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Dealing with the Erdogan government will be a stress test for the European Union’s geopolitical ambitions.

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

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.

If Europe has ambitions to shape the future of its neighborhood, rather than just accept it, it must redefine its role in the Middle East and take action now.

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

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.

How to deal with China will be one of the dominant issues in transatlantic relations in the coming years. A Biden win would open the door to building a shared agenda.

The rapid rise of China is inevitably forcing a major shift in the US-European relationship. It is time for both sides to root the transatlantic bond in shared interests, rather than often ill-defined values. Fortunately, such a basis exists.

Trade relations would inevitably worsen further should Donald Trump win a second term. But even if Joe Biden wins, a transatlantic economic re-set cannot be taken for granted.