IPQ Frontpage

General (ret.) Ben Hodges

“Europe Has the Capability”

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The Trump administration seeking alignment with Russia is difficult to understand, says retired US General Ben Hodges. However, the Europeans should be able to deter Moscow if they fix deficiencies in air defense, military production, and transportation.

Ben Hodges
IPQ
French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accompany China's President Xi Jinping as he leaves after a trilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris as part of the Chinese president's two-day state visit in France, May 6, 2024.

Europe Between a Rock and a Hard Place

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The European Union needs to reduce its dependence on the United States. This should not come at the cost of a greater reliance on China.

Noah Barkin
IPQ
Cover Section
Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) Friedrich Merz looks on during a press conference with Christian Social Union (CSU) leader and Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder, co-leaders of the Social Democratic party (SPD) Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil, after reaching an agreement on their coalition government in Berlin, Germany, April 9, 2025.

Germany Needs to Rethink Competitiveness for a Hostile World

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Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to strengthen German industry, but his thinking is stuck in the past. The key question is how to make Germany and the EU thrive in the age of systemic competition.

Thorsten Benner
Jakob Hensing
IPQ
An illustration showing the top of a desk in the White House with cut-out letters and numbers

Trump’s Tariffs Endanger World Trade

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Despite the US president’s tariffs threats, other states and the EU should stick to the rules-based trading system and find ways to strengthen it. 

Claudia Schmucker
IPQ
Quarterly Concerns
A group of children holding African and Chinese flags perform during a reception at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, September 4, 2024.

The EU’s Blind Spot: China in the World

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Beijing has been outpacing Brussels in the so-called Global South. Now the EU must rethink its global game plan.

Ivano di Carlo
IPQ
Cover Section

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Europe’s New Reality

US President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania wave at the "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, January 19, 2017.

Why Europe Must Avoid a Strategic Trap in a Post-American World

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American hegemony could experience the same decline and sudden fall experienced in Ancient Rome. Europe needs to draw the right lessons from the past to thrive in this new era.

Alexander Clarkson
IPQ
Europe’s New Reality
German soldiers of the Air Force Regiment take part in an exercise in the woods during the Baltic Tiger 2022 binational military exercise, which is a contribution at NATO's eastern flank, near Amari, Estonia, October 24, 2022.

The Case for Nordic-Baltic Pragmatism

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Europe’s dilemma is that it needs to try and keep the United States on board while preparing for its departure. The best way forward is accelerated burden-shifting to build a more European NATO.

Kristi Raik
IPQ
Europe’s New Reality
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Romania's Interim President Ilie Bolojan, European Council President Antonio Costa and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau begin a plenary meeting at a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on March 2, 2025.

Toward a New European Security Order

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The United States is withdrawing from Europe, but it’s not all doom and gloom. The EU and non-members will need new common structures, but the continent should well be able to hold its own. Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will play a key role.

Mark Leonard
IPQ
Europe’s New Reality

Berlin Cable

Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak, co-leaders of the Greens party, and Katharina Droege, co-chairwoman of the Greens parliamentary group, walk on the day of an extraordinary meeting of the German Bundestag to discuss a €500-billion infrastructure fund and a revamp of borrowing rules aimed at modernizing the military and stimulating economic growth ahead of the formation of a new parliament at end of March, in Berlin, Germany, March 13, 2025.

Voted Out of Power, the Greens Are Still Shaping Germany

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The incoming government of Friedrich Merz needed the Greens to get an unprecedented financial package through parliament. The Greens delivered, in their own way.

Henning Hoff
IPQ
Berlin Cable

Pariscope

An illustration of Emmanuel Macron at the Arc de Triomphe

Macron and Merz, Separated at Birth?

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Germany’s incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz shares many of French President Emmanuel Macron’s talents, but also many of his faults.

Joseph de Weck
IPQ
Pariscope

Carbon Critical

A graph showing European LNG imports from the United States 2021 to 2024

Will the US Drill Its Way to Energy Obsolescence?

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US President Donald Trump demands energy dominance yet threatens to derail years of joint US-EU progress on clean energy manufacturing.

Emily Hardy
Dan Helmeci
IPQ
Carbon Critical

Warsaw Memo

A picture of Warsaw city center

Trump May Unite Europe, But He Divides Polish Society

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Relations with the United States “in a new phase,” Poland is experiencing something of a Zeitenwende, or historic turn, when it comes to the country’s fundamental foreign policy orientation. The US president is far from universally disliked, though.

Piotr Buras
IPQ
Warsaw Memo

Brussels Briefing

Indo-Pacific Watch

China's newly appointed Defense Minister Dong Jun inspects honor guards with Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen, as part of the third Singapore-China Defense Minister’s Dialogue at the Ministry of Defense in Singapore May 30, 2024.

Xi’s Second Purge of China’s Military

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A renewed anti-corruption drive has led to the dismissal of a remarkable number of defense ministers and Chinese top brass. This may dampen Xi Jinping’s appetite for conflict in the short term, but the Chinese president is pursuing the purge with his geopolitical goals in mind.

Helena Legarda
IPQ
Indo-Pacific Watch

Editors’ Picks

Europe and the Indo-Pacific