European security
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War left the North Atlantic Alliance without a clear mission. Funded mostly by the United States, it remains the chief guarantor of Europe’s security. Now, Washington is pushing for European members to foot more the cost of defence. New challenges, including migration, Russian assertiveness and the conflict in Ukraine, have all produced tensions within the EU and the NATO alliance.
Reports on European security See all →
Europe’s strategic future in global competition, Part 2
With responsibility for European security devolving onto individual countries, an old question from the 1950s has resurfaced: What about Germany? One proposed answer is the revival of a European Army, which would allow the German military to be strengthened in a politically unthreatening fashion. However, this project is out of step with a renationalizing Europe and a geopolitical environment with no fixed enemies.
Greenland and Washington’s offer
President Donald Trump’s offer to buy Greenland was dismissed as a joke, but it reflects both American practice and a legitimate strategic concern.
Nonrecognition and trouble in international relations
Detaching and protecting a part of the territory of a weaker state has become a surrogate for traditional armed conflict, played with open cards. As amply demonstrated in the cases of Ukraine, Cyprus, Serbia, Georgia or Moldova, pseudo-state entities emerging in such detachments have considerable staying power, even though they ...
GIS Dossier: Algeria’s ‘system’ teeters
Long before Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was forced to step down in April 2019, it was clear that the crony oligarchy he fronted for – known to ordinary Algerians as “the system” – could not last. If the wheelchair-bound leader looked moribund after a series of strokes, so did the country's ...
Georgia: Still dreaming
Six years after President Mikheil Saakashvili lost power to his archrival, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia has kept its pro-Western course in foreign and economic policy. Yet Russia continues to block the South Caucasus nation’s EU and NATO aspirations, and Georgian voters are growing frustrated. Now, a millennials-based protest movement could ...
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More Disruptions
Expanding state
A trend toward increased government influence in economies and personal life is curbing growth, and freedom, in many Western countries. The outsized role of government results in misplaced incentives, overregulation – which restrains markets and competition – and irresponsible budgetary ...
Middle East politics
The region, one of the cradles of civilization, is going through a turbulent period of historic realignment. Its powers are vying for political, military, economic and religious dominance with local players and outside actors. Armed conflicts, mainly civil wars, are ...
