Cooperation and competition between global and regional centers of power that seek to increase their influencer in order to more effectively realize national interests, are the natural state and essence of polycentricity of modern international relations. The course of the European Union towards strategic autonomy raises the question of its relations with two global centers of power - the United States, the EU’s most important ally, and China, its economic partner and competitor. Should the European Union become a full-fledged independent center, or should it play a supporting role of the most loyal ally of the other pole - the United States? This issue is at the heart of the modern EU strategy. The EU’s 2016 Global Security Strategy proclaims a common course for strategic autonomy, but leaves out the answer to this existential question, since the EU member States still fundamentally disagree on the ultimate goals of strategic independence.