The European Union in the Face of Contemporary Globalism
The European Union in the Face of Contemporary Globalism

Summary/Abstract: The economic challenges generated by current geopolitical threats are projected to intensify in the coming decades. Over the next twenty years, global competition for political and economic influence is expected to reach its highest level of intensity since the Cold War. An increasing number of multinational corporations are pursuing their own forms of strategic autonomy, reflecting a broader fragmentation of the global economy. A wide range of economic and political actors are engaged in a struggle to advance their respective ideologies, objectives, and interests. As former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg once remarked, "freedom is more important than free trade" and "protecting our values is more important than profit". This shift in perspective is largely shaped by Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, which has raised profound concerns regarding the stability of the international security and cooperation system founded on the Charter of the United Nations. At the same time, the global experience of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to exert a lasting influence on the strategic decisions of nation-states and international organisations alike. Against this background, the purpose of this article is to analyse the European Union's position within the evolving framework of contemporary globalisation and to assess the principal economic, political, and geopolitical challenges shaping its future. The study aims to evaluate the EU's capacity to sustain competitiveness, internal cohesion, and strategic autonomy amid accelerating global transformations, drawing particularly on the findings of the Draghi Report as a conceptual framework for potential policy responses. Accordingly, the European Union is presented as both an actor and an object of modern globalism - confronted with the dual imperative of defending its foundational values while adapting its institutions and policies to the demands of an increasingly volatile international order.

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