Germany’s refusal to provide military assistance to Ukraine has baffled many of its European and NATO allies. If Berlin does not adopt a bolder, unambiguous stance toward Russia, it will undermine the West’s deterrence efforts.
Ankara’s drone sales to Kiev have angered Moscow. A military escalation in and around Ukraine would endanger Turkey’s relationship with Russia, impair its participation in NATO operations, or both.
For the third time in three decades, Ankara and Yerevan are trying to normalize relations. In a region plagued by rivalry, distrust, and historical grievances, this will be no easy feat.
Beijing has gone to great lengths to punish Lithuania for opening a Taiwanese representative office. In the long run, China’s tactics may end up making the EU stronger and more resilient.
Faced with Russia’s military threat against Ukraine and demands for NATO to stop further expansion, the West wants a dialogue with Moscow. Diplomatic efforts that are not underpinned by hard power may not be enough to avert a war.
A rift in Kazakhstan’s elite has violently played out in the streets of the country. Foreign troop support may have kept President Tokayev in power, but it has also linked his political future to Vladimir Putin.
Transatlantic disunity and a lack of strategy over how to deal with Russia’s ultimatum is placing Europe’s security architecture at risk. The West has no choice but to put up a strong united front.
Civil society is under attack in the EU’s neighborhood. To defend democracy, academic freedom, and independent thought, Europe should step up its assistance to repressed voices.*
Differing threat perceptions in Western and Central Europe combined with democratic backsliding risk creating dangerous fractures within the EU. Building a shared understanding of today’s security challenges must go hand in hand with strengthening democracy in the bloc.
The fate of Serbia’s democracy is in the hands of its citizens. If the country is to move toward democratic accountability, it will be through bottom-up action, not the EU’s membership conditionality.
The EU’s Eastern Partnership has brought tangible benefits to its member countries but does not reflect today’s geopolitical realities. The approaching summit is a chance to tailor the initiative to partners’ diverging needs.
Together, the United States and Europe can modernize the post–1945 international order. This requires a strong commitment to democracy and the defense of the norms and values that define the West.
NATO struggles to respond to events falling in between the seams of collective defense, crisis management, and cooperative security. Allies should use the 2022 Strategic Concept to map out how they will deal with Russian and Chinese hybrid warfare.
Boris Johnson ignores the old truth that blaming scapegoats is one way to a run a campaign but no way to run a country. While this lasts, the flame of rational, outward-looking patriotism must be kept alight by Britain’s civil society.
To avoid an open rule-of-law dialogue with the EU, Turkey is being selective in its areas of engagement with the bloc. The union must make clear that compartmentalizing EU-Turkey relations to suit Ankara’s domestic political convenience is not acceptable.
Most European leaders are disillusioned with Russia. But continuing divisions inside the EU over how to deal with the Kremlin prevent a coherent Russia strategy and play into the hands of Putin.
If climate action fails, the EU will succumb to economic breakdown of supply chains and migratory pressures. To avoid this, the bloc must advance climate justice and restore trust between developed and developing economies.
The EU has been slow and irresolute in stopping Minsk from using migrants as a hybrid weapon to weaken the bloc. A migration and asylum policy—not a fortress Europe—is the answer.
The EU has long been the dominant player in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however its policy toward the country and the Western Balkans more broadly is failing. A recent vote in the UN Security Council has destroyed what was left of the union’s credibility.
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