The European Council on Foreign Relations

ECFR this week: 13th April 2012

Date: 13th April 2012  |  Author: Andreas Mullerleile,

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Europe’s relation with Jordan and prospects for reform in China were among the key ECFR themes during the past two weeks, here is a quick ECFR round-up:

Jordan is experiencing a slow-burning awakening and despite a promise of rapid reform in early 2011, King Abdullah has resisted meaningful change that would loosen his absolute hold on power. In a new ECFR policy brief Julien Barnes-Dacey argues that Europe should use its considerable leverage to press the King to introduce meaningful reform before it is too late.

After years of political stability and enviable economic growth, China has been facing a stark choice about how the country should move forward. In a new ECFR essay, ‘China at the crossroads’, François Godement argues that the Chinese government may be choosing the path of legal and political reform.
                         
Our Reinventing Europe project continued with more blog posts and podcasts about how other global powers view Europe:

• Ryo Oshiba on Japan: "In Japan there is the notion of 'the lost two decades', and a debate on whether Japan is a global player or a middle power. A similar debate applies to Europe.”
• Sergei Utkin on Russia: "the joint potential of the EU and Russia is regarded as essential in building sustainable alternatives to scenarios of Europe’s inevitable decline in the international arena."
• And last but not least, we published a podcast with Miriam Gómez Saraiva on how Europe is seen from Brazil.

Elsewhere:

• Julien Barnes-Dacey argues that Europe is struggling to play a meaningful role in Syria
• Richard Gowan writes about Kofi Annan’s approach in Syria
• Nicu Popescu gives some advice how to deal with Ambassador Rogozin in Moldova
• Jose Ignacio Torreblanca writes about the politics of solidarity in Spain.
• Jonas Parello-Plesner explains the EU’s carbon war with China
• US-Russia relations went from reset to upset says Nicu Popescu.
• And our Madrid office published two new podcasts (in Spanish): An interview with Alonso Zaldívar and a talk by Felipe González.