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Angela Merkel leaving office in the fall will also have consequences for Russia. Vladimir Putin’s government will be tempted to test the mettle of her successor—and the EU’s willingness to engage in its Eastern neighborhood.

Donald Trump’s departure could be a heavy loss for the Nationalist International. But the likes of Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are playing a game that is robust, ruthless, and highly adaptable.

Already attacked as someone too soft on the likes of Bashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping, new CDU leader Armin Laschet’s world view and foreign policy outlook is much in line with the German mainstream.

Most politicians likely to form the post-Merkel government haven’t grasped the magnitude of the tasks ahead when it comes to rethinking Germany’s foreign policy.

There is a growing consensus that the EU has to become a geopolitical actor. To achieve this goal, numerous constraints will need to be overcome. Priorities include defining its position vis-à-vis the incoming Biden administration—and China.

With chances for European-Russian cooperation slim, containment must remain the focus of the EU’s policy vis-à-vis Moscow.  

The United Kingdom finally has its Brexit deal but the real challenges lie ahead, both at home and abroad.

The European Union is getting ready to introduce a so-called carbon border tax. But such a mechanism will not be easy to implement and has some pitfalls.

The French president is strengthening his military and wants Berlin to do the same. But real “sovereignty” in security is for the future. When it comes to getting stuff done, Emmanuel Macron is betting on the United States rather than Germany.

EU-NATO relations have been debated for decades, but progress has been slow and key questions left unanswered.

COVID-19 has forced Europeans to confront a twin shock to their worldview, with a philosophical crisis overlaid by a geographical one. The EU now needs to embark on a broad-based effort to ensure its strategic sovereignty.

Opinions polls show that Europeans want their continent to become more of an independent power. In most countries, however, they still look to the Americans to do the fighting.