Europe, Geopolitics and Strategy with Professor Sir Hew Strachan

Europe is the continent that gave birth to geopolitics. It is the idea that geography affects the conduct of international politics. The idea is not without controversy. But does a current of thought brought to prominence in the 20th century still have any relevance today given globalisation and technological advancement? What do the burning crises in the Southern Mediterranean, the Sahel, the Levant and Eastern Europe tell us about Europe, geopolitics and strategy? How does Europe understand geopolitics and strategy today? What are the flaws in Europe’s strategic thinking?

Prof. Sir Hew Strachan (FRSE FRhistS) is Chichele Professor of the History of War and a Fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford. He serves as an advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff, UK, as well as a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum, a Commonwealth War Graves Commissioner and a member of the National Committee for the Centenary of the First World War and the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is also a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge and a Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow. He is a world leading authority on the history of the First World War. He is the author of many books and articles including The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective (2013) and The First World War: A New Illustrated History (2003).

This was the closing lecture of the Autumn Lecture Series 2014: "The Future of European Geostrategy" jointly organised by the Institute for European Studies-VUB and the Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations. The lecture was delivered at Castle Val Duchesse (Kasteel Hertoginnendal/Château Val Duchesse). To tweet about this lecture use the following hashtag: #EFSP14.