To the uninitiated, the phrase strategic autonomy seems jarringly technical. But officials in Brussels can’t get enough of it. It peppers policy documents, speeches and newspaper articles. It means independence or, even more broadly, the ability of a state to pursue its own national interests and adopt its preferred foreign policy without being dependent on or being manipulated by other foreign states. It was in 2013 that the phrase strategic autonomy started circulating, initially in the context of security and defence concerns. Three years later it was picked up in a glossy new global strategy, which was launched after the result of the Brexit referendum. This year it looks set to influence the EU on fields more varied. Global shifts EU trust in the US has not recovered since its disintegration during the Trumpian era. Poor relations with the White House forced Europe to take stock of its defence situation: it could no longer rely on its heavily armed and wealthy transatlantic cousin...