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