Europe in a Changing World
Over the last five years, the Dahrendorf Programme at the European Studies Centre has systematically explored perspectives on Europe and the EU. This includes views from within the 27-member bloc, particularly among young Europeans (Europe’s Stories project), as well as external perceptions through the Europe in a Changing World project. The latter has focused on understanding how five key global players—China, India, Turkey, Russia, and the United States (CITRUS)—view and relate to Europe.
This work has been supported by a global network of leading universities and think tanks and has already produced significant outputs, including the widely publicised reports Living in an à la carte World: What European Policymakers Should Learn from Global Public Opinion and United West, Divided from the Rest.
Europe in a Changing World: The Next Phase
From July 2024 to September 2026, the project enters a new phase, building on previous insights to offer policy-relevant conclusions for a new European strategy in an evolving global environment. This phase will examine how Europe’s engagement with the world—politically, geo-economically, geo-strategically, and culturally—must adapt to an increasingly non-European and post-Western order, with a continued focus on the CITRUS countries.
With great power competition, climate change, technological innovation, and public health crises reshaping the international stage, EUrope faces both challenges and opportunities that will define its role in the 21st century. While much attention is given to external pressures, Europe’s own transformation is equally significant. The EU is grappling with internal changes that affect how it is perceived globally, from its position as a regulatory superpower to its ambitions as a leader in the green transition. At the same time, recent events—such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine—have underscored Europe’s ability to consolidate internally and respond to external shocks.
Europe in a Changing World explores these dynamics, asking critical questions:
- How do key global players (CITRUS) view Europe today, and what drives these perceptions?
- How can Europe navigate the challenges of great power competition while addressing shared global issues?
- What strategies can the EU adopt to remain a relevant and effective force in international relations?
The Europe in a Changing World project aims to combine the intellectual depth of a leading university with its extensive network that spans both think tanks and elite policymaking circles to explore, develop, and promote policy-relevant conclusions for Europe’s engagement with the outside world across a variety of dimensions. The thematic areas of interest include, among others, security, economy and trade, the impact of historical legacies (including European colonialism), cultural encounters, and people-to-people relations. The project will also cover issues such as the green transition and the evolution of Europe’s strategic culture which touch on many aspects of the EU’s and its member states’ role on the global stage. An important theme that will run like a red thread through our work is the changing character of Europe itself – in other words, not only is the outside world changing, but so is Europe: both in terms of its demography, regional composition, and political ideology.
Europe in a Changing World: Our Research Approach
The Europe in a Changing World project employs a multidisciplinary methodology that combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches to deliver comprehensive insights into Europe’s evolving role on the global stage.
Central to our research are:
Public Opinion Polling: Continuing our successful collaboration with the European Council on Foreign Relations, we will conduct two more waves of public opinion polling in Europe and the CITRUS countries to explore how EUrope is perceived within and beyond its borders.
Qualitative Research: Country-specific studies by our team of regional experts delve into nuanced perspectives and uncover underlying trends.
Content Analysis: In-depth analysis of speeches by key political leaders provides valuable context on how Europe is framed in political discourse in CITRUS countries.
Core funding for this project is provided by the Stiftung Mercator, with additional funding from the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit.
Conferences
The first in our series of conferences, How Europe Thinks About Itself in a Changing World took place at the Institute of Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna on 5-6 April 2022. The programme can be found here.
The conference featured two public panels. Please follow the links to see recordings:
– Ukraine and the future of Europe.
– How does – and how should – the EU tell Europe’s story to the world.
This second panel also featured the presentation of a report by Dr Julia De Clerck-Sachsse, Look Who’s Talking: Telling Europe’s Story in the EU Capital.
Our second conference, Europe in a Changing World, the thirteenth annual Dahrendorf Lecture and Colloquium, took place at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford on 28-30 April 2022.
The conference included a lecture by the celebrated British-Chinese novelist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo, Dreams and Reflections: A Chinese Artist’s Discovery of Europe, on her extensive filmography on the questions of connection and identity.
These two European conferences were followed on 24 March 2023 by Irritations of Europe, at Ashoka University, Delhi.
We then returned to St Antony’s for Europe and Freedom, the fourteenth annual Dahrendorf Lecture and Colloquium, which took place on 28-29 April 2023. The conference’s programme, as well as additional articles on the theme of freedom in Europe, can be found here.
The conference featured three livestreamed panels:
– Freedom in Europe: The Last Fifty Years
– Freedom in Europe: Dimensions, Dilemmas, and Prospects
– Professor Timothy Garton Ash’s Dahrendorf Lecture, Europe Whole and Free
We were also delighted to receive a pre-recorded video message from Professor Francis Fukuyama, The Future of Freedom, which led into the final, closed, session of the conference.
On 4-5 May 2023, the Dahrendorf Programme was hosted at the State of the Union at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence. A recording of our panel, ‘Fragmentation, disorder, and the reconstruction of Europe’s global role’, can be viewed here, and other content from the conference found here.
On 30 August 2023, a conference took place at Stanford University on (Mis)managing Differences. The programme for the conference can be viewed here.
On 30 August 2023, a conference took place at Stanford University on (Mis)managing Differences. The programme for the conference can be viewed here.
On 13 October 2023, a conference took place at Sabanci University, Istanbul, on Türkiye and Europe in a Changing World. The programme for the conference can be viewed here.
On 23 November 2023, the Dahrendorf Programme was hosted by the Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB), in conjunction with the midterm conference of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Contestations of the Liberal Script’ (SCRIPTS), taking place in Berlin from 22-24 November 2023. This panel provided an opportunity for scholars actively involved in the network from Europe, Turkey, and China to discuss some findings and possible conclusions from this first phase of the project’s work, which will subsequently be presented in a multi-author volume. A recording of the panel can be viewed here.
The 15th annual Dahrendorf Lecture and Colloquium took place at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford on 3-4 May 2024. We were more than delighted that the HR/VP Dr Josep Borrell delivered this year’s Dahrendorf lecture. You can find a recording of his lecture “Europe faced with two wars” here.