The current Arab-Muslim events on the European periphery suggest to the author a new strategic model to revitalize a European Union weakened by globalization. The re-ordering caused by these events seems to him a means of stimulating a European relaunch based on geopolitics of proximity.

The current Arab-Muslim events on the European periphery suggest to the author a new strategic model to revitalize a European Union weakened by globalization. The re-ordering caused by these events seems to him a means of stimulating a European relaunch based on geopolitics of proximity.

If the European Union wants to be a serious political player in a rapidly changing world, it needs to devise a geopolitical strategy based on where its territorial interests lie. In defining its boundaries, geographical priorities and alliances, the ability to bring its weight to bear in the world order will be greatly enhanced.

An analysis of the Russia-Georgia conflict from a geopolitical point of view brings out the strategic gains pocketed by Russia. They have put a brake on NATO’s enlargement, which is responsible for Russia’s perception of encirclement. On a wider scale, the conflict represents the arrival of a multipolar world. The European Union is directly concerned by this clash between Russia and the United States over the forming of spheres of influence on the Eurasian landmass. From the perspective of a ‘political Europe’, the security interests of the Union are dictated by geography. Renunciation of the enlargement of the EU and the Atlantic Alliance would be a response to the imperatives governing the stability of the continent and would open the way to a new Eurasian security system.