Economic arm-twisting is on the rise. Europe must learn how to resist it
Protectionism is not the answer. European countries must build public support for strategic openness.
Experts & Staff
Jonathan Hackenbroich
Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Geo-economics, economic statecraft, security, sanctions policy, German foreign policy
Languages
German, English, French, Spanish, some Arabic
Biography
Jonathan Hackenbroich is a policy fellow for economic statecraft and the head of ECFR’s Task Force for Strengthening Europe against Economic Coercion. His work for ECFR’s European Power programme focuses on economic coercion and geo-economics, especially trade and sanctions policy. He is also an expert on German foreign policy.
Hackenbroich has been published in the weekly Die Zeit, the daily FAZ and Tagesspiegel, French daily Le Monde, the New Statesman, Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, and in ECFR’s annual political trends papers. He regularly appears as a commentator in the media, from the New York Times to German Handelsblatt, and has been a podcast contributor at ECFR’s flagship podcast “World in 30 Minutes”.
Hackenbroich holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. where he specialised in US grand strategy, geopolitics and geo-economics. He also holds a BA in International Relations from TU Dresden.
Previously, Hackenbroich was research assistant to ECFR’s director where he acted as speech writer, podcast researcher, and strategic adviser to Mark Leonard. Before joining ECFR, Hackenbroich was a trainee at Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, where he worked at the foreign desk and wrote about geopolitics and strategic issues.
He has also been a lecturer on strategic political forecasting at TU Dresden. Hackenbroich had previous work experience at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, DC, the German Foreign Office’s Iran Task Force, the German Bundestag, UNHCR Jordan and with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Lebanon.
2 Dec
Chinese and Russian economic pressure games – what policy for Sweden and Europe?
How should Sweden and Europe adapt to the rise of geo-economics, keeping their markets open but minimizing their vulnerabilities?
Lead time: How Germany should move on from Merkel | Episode 3 – Economic Coercion
How can the next German government build up Europe’s strength against economic coercion?
Four ways the new German government can strengthen European trade against economic coercion
Threats to Germany’s and Europe’s economic sovereignty have won too little attention in the German election campaign. But, soon, policymakers in Berlin will have to take decisive steps to build up Europe’s strength against economic coercion.
The strike back against economic blackmail
In what circumstances should an Anti-Coercion Tool be triggered? What kind of countermeasures could protect Europe, keep markets open and support a functional global trade order?
Measured response: How to design a European instrument against economic coercion
The anti-coercion instrument needs to enable countermeasures that are both effective and credible; if it does not, this could carry more risks than benefits
23 Jun
Anti-Coercion Instrument: How the EU can counter sanctions, boycotts and economic blackmailing
This event is the second webinar in a two-part series on current developments in the global use of economic coercion
17 Jun
Trapped in an age of economic coercion – How can the EU effectively navigate it?
This event is the first webinar in a two-part series on current developments in the global use of economic coercion
The Nord Stream 2 dispute and the transatlantic alliance
Nord Stream 2 has become a suitcase without a handle: hard to abandon; hard to take along
Chinese sanctions: How to confront coercion and avoid a squeeze on Europe II
China’s recent personal and economic sanctions have sent a strong message to Europeans, but there are concrete ways for the EU to build up its resilience against economic coercion
Publications
Measured response: How to design a European instrument against economic coercion
The anti-coercion instrument needs to enable countermeasures that are both effective and credible; if it does not, this could carry more risks than benefits
Defending Europe’s Economic Sovereignty: new ways to resist economic coercion
The EU should move quickly to consider and adopt a suite of tools to protect and enhance European sovereignty in the geo-economic sphere
Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
Opportunities amid disorder: Europe and the world in 2018
2017: It could have been worse Prediction is a gloomy business, even in the best of times. It is neither fun nor interesting to predict…
Articles
Economic arm-twisting is on the rise. Europe must learn how to resist it
Protectionism is not the answer. European countries must build public support for strategic openness.
Four ways the new German government can strengthen European trade against economic coercion
Threats to Germany’s and Europe’s economic sovereignty have won too little attention in the German election campaign. But, soon, policymakers in Berlin will have to take decisive steps to build up Europe’s strength against economic coercion.
The Nord Stream 2 dispute and the transatlantic alliance
Nord Stream 2 has become a suitcase without a handle: hard to abandon; hard to take along
Chinese sanctions: How to confront coercion and avoid a squeeze on Europe II
China’s recent personal and economic sanctions have sent a strong message to Europeans, but there are concrete ways for the EU to build up its resilience against economic coercion
Chinese sanctions: How to confront coercion and avoid a squeeze on Europe I
China is ramping up the pressure on European decision-makers, academics, and companies. The EU must move quickly to build its resilience against such economic coercion.
Election 2021: How Germany could vote Green but keep the status quo
This year’s election could catapult the Greens to power – but it may not be enough to bring about the reforms Germany needs
Protecting Europe from economic coercion: Strategy after the 2020 US election
Europe needs to enhance its toolbox for protection against economic coercion, carefully balancing its strategy in five areas
Promoting the international role of the euro: Ideas for substantive progress and greater sovereignty
Strengthening the euro would reduce the power imbalance between Europe and its international partners and competitors
Second acts: How Europe can renew the transatlantic partnership
This could be the moment to build a more balanced transatlantic relationship, with Europeans showing the US where we need it to engage, and how – rather than simply waiting for cues from Washington
How Europe can defend itself against US economic sanctions
Germany and Europe must defend themselves against US sanctions. They can strengthen their armoury in two ways.
Podcasts
Lead time: How Germany should move on from Merkel | Episode 3 – Economic Coercion
How can the next German government build up Europe’s strength against economic coercion?
The strike back against economic blackmail
In what circumstances should an Anti-Coercion Tool be triggered? What kind of countermeasures could protect Europe, keep markets open and support a functional global trade order?
How can the EU strike back? The way towards higher economic resilience
European countries are increasingly coming under threat of economic coercion from great powers, as outlined in the latest ECFR’s policy brief. But what do we…
Europe’s role in global health & how to build European health sovereignty
“If it’s about Europe´s role in global health, a big part of it is Europe's health sovereignty which we want to make one of the…
How is covid-19 changing European economic sovereignty?
What does the corona crisis mean for economic coercion? How does it amplify some of the problems stemming from punitive economic measures Europeans have worried…
Bonding over coronabonds? How the financial question divides Europe
The EU members states have been caught up in a heated discussion on possible European ‘coronabonds’, a joint debt assistance by the Union to help…
You better bring a book – the start of the EU’s lengthy budget talks
Negotiations over the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021 – 2027 just have started. But as tensions and divergences between the EU member states are…
Highlights of the Munich Security Conference 2019
Direct from the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Mark Leonard, Ulrike Franke and Jonathan Hackenbroich share their post-conference insights. They discuss speeches by German chancellor Angela Merkel,…
Cambridge Analytica scandal
Jonathan Hackenbroich covers for Mark Leonard and speaks with Professor John Naughton about Facebook’s data leak and its monetisation of data. Bookshelf: East…
In the media
Nord Stream 2 has become a suitcase without a handle: hard to abandon; hard to take along-
EurActive quotes from a commentary by Jonathan Hackenbroich and Kadri Liik on Nord Stream 2
Jonathan Hackenbroich and Pawel Zerka argue in an op-ed in The New Statesman that European countries must build public support for strategic openness
A digital currency can immensely reduce the transparency of transactions for outsiders. That makes it harder to impose targeted economic fines.
Jonathan Hackenbroich explains why the EU needs to think about a digital euro for its sovereignty
Jonathan Hackenbroich is referenced as an expert in The Economist special report “The New Order of Trade” on how trade policy is changing in times of geoeconomics
Jonathan Hackenbroich and Pawel Zerka’s op-ed on economic sovereignty published in the Dutch press