In his inaugural address at the EUISS Annual Conference 2023, Joseph Borrell emphasized that the EU is moving towards more practical solutions in its foreign policy and diplomacy. The return of geopolitics, or "the revenge of revisionist powers," as described by W.R. Mead in a well-known article for Foreign Affairs, began in 2014 with the invasion of Crimea and intensified over the past two years, leading to open aggression against Ukraine. The tense international atmosphere significantly reverberates in cyberspace, necessitating reflection on the role of EU diplomacy and its member states in the Ukrainian crisis, Sino-American relations, and in the context of the increasing politicization of global cyber forums.
Such challenges require a carefully crafted integrated approach to security and foreign policy. The actions taken over the next two years will be crucial in shaping the balance in cyberspace in the coming decades. In this context, cyber diplomacy must serve broader goals of EU foreign policy and be part of a comprehensive approach that encompasses increasingly security-imposed domains, as well as serve as the foundation for building partnerships.
More information about the project can be found here: eucyberdirect.eu