Multilateralism today: What Role for the European Union in the Field of Peace and Security?

Today’s multilateral world order implies new challenges, but also offers new opportunities. The increasingly open society provides great room for a wide range of actors to play a relevant role on the international scene, by engaging in multilateral relations. The European Union has proved to be a formidable aspirant to ‘effective multilateralism’, but much remains to be done if the EU is willing to retain and strengthen its position of regional and global player in the future. This Policy Brief develops an analysis of the role of the European Union as a global-regional actor in peace and security based on three dimensions, namely the Capacity to carry out its tasks, the Willingness to act, and the Acceptance of its actions. It further contributes to the reformulation of the EU’s strategic approach by suggesting it to adopt the ‘triple F’ strategy: stay Focused, remain Flexible, act and react Fast.