Carl Schmitt in Brussels: The Russia War against Ukraine and the Return of Geopolitics

Abstract

<p>The Russian war against Ukraine presents the most serious challenge to the European Union and its self-understanding. Europe is caught between the ever-growing ambition of becoming a formidable global player that could shape its destiny and the limited capabilities it has to project power. To understand this predicament, I will argue, we need to gain a critical distance from celebratory narratives of ‘soft power Europe’. Using Carl Schmitt as a point of departure, I seek to expose the EU’s numerous deficiencies. Simply by conceiving itself as a peace project, for example, the European Union did not become a guarantor of peace in Europe. Similarly, relying on technocratic governance might have worked well in good times, but in times of war it is a major liability. Schmitt’s understating of geopolitics, the politics of the exception and the concept of the political are thus as relevant as ever. Not just for understanding Russia but also for understanding the EU - and its limitations.</p>