Europe is home to the two of the oldest super powers in the world i.e. France and Britain. In the recent past the European Union [EU] constituting of most of the countries in Europe, has been accused of being a strategic actor in global matters. Some people argue that since the EU is composed of many countries, the union may be predisposed to failure strategy wise because it is a union of states and not a single state. This will make it difficult for the member states to reach a consensus especially when it comes to serious global strategy matters. On the other hand, the Lisbon treaty has enabled the Union to be a good policy initiator and implementation of the policies in the countries of interest is also foreseen by the union. To make the Union more effective in strategy constitution around the world the union has:

Been realistic about the EU interest and what it stands for
For example in the recent past the EU worked so hard in trying to have the situation in Ukraine under control. This was a move to prevent Russia from tampering with the factors upholds the Unions interests in Ukraine. In addition to that, Russian attack on Ukraine was against what the Union values stands for. The union values peace in their member states and their Allies.

Been realistic about the foreign partners the union needs to achieve its interests
EU has learnt from its past mistakes and failure like when it failed to protect its interests in Yugoslavia two decades ago. This has enabled it to come up with strategies that even out the competitions in global matters and interests for example the EU came up with a strategy to counter the Obama administration approach to climate change meetings at Copenhagen in order to guard their interests.

In conclusion from the arguments above it’s evident that Europe is a global strategic actor.