Highlights
Featured
- European Power
Beyond Merkelism: What Europeans expect of post-election Germany
Piotr Buras, Jana Puglierin
Policy Brief
Paradoxically, to fulfil many Europeans’ expectations, Berlin will need to revise the principles of Merkelism that created this trust
- European Power
What Europeans think about the US-China Cold War
Ivan Krastev, Mark Leonard
Policy Brief
A majority of European citizens believe a new cold war with both China and Russia is under way – but they mostly do not think that their own country is involved
- Wider Europe
Waves of ambition: Russia’s military build-up in Crimea and the Black Sea
Gustav Gressel
Policy Brief
Russia’s capacity to carry out large-scale military operations against Black Sea states allows it to coerce and extort them
- Asia
Moving closer: European views of the Indo-Pacific
Frédéric Grare, Manisha Reuter
Special
It will take more than just strong support from France, Germany, and the Netherlands to ensure that the new EU strategy for the Indo-Pacific is effective in the long term
The election to the German Bundestag on 26 September 2021 will have repercussions far beyond Germany. Whoever succeeds Angela Merkel will have a decisive influence on whether and how the country positions itself as a leading power in Europe in the coming years.
ECFR works toward advancing this debate and having a role in shaping the foreign policy agenda of the next German government.
Four ways the new German government can strengthen European trade against economic coercion
Jonathan Hackenbroich
Note from Berlin
6 minute read
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.
Lead time: How Germany should move on from Merkel | Episode 2 – China Policy
Chris Eichberger, Janka Oertel, Ana Ramic
Podcast
How should the next German government concretely shape its China policy, and its approach to the Indo-Pacific?
Podcasts
The transatlantic meaning of AUKUS
What does AUKUS mean for the future of transatlantic relations?
Featured projects
European Sovereignty
To prosper and maintain their independence in a world of geopolitical competition, the EU needs to learn to think like a geopolitical power
Featured
Sovereign Europe, dangerous world: Five agendas to protect Europe’s capacity to act
Mark Leonard, Jeremy Shapiro
Re:shape Global Europe
The project strives to engage citizens across Europe and generate a wide debate about the purpose of European power in the twenty-first century
Featured
Crisis of confidence: How Europeans see their place in the world
Susi Dennison, Jana Puglierin
Public opinion polling
Through polling in EU member states, ECFR’s analysis seeks to unlock shifting coalitions in Europe that favour a more internationally engaged union
Featured
Europe’s invisible divides: How covid-19 is polarising European politics
Ivan Krastev, Mark Leonard
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Latest
- European Power
AUKUS: After the sugar rush
Nick Witney
Commentary
3 minute read
The initial high of announcing AUKUS has faded for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has returned from the United States to face a less congenial domestic agenda
- ECFR Council
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Arancha González Laya
View from the Council
4 minute read
The EU’s approach to foreign policy and economic policy needs to account for the fact that, globally, the space between the two areas is increasingly narrow
- Wider Europe
Russia, elections, and the West: Ten years later
Kadri Liik
Commentary
6 minute read
If the Kremlin sees the Duma election result as a buffer that will allow it to safely prepare for a transition at the top, the Russian political system might still find a way to evolve. But, if it views the result as confirmation that the system works just fine, its ‘victory’ really is a Pyrrhic one.
- ECFR Council
How G7 leaders can bring the pandemic to an end
David McNair
View from the Council
3 minute read
Rich countries are hoarding vaccines at the expense of poorer ones – but also to their own detriment. Without extending help to all countries, the whole world will continue to suffer.
- Asia
After AUKUS: The uncertain future of American and European cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
Tara Varma
Commentary
4 minute read
Europeans – especially the French – want Washington to explain its decision to ally with Australia and the UK. But the EU also needs to decide how to approach the Indo-Pacific.
- ECFR Council
A new era in Polish-German relations
Henryka Moscicka-Dendys
View from the Council
4 minute read
Germany’s election will bring about a new phase in its relationship with Poland, one that is driven less by the still-vivid legacy of the past and more by pragmatism and interests
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.
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Newsroom
The Merkel government tried to steer foreign policy towards export promotion, and this is evident in relations with China
Rafael Loss comments on Germany’s foreign policy under Merkel
European expect Germany to maintain its leading role in the coming years
Referring to ECFR’s latest poll, Rafael Loss describes European expectations towards post-Merkel Germany
Merkel’s decision to leave the political stage left its mark on Sunday’s election
Rafael Loss discusses the results of the German election
A government led by Olaf Scholz will be more open to Emmanuel Macron when it comes to social reforms and a reform of the European project
Rafael Loss comments on the opportunities of a Scholz chancellorship for Franco-German relations
More on Africa
Mapping African regional cooperation: How to navigate Africa’s institutional landscape
Amandine Gnanguênon
Policy Brief
Regional organisations have proliferated in Africa, with many organisations attempting to address similar issues in similar parts of the continent. Europeans should take stock of the situation they have helped create.
Memory culture for Europe and Africa: A way to deal with the colonial past
Oz Russell
Commentary
4 minute read
After Barkhane: What France’s military drawdown means for the Sahel
Andrew Lebovich
Commentary
5 minute read
More on Asia
The fall of the Afghan government and what it means for Europe
Asli Aydıntaşbaş, Julien Barnes-Dacey, Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, Susanne Baumann, Andrew Lebovich, Kadri Liik, Jana Puglierin, Jeremy Shapiro, Andrew Small, Tara Varma
Collection
ECFR’s policy experts examine what the Taliban takeover means for countries and regions around the world: Europe, the US, the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and the Sahel
The China factor in the German election
Janka Oertel
Note from Berlin
5 minute read
The Afghan tragedy and the age of unpeace
Mark Leonard
Commentary
3 minute read
More on European Power
Europe’s invisible divides: How covid-19 is polarising European politics
Ivan Krastev, Mark Leonard
Policy Brief
Europe’s covid-19 experience has been a tale of two pandemics – and the differences in each story could haunt the continent for many years to come
Foreign and defence policy in the German election
Ulrike Franke
Note from Berlin
1 minute read
What EU sanctions policy can learn from European mutual defence
Clara Sophie Cramer
Commentary
3 minute read
More on Middle East and North Africa
People before politicians: How Europeans can help rebuild Lebanon
Carmen Geha
Policy Brief
Lebanon is home to key strategic interests for the EU, which does not want another failed state on the Mediterranean
Yemen’s seven years of war: How the new UN envoy can lay foundations for peace
Helen Lackner
Commentary
5 minute read
The capture of Kabul: What the Taliban takeover will mean for Iran’s economy
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
Commentary
4 minute read
Steel Scrolls Cotton Fabric by The Yard
Faltering fightback: Zelensky’s piecemeal campaign against Ukraine’s oligarchs
Andrew Wilson
Policy Brief
The campaign has encouraged Zelensky’s tendency towards governance through informal means. This has allowed him to act speedily – but it risks letting oligarchic influence return
Something for something: Biden, Zelensky, and America’s pre-eminence in Ukraine
Gustav Gressel
Commentary
4 minute read
Belarus’s creature of crisis: Two heads, one body
Pavel Slunkin
Commentary
3 minute read
Views from the Council
Autonomous in Afghanistan: How the Europeans could have stayed after US withdrawal
Mary Kaldor
View from the Council
4 minute read
A European force that remained even as the Americans left could have provided a powerful psychological boost to Afghan forces – and such an operation should have been well within European capabilities
Afghanistan: How it could have been different
Carl Bildt
View from the Council
7 minute read
Germany and Afghanistan: Time to ditch bad governments, not good governance
Christoph Heusgen
View from the Council
3 minute read