔗 shorturl.at/5m157

Success. 🇪🇺🤝🇮🇳

Faced with the New America, a compelling new narrative of who ‘We’ are is a vital ideological bulwark. Writing for @euractiv.com today, BIG's Director @luukvmiddelaar.bsky.social calls on Europe to relearn the ‘language of power’ – and reclaim the power of language. 🔗 Read here: shorturl.at/8XojK

At tomorrow’s #EU–#India Summit, a partnership with real geopolitical weight meets its moment of truth. Brussels leans on rules and standards; New Delhi defends policy space. BIG’s Valeria Santi examines why bridging the governance gap is now the central geopolitical task. ⬇️ 🔗 shorturl.at/brYB5

While Mark Carney may have charted a new strategic direction in #Davos, Trump’s Greenland climbdown reveals that Mark Rutte's flattery and diplomacy remain essential survival skills. BIG's @hanskribbe.bsky.social dissects the repercussions from an Alpine summit like no other. ⬇️ 🔗 shorturl.at/epJuF

The #EU’s shift away from #oil and #gas is good news for the planet – but for its fossil fuels suppliers, the picture is more complex. Writing for Nature Energy, BIG Fellow Thijs Van de Graaf explores the moral and geopolitical dilemma behind Europe’s green transition. ➡️ shorturl.at/xp26D

🗺️ Most maps push the Arctic to the margins. On a polar projection, the High North is an operational arena – shipping, cables, air corridors, early warning and SAR. 🧭🧩 💡 BIG’s map shows how Arctic connectivity reshapes distance, access and influence. 🔗 Check the map here: shorturl.at/PG6fE

🎙️ BIG's @luukvmiddelaar.bsky.social spoke with @euscream.bsky.social for their latest episode. What next after the geostrategic wake-up call in the High North? 🔊⬇️ Listen here now: Spotify: shorturl.at/6QESm Web: shorturl.at/8v6HY #Greenland #Denmark #Trump #USA #Security #Defence

Icy #Greenland is suddenly a geopolitical hotspot. High on the rush of a smash-and-grab operation in Caracas, the US administration has doubled down on its threats to annex the island this week – and Danish PM Mette Frederiksen has warned that such a move would herald ‘the end of #NATO’. Our take ⬇️

It's not too late to give the gift of geopolitics this Christmas. 🎄🌍📚 From the reverberations of history and memory to the hypothetical nuclear crises of the future, you're sure to find a festive read to suit any taste on BIG's Christmas bookshelf. 🔗 big-europe.eu/publications...

In Central and Eastern Europe, #geopolitics is both an old wound and a new political faultline. The #EU must tread carefully, argues BIG's Thomas Laffitte, lest opponents become polarized foes in a reductive battle of civilizations which may do more harm than good. ⬇️ #CEE 🔗 shorturl.at/KjRsX

🎙️ Nuestro podcast lleva el micrófono a Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, autora y periodista argentina. Una conversación compleja y provocadora acerca de la historia, los idiomas, el #poder – y la incertidumbre en las relaciones futuras entre #Europa y #Latinoamérica. 🎧 Escucha aquí: shorturl.at/z57nA

The Franco-German squabble over the FCAS fighter jet is a show of weakness just when Europe needs to be projecting strength, argues Martin Leng from the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics (@bigeurope.bsky.social) in this guest op-ed. www.the-sentinel.media/p/op-ed-fcas...

As #Trump takes aim at #Europe, our guest writer Mark Gilbert counters that both its cheerleaders and detractors – US and European – have created a false dichotomy. The European project is both more complex and subtle than either Euro-boosters or sceptics would have us believe. ⬇️ 🔗 shorturl.at/Xi5hg

In a wide-ranging interview on #Ukraine, #Trump and the new geopolitical order, BIG's Director @luukvmiddelaar.bsky.social spoke with El Pais about the urgency of Europe's present moment. 🔗 Read the full conversation: shorturl.at/CTzPH @elpais.com

Any doubts about American intentions vis-à-vis #Ukraine and #Europe were put to rest on Friday with the #US' new #NationalSecurity Strategy. BIG's Claude-France Arnould argues the only way to avoid a nightmare is to wake up - and start building effective European power, now. 🔗 shorturl.at/4UinV

The #EU announced its new #EconomicSecurity Strategy this week. 💶🔒 A toolkit without an instruction manual, argues BIG's Hans Kribbe: 'If the #Commission really wants to deploy the EU's economic policy arsenal to achieve foreign/security goals, we deserve to know what those goals are.' Our take ⬇️

While Washington and Moscow negotiate, Kyiv and Brussels assess the stark choices ahead. We asked former UA gov minister Oleksandra Azarkhina four BIG questions - on her impressions of #EU defence coordination, American claims on mineral rights, and what #Ukraine needs now. 🔗 shorturl.at/DvBml

Thought that building a shared European identity was hard? Try developing a common strategic culture. 🧩🧩🧩 'An EU security revolution begins with culture, with rediscovering what Europe stands for and what it is prepared to defend', writes BIG's Kate O'Riordan. ⬇️ 🔗 shorturl.at/x1MSB

In recent weeks, the #EU described #Georgia as a membership candidate ‘in name only’. How did it come to this for Tbilisi? The country's 5th President Salome Zourabichvili writes for BIG on what's at stake - and what Europe should do now. 💡⬇️ 🔗 big-europe.eu/publications... #Enlargement #Caucasus

The EU needs an economic security council, @bigeurope.bsky.social’s Luuk van Middelaar & Hans Kribbe argue in our fall issue: ip-quarterly.com/en/eu-needs-...

Between what's agreed in Belém and Europe's green future, there lies uncertain geopolitical reality. Let's explore it! 🔍🍃 📅 Join us at BIG on 18/11 as we chart a course through the geostrategic risks for the EU's green transition - including expert input live from #COP30. 🔗 shorturl.at/rT8Q5