The European Council on Foreign Relations

Weekly Update 25th November 2011

Date: 25th November 2011  |  Author: Nicholas Walton,

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This week saw the first official publication of our reinvention project: Mark Leonard’s essay on ‘Four scenarios for the reinvention of Europe’. The paper deals with the fundamental challenge that lies behind the euro crisis – that of Europe’s declining power – and brings in a discussion of the tensions between populism, legitimacy and technocracy and the near-collapse of the EU’s political system. Also on the reinvention theme:

• José Ignacio Torreblanca wrote this article about how nation-state democracy was proving inadequate in coping with the economic crisis. He also wrote this blog post about how the markets were starting to call Mrs Merkel’s bluff, and appears in this Spanish language podcast talking about Europe’s challenges.
• The latest € View blogpost, from the pen of Sebastian Dullien, explains in stark terms exactly what would happen if the Greeks pull out/fall out/are pushed out of the euro.
• Council Member Michiel Van Hulten contributed this piece that makes the case for rebuilding Europe from scratch, and leans towards a two-speed solution.
• I wrote this blog post looking at the implications of the rebirth of identity politics in Europe – whether from voters or from the mouths of the very politicians who should be trying to solve the crisis.

This time last week many members of ECFR’s staff were in Pristina for the inaugural Germia Hill conference, jointly organised with the Kosovan MFA. The conference looked at South Eastern Europe in a multipolar world, and was a great success (my colleague Pirro Venglu has posted some photos on our Facebook account).

• Here’s a summary of proceedings from Dimitar Bechev.
• Here’s a blog post that I wrote about what Kosovo has to teach the rest of us in a time of austerity.
• Here’s my audio podcast looking at how independence has affected the lives of ordinary Kosovans.
• Finally, this blog post looks at the dynamism of the Kosovans themselves, and in particular their youthful deputy foreign minister, Petrit Selimi.

Lastly, I’ve just published the third of four audio podcasts from the open session at our recent Council Meeting (‘the politics of the euro crisis’). You can listen to it here; part 1 is here and part 2 is here. I will publish the final chunk of a genuinely fascinating session with a stellar cast next week.

That’s it for this week, although we have another busy week ahead with two publications planned, and much more besides. You can also keep in touch via Facebook and Twitter (@ecfrheadlines), or track down our podcasts on itunes or podhoster.com.