The global economic order is undergoing profound change. The system that emerged after the Cold War, built around open markets, liberal multilateralism and rules-based institutions, is under growing pressure. At the same time, financial interdependence is increasingly a source of geopolitical leverage, while shocks across finance, trade, energy, technology and critical infrastructure can expose vulnerabilities and threaten economic and financial stability.
Against this backdrop, the European University Institute has launched the Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of Finance Lab (GeoFinance Lab), a joint initiative of the Florence School of Banking and Finance (FBF) and the Florence School of Transnational Governance (STG).
The Lab will examine how geopolitical competition, financial interdependence and economic security are reshaping global finance, with a particular focus on Europe’s capacity to act in an increasingly contested international environment. By bringing together perspectives from finance, geopolitics and geoeconomics, the Lab will examine how global transformations are reshaping vulnerabilities and resilience worldwide, with particular attention to their implications for Europe’s strategic autonomy.
The Lab is part of a Partnership Agreement between the EUI and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The agreement establishes a framework for deeper cooperation in academic research, policy development, executive education and professional exchange, combining the ESM’s expertise in euro-area financial stability with the EUI’s policy-oriented research and teaching. Within this partnership, FBF and STG will lead the design and coordination of the GeoFinance Lab.
The Lab’s work will be organised around four interconnected areas: finance and strategic autonomy; digital finance and competitiveness; geoeconomic transformation of the international monetary and financial system; and European leadership in global monetary governance.
Read the foundational Policy Brief ‘Order in disorder: A research compass on the geopolitics and geoeconomics of finance'.
Watch the recording of the launch event held on 5 October 2026.