For decades, the European Union has been described as a normative power, a civil power, and, more recently, a soft power actor. These concepts captured Europe’s distinctive role in international affairs: shaping global governance through rules, economic interdependence, diplomacy, and the promotion of values rather than military force. Yet the return of geopolitical competition, the erosion of multilateralism, and the emergence of a more fragmented international order raise fundamental questions about the continued relevance of these paradigms. Is Europe entering an era in which power politics overrides normative influence, or is the European Union adapting its traditional instruments to a more contested global environment?
The Villa Vigoni Autumn School in European Studies aims to critically examine these questions through an interdisciplinary dialogue that brings together political and economic analysis, historical reflection, and legal perspectives. Participants will explore how geopolitical competition, technological rivalry, and economic security concerns are reshaping the European Union’s external action and fostering debates on strategic autonomy, industrial policy, and defense cooperation. At the same time, the Autumn School will situate these developments within the broader historical evolution of European integration and transformations of international order, while also examining how international and European law, regulatory power, and rule-making capacities continue to shape Europe’s global role in an increasingly conflict-prone environment.
By combining these perspectives, the Villa Vigoni Autumn School in European Studies seeks to foster a nuanced debate on Europe’s future role in global power politics and to engage a new generation of scholars in rethinking Europe’s place in a changing world.
Im Rahmen der Initiative der „Jungen Villa Vigoni“
Koordination
Villa Vigoni und Fondazione Treccani Cultura, in Zusammenarbeit mit der Fudan University, Shanghai, dem Institute for European Policy Making (IEP) an der Università Bocconi, Milano, der Università di Bologna, der Università del Salento, Lecce, der Europa-Universität Flensburg, der Universität Hamburg und der Bucerius Law School, Hamburg
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