https://www.scmp.com/rss/523410/feed Sven Biscop is a Belgian academic and geopolitical analyst. As Director of the Europe in the World Programme at Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels since 2002, he specialises in European foreign, security, and defence policy. He is also a Visiting Professor at Ghent University and the College of Europe. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Sven Biscop is a Belgian political scientist and strategist specialising in the foreign affairs and security of the EU and its relations with great powers. He is a director at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels and a professor at Ghent University. He is also a senior research fellow at Renmin University in Beijing, where he teaches in the summer. Biscop is the author of many books, including 2024’s This Is Not a New World Order: Europe Rediscovers Geopolitics,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350626/saying-youre-geopolitical-actor-doesnt-make-it-so-sven-biscop-europe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350626/saying-youre-geopolitical-actor-doesnt-make-it-so-sven-biscop-europe?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 22:00:19 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham In June 2021, from a podium in the Cornish countryside, former US president Joe Biden told a relieved Europe that “America is back at the table”. The comment – made after a summit of the Group of Seven rich nations – became a galvanising force for reinvigorated transatlanticism after the first term of Donald Trump had left it in tatters. When Russia invaded Ukraine eight months later, the G7 became the forum of choice for cooking up punitive sanctions against Russia. It was also the venue for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350572/rupture-how-europe-fell-out-love-america?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350572/rupture-how-europe-fell-out-love-america?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:00:10 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Sven Biscop is a Belgian political scientist and strategist specialising in the foreign affairs and security of the EU and its relations with great powers. He is a director at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels and a professor at Ghent University. He is also a senior research fellow at Renmin University in Beijing, where he teaches in the summer. Biscop is the author of many books, including 2024’s This Is Not a New World Order: Europe Rediscovers Geopolitics,... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350314/europe-lacks-china-strategy-needs-new-us-approach-biscop-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350314/europe-lacks-china-strategy-needs-new-us-approach-biscop-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:23:39 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham In the days after the United States and Israel tipped the Middle East into a new and catastrophic crisis with their attacks on Iran, European leaders were all over the map. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both voiced support for regime change in Iran soon after the strikes started more than four weeks ago. Each of them also questioned the continued utility of the international rules-based order, while Merz’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348402/europes-crisis-tourism-how-iran-war-swallowed-eus-geopolitical-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348402/europes-crisis-tourism-how-iran-war-swallowed-eus-geopolitical-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:00:11 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Three days after the US government codified its contempt for EU institutions in a startling new national security policy, the bloc’s leaders finally broke their silence on Monday, with European Council President Antonio Costa lambasting Washington’s “threat to interfere in Europe’s political life”. “The United States no longer believes in multilateralism, nor even in a rules-based international order. They speak of the so-called rules-based international order, and they say climate change is a... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3335665/eu-reels-explosive-us-security-strategy-paints-bloc-rival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3335665/eu-reels-explosive-us-security-strategy-paints-bloc-rival?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 07:02:18 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham If Brussels bureaucrats returning from their long summer breaks this week were wondering what they missed, the local press had them covered. Unbecoming scenes at June’s Nato summit, the “hopelessly one-sided” trade deal with the United States in July, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s refusal to travel to Belgium for that month’s summit with EU leaders, were all cited by the Brussels media outlet Euractiv. “Now talk of a European moment has given way to fears of a European ‘century of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324446/europes-summer-hell-bleeds-autumn-trump-and-xi-turn-screws?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324446/europes-summer-hell-bleeds-autumn-trump-and-xi-turn-screws?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 06:00:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham A meeting in Alaska on Friday that could shape the future of Europe’s security will be notable for the absence of Europeans. Instead, US President Donald Trump will sit down with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin – a pariah in the West since launching his 2022 invasion of Ukraine – without anyone from Kyiv or the other European capitals present. Fearing Trump could hand Putin a blank cheque to end the war on terms deeply unfavourable to Ukraine, the Europeans have been scrambling to keep the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321820/europe-reduced-spectator-trump-and-putin-eye-ukraine-carve-alaska?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321820/europe-reduced-spectator-trump-and-putin-eye-ukraine-carve-alaska?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Aug 2025 10:00:14 +0000