Searching for a Brussels Machiavelli

The European Union is rarely depicted as a strategic actor in the realm of foreign policy. This is not due to lack of capabilities, but rather to a lack of leadership and grand vision to turn its formidable resources into something else, something called power.

To transform resources into power, the EU needs to become "more strategic in [its] thinking", as already recommended by the European Council in its 2008 report on the Implementation of the European Security Strategy.

Such s...