The crisis of American power: How Europeans see Biden’s America
Most Europeans rejoiced at Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election, but they do not think he can help America make a comeback as the pre-eminent global leader
The European Power programme was created in 2015 to help Europeans develop policy responses to the issues affecting the EU’s capacity to act on the global scene. The programme explores the obstacles to sustainable unity on current and future foreign policy challenges and seeks to develop solutions for overcoming them.
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UK Special
The UK Special presents the results of a supplemental survey of British policy professionals and expert observers of European affairs on the United Kingdom’s relationships…
The crisis that made the European Union: European cohesion in the age of covid
The pandemic poses a threat to European cohesion by increasing economic divides and undermining trust in the EU and national governments
The crisis of American power: How Europeans see Biden’s America
Most Europeans rejoiced at Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election, but they do not think he can help America make a comeback as the pre-eminent global leader
After Merkel: Why Germany must end its inertia on defence and security
Angela Merkel has long resisted updating German defence policy for today’s challenges. Her successor will not be able to avoid the challenge forever
Top ten foreign policy trends in 2021
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro predict ten bright and bold policy projections for the year to come
Why Poland threatened to veto the EU recovery fund
Party politics drove Poland’s threat to veto a wildly popular recovery fund that promises to have significant economic benefits for Polish voters
The coronavirus world order
How can we explain the current crisis of the liberal international order?
Recovering from the recovery fund: How Finland can reboot its EU policy
The EU recovery package proved controversial in Finland – but Europe-wide concerns about climate and security of supply offer ways for the country to re-engage at the highest levels
The lonely leader: The origins of France’s strategy for EU foreign policy
Many EU member states argue that President Emmanuel Macron does not consistently follow his own advice on the need for European defence cooperation. France should respond by taking the lead while involving its close partners
The great Brexit heist
Following an uncompromisingly hard Brexit, all the new limitations and sources of friction in Britain’s economic, political, and human interactions with the EU will only now kick in
The geopolitics of a covid-19 vaccine
How do we go forward with the global distribution of covid-19 vaccines and what kind of geopolitical implications do surround this endeavour?
Out of the south: Why Italy and Portugal should lead on climate change, health security, and multilateralism
Italy and Portugal will follow a common, coordinated strategy on key policy areas as presidents of the G20 and the EU respectively
Publications
The crisis of American power: How Europeans see Biden’s America
Most Europeans rejoiced at Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election, but they do not think he can help America make a comeback as the pre-eminent global leader
The crisis that made the European Union: European cohesion in the age of covid
The pandemic poses a threat to European cohesion by increasing economic divides and undermining trust in the EU and national governments
Climate superpowers: How the EU and China can compete and cooperate for a green future
As climate action becomes more material to economic interests, Europe and China will both compete and cooperate with each other, against the backdrop of an overarching systemic rivalry
Sovereign Europe, dangerous world: Five agendas to protect Europe’s capacity to act
To manage in this new world, the EU and its members need to embark on a broad-based effort to recover their strategic sovereignty
Promoting European strategic sovereignty in the eastern neighbourhood
The EU’s tendency to shy away from security issues has helped make covert operations and military threats Russia’s tools of choice in the region
Promoting European strategic sovereignty in the southern neighbourhood
To achieve greater sovereignty, Europe needs to push back against rival powers, build leverage in armed conflicts, and be more effective in supporting reform
Promoting European strategic sovereignty in Asia
Europe should upgrade its security activities, and seize the moment to push multilateral institutions up the agenda. But it will be Europe’s connectivity agenda that provides the golden thread running through its foreign policy and its other objectives in the region.
A new transatlantic bargain: An action plan for transformation, not restoration
The Trump years galvanised Europeans’ efforts to strengthen their own sovereignty; they now need to agree concrete offers they can make to the new administration
The transformative five: A new role for the frugal states after the EU recovery deal
The reputation of Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden as ‘frugal states’ does not reflect public sentiment in these countries
Crisis presidency: How Portuguese leadership can guide the EU into the post-covid era
The Portuguese EU presidency should handle issues in line with European voters’ perceptions of the new reality created by the coronavirus
Articles
After Merkel: Why Germany must end its inertia on defence and security
Angela Merkel has long resisted updating German defence policy for today’s challenges. Her successor will not be able to avoid the challenge forever
Why Poland threatened to veto the EU recovery fund
Party politics drove Poland’s threat to veto a wildly popular recovery fund that promises to have significant economic benefits for Polish voters
Recovering from the recovery fund: How Finland can reboot its EU policy
The EU recovery package proved controversial in Finland – but Europe-wide concerns about climate and security of supply offer ways for the country to re-engage at the highest levels
The lonely leader: The origins of France’s strategy for EU foreign policy
Many EU member states argue that President Emmanuel Macron does not consistently follow his own advice on the need for European defence cooperation. France should respond by taking the lead while involving its close partners
The great Brexit heist
Following an uncompromisingly hard Brexit, all the new limitations and sources of friction in Britain’s economic, political, and human interactions with the EU will only now kick in
Out of the south: Why Italy and Portugal should lead on climate change, health security, and multilateralism
Italy and Portugal will follow a common, coordinated strategy on key policy areas as presidents of the G20 and the EU respectively
How Britain and the EU could cooperate on defence after Brexit
The UK will have to decide how involved it wants to be in EU defence efforts. It seems likely that the country’s aim will be to have flexible structures that allow it to plug into European foreign and defence policy where doing so is in its interests.
How UK-EU trade cooperation can survive Brexit
The United Kingdom’s strategy should be to take a more considered, sectoral approach to trade – thereby strengthening its own internal market and its future relationship with key EU member states
Warming relations: UK-EU climate cooperation after Brexit
With Joe Biden about to enter the White House, London could need to display ambition on climate issues, or face being left behind by Washington and Brussels if they identified this policy area as a vehicle for rapprochement
How to spend it: Why Germany is saying goodbye to frugality
Germany, together with France, aims to play a decisive role in the reconstruction of the post-coronavirus world
Specials
EU Cohesion Monitor
European cohesion is bouncing back after crisis years. The EU Cohesion Monitor presents new insights on cohesion as an underestimated source of strength and collective action in the EU.
EU Coalition Explorer
The Coalition Explorer illustrates the expert opinions of more than 800 respondents who work on European policy and creates a visual understanding of the views held by Europe’s professional political class
European Solidarity Tracker
The European Solidarity Tracker collects and displays instances of pan-European solidarity throughout the coronavirus crisis
Independence play: Europe’s pursuit of strategic autonomy
To fulfil its true potential, the EU needs to end its strategic cacophony and focus on capability building
What Europeans really want: Five myths debunked
New ECFR/YouGov research reveals huge fluidity in current voting intentions: 70 percent of Europeans certain to vote are yet to make their choice. Nearly 100m swing voters are up for grabs.
The 2019 European election: How anti-Europeans plan to wreck Europe and what can be done to stop it
Summary With anti-Europeans on their way to winning more than one-third of seats in the next European Parliament, the stakes in the May 2019 election…
Eyes tight shut: European attitudes towards nuclear deterrence
Europeans remain unwilling to renew their thinking on nuclear deterrence, despite growing strategic instability. Their stated goal of “strategic autonomy” will remain an empty phrase until they engage seriously on this matter. This intellectual under-investment looks set to continue despite: a revived debate “German bomb” debate; a new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; and the collapse of the INF treaty. Attitudes to nuclear deterrence differ radically from country to country – something which any new engagement on the nuclear dimension will have to contend with. And, while many governments and their voting publics are aligned in attitudes, in some crucial players like Germany the government and public are at loggerheads. No European initiative to declare strategic nuclear autonomy is yet practicable but a strategy to hedge for future uncertainties is available. As a first step, the UK and France should convert the idea of a European deterrent from mere notion into credible offer, by thickening their bilateral nuclear cooperation and sending growing signals that indicate their readiness to protect others.
The nightmare of the dark: The security fears that keep Europeans awake at night
Great power competition is increasingly shaping Europeans’ security environment, while other security threats are also on the rise, from terrorism and cyber attacks to climate change
Migration through the Mediterranean: Mapping the EU response
The Mediterranean and migration: Postcards from a ‘crisis’ Since 2014, European citizens have been engaged in an intensifying discussion about migration. This is the result…
EU Cohesion Monitor 2019
European cohesion is bouncing back after crisis years. The EU Cohesion Monitor presents new insights on cohesion as an underestimated source of strength and collective action in the EU.
Video
ECFR Quarantimes #8 – with Wolfgang Schmidt
Has the coronavirus been Europe’s ‘Hamiltonian’ moment?
Deep Dive into Russia: Russia and the OSCE-based European order
This week we will have with us Andrey Zagorsky, professor at MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) and IMEMO (the Institute of World Economy and International Relations). Andrey will speak about “Russia and the OSCE-based European order".
ECFR Quarantimes #3 – with Arancha González
Arancha González, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, shares her thinking on how global health can help revive multilateralism
Can regulation save the internet? View from Washington
When loading this video, your personal data will be processed by YouTube in line with Google’s privacy…
Can regulation save the internet? View from Berlin
When loading this video, your personal data will be processed by YouTube in line with Google’s privacy…
Borrell returns: His vision for Europe
An exclusive ECFR Madrid interview with Josep Borrell, Spanish Foreign Minister and lead PSOE candidate for the European Parliament elections, on the European Union and his vision for it
“War and Peace: Has Trump made the world more dangerous?”
Mark Leonard participates in a debate organised by The Institute of Art and Ideas (IAI) in London
The Four Crises of Europe: Felipe González and the European Elections
ECFR Madrid sits down with former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González to discuss topics such as the state of the European Union ahead of May's European Parliament elections, the rise of Eurosceptic parties, Brexit, and relations with the US and Russia
How to restore democracy in Venezuela? Interview with Felipe González
ECFR Madrid in collaboration with Fundación Felipe González recorded a conversation between former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González and Head of the ECFR Madrid Office José Ignacio Torreblanca on the situation in Venezuela and the legitimacy of Juan Guaidó’s claim to the presidency
Europe in the German Elections
Everything you need to know about the German elections: Which parties are in the running to form a government, and what are the implications for European and foreign policy?
Podcasts
Top ten foreign policy trends in 2021
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro predict ten bright and bold policy projections for the year to come
The coronavirus world order
How can we explain the current crisis of the liberal international order?
The geopolitics of a covid-19 vaccine
How do we go forward with the global distribution of covid-19 vaccines and what kind of geopolitical implications do surround this endeavour?
How the US could return to the Iran nuclear deal
To what extent can and will Iran policy be a priority of the incoming administration? What can Europeans do to bolster transatlantic diplomacy on Iran?
Can the Frugals transform the EU?
The geopolitical grouping known as the “frugal four” — Austria, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands — has emerged as a key power centre in this year’s negotiations over the EU’s next budget and the covid-19 recovery fund. Does “frugality” actually reflect the public sentiment in those countries?
Europe’s pivot to Africa
Where do we stand now in building a “strategic partnership” between the European and African continent?
Europe’s new transatlantic bargain for Biden’s America
When Biden enters the White House, he will look for a Europe that brings solutions rather than problems. Europeans should show they can be an equal partner & offer him a new transatlantic bargain.
An interview with Anne Applebaum and José Ignacio Torreblanca
Head of ECFR’s Madrid Office, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca talks to the American historian, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Gulag, and expert on authoritarian populism about…
Anxious allies: European sovereignty after the US election
How much impact does the future US president have on the very concept of European sovereignty? Will the idea and initiatives to build more strategic autonomy in Europe be put back to bed with Joe Biden in the White House?
Europe’s role in America’s election
How will and can Europeans react in the event of a post-election chaos in the US? The election day is fast approaching yet the outcome still…
In the media
18 representatives from politics, science and the military, including Anna Kuchenbecker, have five demands for the federal government.
Donald Trump's presidency has significantly damaged the reputation of the United States among Europeans, according to a survey of eleven countries.
Jana Puglierin describes the differences between the three CDU politicians in dealing with the authoritarian states of China and Russia.
Ulrike Franke and Rafael Loss describe in their article how future UK-EU relations can look like.