Strategic Autonomy or Strategic Illusion? Europe’s Future in a Multipolar World

Join the presidents of UCL and Sciences Po, and their expert guests, to tackle the thorny question of Europe’s geopolitical future.

As great-power rivalry deepens, Europe is seeking greater control over its security, technology, critical materials, and energy. But loosening the ties with powerful partners may cost Europe the very alliances and markets that give it weight.

Marking the first international event in UCL’s acclaimed Disagreeing Well series, the panel will debate whether Europe can, and should, act on its own terms.

Is Europe a cosseted ‘freeloader’, still sheltering behind an absent friend? Can Europe shrink its reliance on the US and China? Would this mean sacrificing prosperity or security?

Join us for a lively conversation, co-hosted by two of Europe’s leading universities, about whether strategic autonomy is a credible route to sovereignty, or a costly mirage in a world still shaped by interdependence.

Welcome and reflections:

Luis Vassy, Sciences Po President, and Dr. Michael Spence, UCL President & Provost.

Meet the panel:

• Chair: Dame Caroline Wilson DCMG, Ambassador and Head of the UK Mission to the European Union,
  • Professor Stéphanie Balme, FNSP Research Professor and Director of the Centre for International Studies, Sciences Po,
  • Professor Geoff Mulgan CBE, Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation, UCL,
  • Catherine Colonna, former French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs [TBC],
  • Dr. Ulrike Franke, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations.

Disagreeing Well is a UCL initiative that affirms the university’s role as a forum for open discourse in an increasingly polarised world. Partnerships with institutions such as Sciences Po extend that mission internationally, bringing different perspectives into dialogue and helping students and wider society become rounded global citizens who value freedom of expression and respect divergent views.