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
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
Angela Merkel has long resisted updating German defence policy for today’s challenges. Her successor will not be able to avoid the challenge forever
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro predict ten bright and bold policy projections for the year to come
Party politics drove Poland’s threat to veto a wildly popular recovery fund that promises to have significant economic benefits for Polish voters
How can we explain the current crisis of the liberal international order?
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
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
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
How do we go forward with the global distribution of covid-19 vaccines and what kind of geopolitical implications do surround this endeavour?
Italy and Portugal will follow a common, coordinated strategy on key policy areas as presidents of the G20 and the EU respectively
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 pandemic poses a threat to European cohesion by increasing economic divides and undermining trust in the EU and national governments
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
To manage in this new world, the EU and its members need to embark on a broad-based effort to recover their strategic sovereignty
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
To achieve greater sovereignty, Europe needs to push back against rival powers, build leverage in armed conflicts, and be more effective in supporting reform
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.
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 reputation of Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden as ‘frugal states’ does not reflect public sentiment in these countries
The Portuguese EU presidency should handle issues in line with European voters’ perceptions of the new reality created by the coronavirus
Angela Merkel has long resisted updating German defence policy for today’s challenges. Her successor will not be able to avoid the challenge forever
Party politics drove Poland’s threat to veto a wildly popular recovery fund that promises to have significant economic benefits for Polish voters
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
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
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
Italy and Portugal will follow a common, coordinated strategy on key policy areas as presidents of the G20 and the EU respectively
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.
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
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
Germany, together with France, aims to play a decisive role in the reconstruction of the post-coronavirus world
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.
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
The European Solidarity Tracker collects and displays instances of pan-European solidarity throughout the coronavirus crisis
To fulfil its true potential, the EU needs to end its strategic cacophony and focus on capability building
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.
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…
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.
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
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…
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.
Has the coronavirus been Europe’s ‘Hamiltonian’ moment?
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".
Arancha González, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, shares her thinking on how global health can help revive multilateralism
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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
Mark Leonard participates in a debate organised by The Institute of Art and Ideas (IAI) in London
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
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
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?
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro predict ten bright and bold policy projections for the year to come
How can we explain the current crisis of the liberal international order?
How do we go forward with the global distribution of covid-19 vaccines and what kind of geopolitical implications do surround this endeavour?
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?
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?
Where do we stand now in building a “strategic partnership” between the European and African continent?
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.
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…
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?
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…