The Master Plan: Europe’s Grand Strategy · LMC 2026

Elena Lazarou, Director General at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy Phillips O’Brien, Professor of Strategic Studies and Head of the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews Kristi Raik, Director of the ICDS Thomas Röwekamp, Chairman of the Defence Committee of the German Bundestag Bruno Tertrais, Deputy Director of the Foundation for Strategic Research Moderator: Edward Luce, US National Editor and Columnist at the Financial Times The extension of a zone of stability, democracy, and prosperity across a continent that had torn itself apart twice in a century was not crisis management—but the greatest of grand strategies Europe has ever devised. Since then, Europe has struggled to adapt to the moving geopolitical tides. Now is the time to move from reaction to design. We must not ask ourselves what the future holds, but what future we want to build. Can Europe still think and act strategically? What institutional, political, and intellectual costs does that entail, and are we willing to pay them? How can partnerships with regional and global actors advance strategic objectives that formal structures cannot? And where does the balance between realism and idealism lie? https://lmc.icds.ee/agenda/panel-6/