Carnegie Europe
Globally, EU assistance has been slow to materialize. Supporting countries in dire need of coronavirus vaccines—through both the provision of vaccines and the sharing of patents—would project the union's soft power capacity.
The EU should back a coordinated global industrial strategy, including vaccine production facilities across the world, otherwise China will plug the gap. That means challenging private-sector patent monopolies.
The Biden administration is making the defense of human rights one of its foreign policy priorities. Other democracies, particularly in Europe, should actively support this shift.
It should, but it won’t. The EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund will help the union’s economies get off the ground. But as for integrating Europe’s foreign, security, and digitization policies, the political will and strategic ambition are absent.
Europe will have to juggle environmental concerns, access to resources, and the Arctic’s growing geostrategic role. This will require cooperation with all the major players, including China, if the region is to remain stable and peaceful.
The EU’s new investment deal with China robs the bloc of leverage, contradicts its policy of working closely with the United States on Beijing, and makes a mockery of Europe’s commitment to values.
International politics saw a surge in new words and a return of old expressions. Going through some of them gives us a flavor of the year of 2020, which few of us will look back to with nostalgia.*
Incoming U.S. president Joe Biden offers a chance to renew transatlantic ties and forge a common EU-U.S. policy toward China. But for that to happen, the Europeans must agree on how to deal with Beijing.
Come January 2021, the United States and Germany will have to move quickly to resolve big differences, notably over China and Russia. At stake is the strength of transatlantic ties between America and Europe.
The rivalry between China and the United States over climate change gives the EU a unique opportunity to become a strategic, global player on this issue.
The world is in desperate need of American leadership. But what should America’s allies and competitors expect from the next U.S. president? Here are Carnegie’s views from China, Europe, India, Lebanon, Russia, and the United States.
The rapidly eroding trust between the UK and the EU casts a dark shadow over the future of European foreign policy cooperation. But as the eventful summer of 2020 has shown, that cooperation is much needed.
While Australia wants Europe to take a tougher line on China, joining a liberal-democratic front to counter Beijing’s increasing assertiveness and bullying comes with great risks.
As European countries emerge from lockdown, Europe needs to prepare for the geostrategic shifts that will take place in the post-coronavirus world.
What happens in Hong Kong with China’s new national security legislation will seriously test Europe’s commitment to democracy, international law, and human rights.
The fight against the coronavirus has sparked a political revival for Angela Merkel. Now, the German chancellor must also adopt a coherent foreign policy strategy for how to deal with China.
Overcoming the coronavirus pandemic is also about the EU defending its own principles of transparency and truthfulness, both of which China is aggressively challenging.
With the coronavirus pandemic challenging European democracies, not only with help from China and Russia but also from within, Europe must prepare an exit strategy.
The coronavirus pandemic is generating all kinds of conspiracy theories, while Russia and China use it to sow distrust and uncertainty, fear and divisions across Europe.
With new concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities emerging, Russia and China could take on the role of engaging with Tehran to make it cooperate with the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
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