The new Assemblée Nationale’s most important task is to adopt an electoral system based on proportional representation. Only then can France’s transition from a presidential to a parliamentary democracy succeed and the far right be kept in check.
Most European governments have gradually expanded their support, but Ukraine’s ability to defend itself continues to depend significantly on the United States. What could happen after the US elections?
In the debate about tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, greenfield investments are the elephant in the room. By imposing clauses and guardrails, the EU could turn them into an advantage.
To ensure the most effective industrial policy in the EU, Paris and Berlin should push for policies that build on their strengths and help Europe leap forward instead of always chasing the United States and China.
Scandals have only dented, but not eroded support for Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland. In September, the party could come close to political power at the regional level. The case for banning it is getting stronger.
In the green resource race, the United States and the EU should look to the big island in the North Atlantic and forge a common approach, providing expertise and facilitating the needed investments.
A number of recent surveys support the view that the French and the Germans are drifting apart. Strong cross-border initiatives in the fields of education, public media, culture, and tourism remain potent counterweights.
The recent conclusion of a Russia-North Korea pact is likely to unnerve China even more than the building of a Japan-South Korea-United States alliance.
The transatlantic alliance should make it clear that it is ready to face the ever-closer combination of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. It’s essential that Germany becomes a reliable ally again.
Whether in addressing voters or assessing foreign policy crises, those who take into account emotional factors can have an advantage. Making the case for more “emotional resonance” and “strategic empathy” in international politics.
While the people of France and Germany have a largely positive image of the other country, that does not mean that they know or feel a particular empathy for each other.
The world is turning polycentric and pluralistic, with competing ideas about order. Re-establishing the principle of universalism without interference, the basis of the 1975 Helsinki Accords, offers a way forward.
Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner wants to make sweeping cuts to the budgets for foreign affairs and development. That would have a hugely detrimental effect on Germany’s influence in the world.
The Orbán government’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union has sparked criticism. More important, however, is the question of how the EU deals with a member state that breaks away from the principles of the rule of law.
EU policymakers must support Sudanese civil society—particularly women activists—while simultaneously cutting off weapons supplies to militias and exerting diplomatic pressure on China and the UAE to prevent a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
The German economy is already paying the price for having put the green energy transition on the backburner. To win the future, it needs four “Ds”: Decarbonization, digitalization, decentralization, and democratization.
