Introducing the ‘Grand Area’

In the latest edition of Progress, Brendan Simms and I unveil what we describe as the European Union’s ‘Grand Area’. We feel that this geopolitical space, which stretches like a crescent from northern Russia to the African shores of the Mediterranean, will be of fundamental importance to the security and prosperity of the European Union in the twenty-first century, just as central Europe was crucial to world affairs in the previous century. More specifically, the ‘Grand Area’ is the region just beyond the ‘European Neighbourhood’, although both are increasingly bound together for the purposes of European security. Needless to say, it is within this area that we find most of the contemporary threats and challenges to our cohesion and safety, problems that are unlikely to fade away or dissipate anytime soon.

As we put it:

The broader Middle East and south Asia are regions of crucial importance to Britain and the rest of the European Union. Both form a large residual basin akin to a ‘Grand Area’—an outer perimeter of defence on which the security of the European Neighbourhood and ultimately, the European Union, depends. The security of the Union depends on the security of the Neighbourhood and the security of the Neighbourhood in turn is determined by the situation in the Grand Area. Working alongside the United States, the European Union must become more strategically involved in what is emerging as the geopolitical shatter-belt of the 21st century.

By this, we mean that the international reach of the European Union must be expanded in the coming years. We must enhance our ability to project power into the ‘Grand Area’, not only for the purposes of geopolitical engineering, but also to sustain our energy supplies, and produce forms of society and government more conducive to our liberal values and to our liking. Given the rise or resurgence of other powers in recent years—not least the People’s Republic of China and Russia—we Europeans must ensure that our foothold is solid and firm in Asia and the Middle East. Failure to engage strategically in the ‘Grand Area’ will mean that others will do so instead, not only reducing our influence, but also empowering forces unlikely to have our interests very high on their list of priorities.

The concept of the ‘Grand Area’—particularly when presented in cartographical form, such as in the map below—might help Europeans to think more spatially and geopolitically. This will be essential in the production of a more strategic and coherent European foreign and security policy in the years to come, especially after the reforms are implemented as laid out in the Treaty of Lisbon.

Map of the European Union and the ‘Grand Area’

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