The EU’s Geopolitical Discourse

Abstract

Chapter 3 discussed the geographical and geopolitical dimension of seapower; states’ maritime geopower politics have been normalised through a series of geopolitical representations justifying the projection of power, forces, and security beyond one’s territorial waters. To contextualise the EU’s maritime geopolitics, this chapter examines the emerging geopolitical discourse of the EU, the way threats are geographically constructed, and the practical implications of this construction in terms of (maritime) power projection. Beyond the affirmation of security objectives calling for the projection of norms, regulations, and values beyond its external boundaries (including within its maritime margins), the EU has developed a geopolitical discourse that transcends the somewhat benign image projected by the Union as a civilian or normative power. As a global actor, the EU has developed a geopolitical discourse where the representation of the ‘threats’ is rooted in space; the EU’s identity is constructed along geographical lines, and its security policies and activities beyond the external boundary are normalised through geographical representations.