The idea of multipolarity is provoking heated debate. In fact, the term is more of a general concept and a guiding principle than a direct description of how things are.
The drive to change the EU’s fiscal rules has fizzled out, an agreement before the June 2024 European elections is unlikely. However, Europe cannot ignore its structural weaknesses forever.
Brussels has rebranded and repositioned its connectivity and infrastructure initiatives. But Global Gateway will need to maintain the right balance between pursuing strategic interests and offering improved conditions to partner countries.
China’s attempts to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea have recently led to clashes with the Philippines. Negotiated solutions, including about a code of conduct to manage such dangerous incidents, have become elusive.
Like Russia's attack on Ukraine, the escalation in the Middle East is part of a global geopolitical transformation for which there is not yet a term. It certainly reveals the Western failure in the region.
Germany has strongly sided with Israel in the aftermath of the brutal attack by Hamas, and for good reasons. However, this poses questions for German foreign policy that will be difficult to address.
The German government faces a weighty decision: Should it block France from providing cheap energy to its industrial companies? Or should it introduce its own electricity subsidy for its struggling industrial sector? The decision will show us if Berlin is ready to embrace an economic Zeitenwende.
The announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) as well as the recent Germany-hosted summit with Central Asian states shows that the country is leaving behind its past hesitancy and starting to get involved in a changing world’s new geoeconomics.
After a lost decade-and-a-half that saw the establishment of German predominance, there is now the acute danger of Berlin and Paris applying rejected ideas to enlarging and reforming the EU: Four principles for a future-oriented EU expansion and adaptation.
Overall, Europeans are in favor of a bigger European Union. However, there are huge differences when it comes to individual countries and whether or not it requires reforms.
The European Union says it sees China as a partner, a competitor, and a systemic rival. Europe’s priority now should be ensuring that Beijing does not become an enemy.
The Sino-Russian relationship has become a more intractable problem for the transatlantic alliance. The West should continue to concentrate its efforts on Beijing.
Germany runs the danger of belatedly arming itself for yesterday’s wars. It needs to fundamentally change the way it thinks about military-technological innovation.
As South Korea positions itself as a “global pivotal state,” the country’s dual pursuit of a strong US alliance and greater strategic autonomy may well serve as a lesson for Europe.
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.
