Reports

The eurozone’s banking industry barely survived the 2008-2012 financial crisis. A common regulatory and supervisory system, a banking union, was meant to make the industry more resilient. A decade later, this “single rule book” remains incomplete as transferring responsibility for banking policy from the national to supranational level has met ...

When Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced the formation of a new security pact between them, China reacted with thinly veiled threats directed at Canberra. Feeling cast aside, the French government also expressed its indignation – but both Paris and Beijing will need to come to terms ...

First ruled by various colonial powers, the Dominican Republic was subjected to a long dictatorship after independence. But despite these difficult beginnings, the small nation appears to have successfully sown the seeds of progress, and the business environment is improving at a rapid pace.

Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu has had a long and stable career at the top of Russia’s politics. As the country lumbers toward an inevitable regime transformation, some see him as a potential successor to Vladimir Putin. This report examines his background and asks whether that will really be his role ...

Over the last decades, Iran has expanded its influence in the Middle East not only for the sake of boosting its geopolitical relevance but also as a way to protect itself against real and perceived foes. But the buffer states controlled by Tehran have greatly suffered from this state of ...

Russia is not only a land of geographic extremes, its regions vary widely in terms of their economic and social structures. In particular, there are five broad clusters of development, from the rich big cities to the poor rural areas. One thing unites them, however: the central authorities’ increasing control ...

How good was Angela Merkel’s long leadership for Germany’s economy? How much added value have the enterprises of Europe’s powerhouse industry been able to generate under the chancellor’s policies? How has the labor force fared? Was her stewardship of the state finances responsible? The record shows successes and unaddressed structural challenges.

Inflation is a grave economic and social illness. The policymakers and central bankers who colluded in running up excessive public debts and rigging monetary policy to sustain them might silently have been praying for higher inflation rates for quite some time. Finally, they are getting their wish. But for the ...

While the Biden administration was reviewing U.S. policy toward Cuba, anti-regime protests erupted across the island. The response was to mildly criticize Cuban authorities while avoiding any decisive action. This suggests that the Biden team will gradually bring back the policies aiming to normalize relations with Cuba that were in ...

Latvia’s large Russian-speaking population has long led to political and social difficulties, as Moscow uses it to exert influence on the Baltic state. Recently, however, things have begun looking up. Riga has got a handle on financial crimes and corruption, and its politics may be turning a corner. But how ...

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic games, although a resounding success, came at a tremendous financial and political cost for Japan. With Yoshihide Suga having resigned less than a year after taking office, the next prime minister will have to face the challenges resulting from Beijing’s increasingly aggressive stance in East Asia.

The recent migrant crisis between Morocco and Spain was just the latest example of "weaponized" immigration seen by European Union countries. Gatekeeper states will likely continue to use migration for political ends, the threat of which will shape foreign policy for frontline EU members. The risk of border instability and ...

To achieve development goals, societies across the world will have to balance economic sustainability, social factors and ecological necessities. Already, business is making strong progress on this front. Governments’ role should be to set sensible parameters, but too often gets in the way, trying to spend or economically plan its ...

South Africa’s summer of turmoil has left the government with stiff challenges to address. Not only will President Ramaphosa need to deal with the considerable economic damage caused by the riots, he will also need to face the complex socioeconomic fault lines that have slowly destabilized South African society over ...

Increasing tensions between China and the United States have made it more difficult for Israel to maintain hard-won trade and economic ties with Beijing without endangering the special relationship with its most faithful ally. Israel must move cautiously, proceeding with some existing China-linked projects but carefully weighing future partnerships that could ...

Now that the United States has withdrawn from Afghanistan, China is looking there for opportunities. Above all, it has security concerns, but also sees potential for mining rare earths and expanding its Belt and Road Initiative. To avoid getting bogged down there, it will use its ally, Pakistan, to influence ...

In the absence of an agreed international order, Russia is undergoing a search for its role as a nation in a rapidly changing world. A long-run challenge will be to balance Russian interests against those of both China and the U.S., while it pursues closer cooperation with Europe. Notions of ...

After a wave of protests in late July, Tunisian President Kais Saied took the extraordinary measure of suspending parliament, and also dismissed the prime minister. Many onlookers are concerned the move could spell disaster for democracy in Tunisia, which would in turn send shock waves across the region.

In the aftermath of the catastrophic retreat from Afghanistan, Europe was brutally confronted with its inability to function as an effective geopolitical player on the world stage. What the continent needs is to reassess the role of the European Union, and look beyond Brussels to create a cohesive and operable ...

Several ongoing extradition cases throughout Southern Africa highlight the difficulties the region is having with corruption and international legal cooperation. Wealthy, well-connected individuals are still able to game the system, rendering international protocols mostly irrelevant. Without the political will to tackle the problem, corruption could further undermine the region’s democratic ...

Political efforts to resurrect abandoned antitrust policies is bringing the U.S. closer in line with European practices. The new administration is likely to pursue antitrust cases in sectors like tech, pharmaceuticals and agriculture, possibly undermining market dynamism. The fate of free enterprise may soon rest largely in the hands of the judiciary. 

The Svalbard archipelago has recently become an unexpected source of tension between Norway and Russia, with Moscow accusing Oslo of restricting access to the islands. The two countries could opt to collaborate more closely and jointly explore oil and gas resources in the region, but the likeliest outcome is an ...

Thirty years after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Serbia is attempting to move toward a new kind of Balkan unification. But divisions over the recognition of Kosovo and over strategic orientations toward Russia and NATO are hard obstacles to overcome. The region is likely to continue to be divided into two ...

Former ECB head Mario Draghi has made some adroit moves as Italy’s prime minister. He also has the credibility in Brussels that his predecessors lacked, a clever plan for using the EU’s Covid funds for domestic reforms, and even a measure of good luck. Can a Trojan horse strategy work ...