Shifting Priorities: Global Geopolitical Events and the EU's Foreign Policy Approach to Sustainable Development

Abstract

This research explores changes in the EU’s priorities and its trend in multilateralism amid global transformations. The history analysis indicated that the EU had shifted its focus and tended to emphasize sustainability within the framework of its foreign policy. This foreign policy reorientation has transitioned primarily from economic foreign policy to a sustainable one that embraces sustainability as a guiding principle. One of the shifts that the EU has adopted as a strategic response to the changing international relations is multilateralism. EU has partnered with other international organizations, focusing on a multilateral approach to address multifaceted global issues. The findings stress the importance of further research to understand better and manage the interactions between geopolitics and sustainable development. This research adds to the current literature on foreign policy and, more specifically, to how global shifts affect the foreign policy of the EU and, as such, supports the need for a multi-dimensional approach where SDGs are intertwined with diplomacy.