This introductory chapter sets the stage for the remainder of the edited volume. Consequently, it first problematises several key notions that are often attributed to an international actor’s (in our case the European Union’s) geopolitical character; notions such as strategic autonomy, actorness and geopolitics. The chapter then outlines the research puzzle that drives the nine individual chapters—some more conceptual, others more empirical—that constitute this volume. More specifically, the volume sets out to uncover the extent to which the EU’s proclaimed ambition to be more of a geopolitical actor on the global stage began to translate into practice. By briefly outlining the main findings of the separate chapters that follow, this introductory chapter carefully hints at the emergence of geopolitical pragmatism within EU institutions: a concept that seems to be picked up—whether explicitly or implicitly—by most contributors to this volume and that we return to in this volume’s concluding chapter.