Europe's Strategic Independence; Areas of Formation and Challenges Ahead

Many European leaders point out that in recent years multilateralism, coalitions, and international agreements have become fragile. Since Donald Trump's arrival in the White House, the situation has worsened, as he looks at international politics from the perspective of zero sums and retaliatory measures. Currently, the European Union is facing several challenges in its neighborhood and its security environment is at risk. On the other hand, Russia's policies especially after the Ukraine crisis in 2014 have become more aggressive and have been associated with Russia's asymmetric war, especially in the cyber domain. Besides, North Africa and the Middle East have become the competition field of proxies for various countries. The combination of these factors along with the reluctance of the US during the Trump era, and of rotation its policy toward the east, has made EU, especially in its global strategy to emphasize its strategic independence.
Therefore, in the last two to three years, European leaders have spoken of Europe's strategic independence. This article attempts to examine the major reasons of the EU to benefit from the strategic independence, positions of the various actors and, the challenges facing the Union in this regard.