Sven Biscop: Europe Must Stand Firm as US and Israel Lose Control of War Ramifications
Belgian strategist warns expanding Middle East conflict will not solve problems; only broadening diplomatic negotiations can produce stable arrangement
Quick Look
- Belgian political scientist Sven Biscop analyzes the Iran war and global geopolitical landscape in 2026, warning that US and Israel started conflicts they no longer control.
- He argues Europe must stand firm against expanding the war, and that only broadening diplomatic negotiations to include more powers can produce a stable arrangement.
AI-generated summary
Sven Biscop is a Belgian political scientist and strategist specialising in the foreign affairs and security of the EU and its relations with great powers. He is a director at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels and a professor at Ghent University. He is also a senior research fellow at Renmin University in Beijing, where he teaches in the summer. Biscop is the author of many books, including 2024's This Is Not a New World Order: Europe Rediscovers Geopolitics, from Ukraine to Taiwan. His voice is one of the most prominent in the policy debate in Brussels.
Note: this interview was updated last week before the most recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz and the Israeli ceasefire with Lebanon.
As a European, what does the Iran war and how it has unfolded tell you about the world in 2026? We now have the US blocking the Strait of Hormuz, Israel waging war on Lebanon; ceasefire talks in Pakistan failed. Where is this going?
The US and Israel started a war and they no longer control the ramifications. Europe has to stand firm: expanding the war will not solve any problems. The only thing to expand is the number of powers involved in the diplomatic negotiations. Only that can produce a serious arrangement with a chance of proving stable.
