Spain’s EU partners have failed the country in an acute crisis. It is now up to Madrid and Brussels to take concrete steps to make Europe’s southern flank more secure.
An amateurish government reshuffle has gone badly wrong for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. With the far-right AfD likely surging in regional elections, the end of his chancellorship may come more quickly than expected.
New Delhi is about to decide whether to greenlight the P75I submarine program, built together with Germany’s TKMS. For India, it’s a strategic decision.
Brussels has signed 12 security partnerships in just two years. Together, they reflect the EU’s effort to diversify its security ties beyond its traditional reliance on the United States.
One year into an unprecedented, debt-financed rearmament program to catch up after decades of neglect, some warn that Berlin’s military build-up poses a new German question. That’s not the case.
Relations between Poland and Ukraine have deteriorated massively. It’s a problem for the whole of the EU; Kyiv’s closest partners need to pay more attention.
Beijing is largely unconcerned by recent US actions. From a European perspective, China may now appear more reliable than the United States. But Chinese policies and strategic objectives have not changed.
US officials may have accepted the return of great power competition, but Washington continues to operate on the assumptions of unchallenged dominance.
Poland has considerable reservations about Germany’s large-scale rearmament. Berlin should change its narrative, include Warsaw in key discussions, and undertake practical steps to make its commitment to the defense of Central Europe more credible.
In Paris, Berlin’s aspiration to leadership in Europe is met with a mix of relief, disappointment, and concern. To meet the latter, Germany will need to reinvent itself.
The United Kingdom is not so much worried about Germany seeking too much influence. Rather, it is concerned that Berlin still appears reluctant to exercise its capabilities for geopolitical ends.
After Germany’s recent failure to be elected to a two-year rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council, Berlin should get behind a new initiative to make the UNSC fit for the 21st century.
The EU is not a middle power—yet. Failing to build the financial architecture to mobilize capital at scale and project power may well lead to it becoming an irrelevance.
There are growing calls for the formation of a coalition of middle powers. History suggests, however, that they lack the ideological glue necessary to sustain a deeper and more powerful global movement.
Global opinion polls show that views about the European Union are shifting. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Europeans are perceived more independently from the United States.
Paris has come a long way in its approach to enlarging the European Union. However, French support remains fragile, due in part to a lack of public support.
Institutional innovation will shape the fate of an enlarged European Union. Germany should help construct an EU capable of fulfilling its promise of security and prosperity.
For Kyiv, becoming an EU member is about security guarantees and leaving Moscow’s orbit for good. For Brussels, it’s about the implementation of reforms.
