Hosted by the Institute for China & World Studies and the School of Political Science & International Relations (SPSIR) of Tongji University, the Tongji Serial Lectures on Social Sciences No.28 was successfully held in the lecture hall on the 10th floor of Zhonghe Building, Siping Campus, Tongji University on October 23, 2020. Dr. Cui Hongjian, a senior researcher and Director of the Department for European Studies, China Institute of International Studies (CISS), was invited to give a keynote speech on the topic of The Return of ‘Sovereignty’: Europe’s Strategic Thinking and Action amid Major Power Rivalry for teachers and students of Tongji. This lecture was moderated by Professor Zheng Chunrong, Associate Dean of SPSIR.

First of all, Dr. Cui introduced a series of core concepts related to this lecture, including liberalism and conservatism, idealism and realism, environmental degradation and strategic autonomy, major power rivalry and multilateral diplomacy, sovereignty and super-sovereignty. Then, he explained the historical background and realistic motivation of the return of European “sovereignty”, i.e. under the background that major power rivalry has led to environmental degradation, Europe chooses to maintain and strive for its interests by emphasizing its sovereignty and strategic autonomy. Next, he reviewed the key events of great significance for the EU since 2003 that stimulated Europe to start seeking its sovereignty and strategic autonomy. The financial and debt crisis from 2008 to 2009 can be regarded as the beginning of Europe’s crisis. The Ukrainian crisis in 2014 signified a geopolitical crisis in Europe. The refugee crisis in 2015 meant that Europe began to look at the boundary issue from a geopolitical perspective, with its strategy gradually changing from expansion to contraction. The Brexit and Trump’s election in 2016 undoubtedly gave Europe a head-on blow. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has further intensified the major power rivalry. All these combined have spurred Europe to further assert its own sovereignty and strategic autonomy.

Afterwards, Dr. Cui analyzed Europe’s strategic thinking from the internal and external dimensions. Internally, Europe is not only facing the problem of how to sustain economic development and maintain competitiveness, but also the issue of balance of power, that is, with the original balance among the UK, France and Germany disappearing, how should the driving force for European integration be shifted. Externally, first, Europe is facing the problem of surrounding sphere of influence, that is, with the retreat of American forces, how Europe can maintain the stability in its surrounding areas and exert its influence; second, Europe is troubled with the pan-European pattern problem; third, it is beset by the issue of global resource allocation and order adequacy, that is, whether Europe will be marginalized in the major power rivalry and whether it can still participate in global resource allocation. Europe’s strategic thinking is based on the above internal and external issues.

Dr. Cui then analyzed the five pillars constituting the strategy of Europe: policy announcement, political mobilization, resource allocation, project implementation, and international discourse. From 2003 to 2016, Europe issued two strategy reports and several policy documents to unveil its overall strategic framework, strategic objectives, basic content, policy tools, and evaluation and adjustment methods. Through extensive and open discussions, the entire European society can be widely mobilized to build a good consensus. In terms of resource allocation, Europe still has problems with unbalanced interests and divergent goals in its security strategy. In the process of project implementation, Europe will have to coordinate different countries. Europe is a very important part of the international discourse system, but how its strategy can reduce the negative reaction of the international community is also very noteworthy. At present, Europe mainly uses four policy tools, i.e. economic means, foreign aid, human rights diplomacy, and national discourse power, to achieve its strategic goals. Among them, economic means are the most specific and effective tool. Dr. Cui further analyzed the role of these policy tools in combination with Europe’s policy practices. He also analyzed how China looks at Europe strategically. First, Europe is generally advanced in economic and social terms, so it is deemed a strategic highland by China, and its strategic value is growing. As China is rising while Europe is declining, there will be a transition between the offensive and defensive sides. Second, given Europe’s geographic location, economic development level, technological and diplomatic strength, and rulemaking capability, Europe will naturally become a place contested by China and the United States. At the same time, Europe is also a strategic low-lying land for China. Since Europe is characterized by cultural diversity and interest diversification, and it has not fully integrated yet, there is a relatively strong accessibility to Europe. Finally, when making strategies, China must consider the characteristics of Europe’s diplomacy, so as to find a balance between the interests of both sides.

Through the above analysis, Dr. Cui concluded that Europe’s transition from lack of strategy to strategic autonomy is the result of both internal contradictions and external situations; it is seeking a holistic solution to internal and external contradictions through strategic thinking and action; and the results fully reflect that the changes in the internal power structure and the transformation of the external international pattern, as well as the strategic thinking depth and action capability of various power centers, will shape the future international order. Dr. Cui believed that no matter whether Europe can become a balancer or mediator in the China-US rivalry, Europe wants to be a relatively independent power, which is expected to maintain the balance of the international situation, go with the multi-polar tide of the world, and contribute to the progress of human civilization.

In the interactive Q&A session, Dr. Cui carefully answered questions from the teachers and students present, such as how Europe can resolve the contradiction between equality and efficiency, what measures Europe has taken in face of the China-US competition, and what are the future trends of China-EU relations. Finally, Associate Dean Zheng made a brief summary of the lecture and expressed his gratitude to Dr. Cui for the wonderful lecture. The lecture ended with a big round of applause.