Highlights
Featured
The bear at the door: Case studies of Russian political and military strategy on Europe’s margins
A Russian bear is ranging through Europe’s neighbourhood. But with the right focus and ambition, Europeans can outfox it
Eyes wide shut: How to read China’s playbook in the Western Balkans
- Vladimir Shopov
- Policy Brief
The global order no longer favours Western dominance, and Europe’s peripheries have become battlegrounds for competing powers. Yet, the EU’s enlargement policy has not kept pace with this new geopolitical reality
Power sharing: The politics of European-Tunisian energy cooperation
- Philipp Wagner
- Policy Brief
The ethos of the EU’s “Pact for the Mediterranean” could help revitalise cooperation on clean energy with Tunisia—but only if Europeans learn how to better factor in the country’s politics
Sudan: A war Europe cannot stop, but cannot ignore
- Cinzia Bianco, Will Brown
- Commentary
- 3 minute read
El-Fasher in North Darfur is now the epicentre of the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe. Europe’s options are limited, but there are still ways to hold the responsible accountable
Upcoming events
Recent events
Strategic minerals, strategic futures: Africa at the heart of shifting global security
- German Federal Foreign Office
Mark Leonard's World in 30 minutes
The politics of migration and integration
- Podcast
- Mark Leonard's World in 30 minutes
Mark Leonard welcomes Sunder Katwala and Lawen Redar to explore how Sweden and Britain are redefining their national identities amid mass migration
ECFR on air
The EU’s enlargement reality check
- Podcast
- ECFR on air
- The Neighbourhood
Jessica Hendrick takes over The Neighbourhood to unpack what the EU’s 2025 Enlargement Package reveals about both Brussels’s expectations and life inside the candidate countries
Views from the Council
How Europeans can go beyond “limiting unpredictability” and respond to the MAGA doctrine
- Ilke Toygür, Catherine de Vries
- Commentary
- View from the Council
- 4 minute read
European leaders must draw up their alternative to the MAGA doctrine and drive deeper integration in the EU
A tribe of tribes: Why the EU needs a stronger identity
- Tibor Dessewffy
- Commentary
- View from the Council
- 4 minute read
Behind the European far-right’s success is an identity politics that gives voters a sense of belonging. Europe’s liberal forces need to offer a credible alternative
In the Media - Council
Patrycja Sasnal on the Gaza peace deal
Carl Bildt on Ukraine imposed sanctions on former president and opposition politician Petro Poroshenko
Mark Leonard, Ivan Krastev, and Timothy Garton Ash on ECFR’s latest global survey
Featured and flagship projects
The Data Collection
Explore our open-access data platform for unparalleled access to ECFR’s public opinion polls—empowering research and insight on today’s key foreign policy issues.
Transatlantic twilight: European public opinion and the long shadow of Trump
- Jana Puglierin, Arturo Varvelli, Pawel Zerka
Re:Engage
This project helps the EU in refining its foreign policy, re-engaging neighbours post-Russia's invasion of Ukraine to bolster regional resilience and advance enlargement policies.
The interest of values: The EU’s democracy promotion in the Western Balkans and the eastern neighbourhood
- Piotr Buras, Marie Dumoulin, Tefta Kelmendi, Marlene Marx
Re:Order
Re:Order project explores emerging visions of the global order, as well as the interplay between economic might and geopolitical influence.
Subscribe to our newsletters
Be the first to know about our latest publications, podcasts, events, and job opportunities. Join our community and stay connected!
Discover our newslettersLatest
How Europeans can go beyond “limiting unpredictability” and respond to the MAGA doctrine
- Ilke Toygür, Catherine de Vries
- Commentary
- View from the Council
- 4 minute read
European leaders must draw up their alternative to the MAGA doctrine and drive deeper integration in the EU
What Chinese leaders really think of Trump
- Mark Leonard
- Commentary
- 3 minute read
According to Chinese academics, economists and retired military officers, the country’s leaders are not losing any sleep over Donald Trump’s America First agenda. In fact, as they see it, the US president is ushering in a world that Chinese strategists have long been preparing for
From climate to defence, inertia could be the EU’s undoing
- Nicu Popescu
- Commentary
- 2 minute read
Europe’s strategic reports are filled with urgent calls for speed and agility. But amid fierce global competition, Europe is still lecturing while other major players deliver results
Energy reckoning: How Europe can use US sanctions to cut Moscow’s oil ties
- Szymon Kardaś, Vessela Tcherneva
- Commentary
- 5 minute read
The EU has a strategic opening to align with US sanctions on Rosneft and LUKoil. It must compel divestment from European assets and close loopholes that enable Moscow to circumvent restrictions
Pacific drift: Why Europe needs a Japan strategy for the Takaichi-Trump era
- Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp
- Commentary
- 6 minute read
Donald Trump has already met Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in Tokyo. As the two move closer on defence and economic security, the EU must reflect on the credibility of its own alliance
Western Sahara shuffle: Trump’s foray could make or break peace
- Hugh Lovatt
- Commentary
- 6 minute read
President Donald Trump’s quest for a peace prize has led him to Western Sahara, where American diplomacy risks either sparking more violence or seizing a rare chance to end a half-century-old war
Our experts are available for media requests. Our work involves many issues relating to Europe and foreign policy, and our programmes focus on Africa, Asia, the Middle East & North Africa, and Wider Europe.
Agathe Demarais on how Asian economies made highly unusual concessions in the trade deals with the US
More on Africa
The bear and the bot farm: Countering Russian hybrid warfare in Africa
- Will Brown
- Policy Brief
Russia has many quiet enemies in Africa. Working together, like-minded Africans and Europeans can roll back its troublesome influence
From street to state: Madagascar’s new leader and the case for EU engagement
- Daria Jankiel
- Commentary
- 5 minute read
The Gulf rush: How Europe can keep up in Africa
- Maddalena Procopio, Corrado Čok
- Policy Alert
- 2 minute read
More on Asia
Great changes unseen: The China-Russia nexus and European security
- Alicja Bachulska, Ivana Karásková
- Policy Brief
Europeans must recalibrate their China policy—to recognise the country’s role effectively supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine
Green competitiveness: Why Europe should rethink targets to outpace China
- Byford Tsang, Rosa Melissa Gehrung
- Commentary
- 4 minute read
Know thy field: China’s new consumerist ethos
- Sonia Li
- Commentary
- 4 minute read
More on European Power
It’s not easy being green: Breaking Europe’s climate spending deadlock
- Mats Engström
- Policy Brief
The EU’s next budget will shape its future. Member states must strike a grand bargain to decarbonise Europe and, by extension, drive EU security and competitiveness
Dutch masters: The art of renewing the centre
- Herman Quarles van Ufford
- Commentary
- 2 minute read
After Novi Sad: How the EU can help Serbia resurrect its democratic path
- Piotr Buras, Vessela Tcherneva
- Commentary
- 4 minute read
More on European Security
Occupational therapy: Frozen conflicts, Russian aggression and EU enlargement
- Tefta Kelmendi, Sergi Kapanadze
- Policy Brief
As Russia accelerates its annexation of “frozen conflict” regions, the EU must enhance its policy to counter Moscow’s influence
The long game: How Europe can outlast Russia’s war of attrition
- Anton Barbashin
- Commentary
- 2 minute read
Look what you made us do: How to realise a European-led NATO
- Leoni Habedank, Rafael Loss, Katrine Westgaard
- Commentary
- 4 minute read
More on Middle East and North Africa
The power of the possible: A step-by-step approach to strengthen human rights in the Middle East
- Anthony Dworkin
- Policy Brief
European credibility to uphold human rights in the Middle East has faded, but the EU can still have an impact by backing social and economic rights, empowering people through reform
The mirage of resilience: Why energy markets cannot shake off the Middle East risk
- Camille Lons
- Commentary
- 4 minute read
Staatsräson: How Germany’s Israel policy hobbles EU strategy
- Nele Anders
- Commentary
- Note from Berlin
- 5 minute read
More on United States
MAGA goes global: Trump’s plan for Europe
- Célia Belin
- Policy Brief
Form exists in the frenzy of Donald Trump’s first months back in power. His foreign policy is his domestic agenda exported—and that is bad news for Europe
The imported martyr: Echoes of Charlie Kirk in Europe
- Pawel Zerka
- Commentary
- 4 minute read
J.D. Vance’s foreign policy: When restraint meets culture war
- Majda Ruge
- Commentary
- 6 minute read