Carnegie Europe
As the EU continues to face both internal and external challenges, the time has come for its foreign policy to adapt to these new parameters.
U.S. President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal should propel Europeans to stand their ground and mark the beginning of a more independent role for Europe in the world.
Policy watchers have to understand that their traditional methods of analysis do not count anymore. Whatever the issue, the U.S. president’s response is: me.
The repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria has exposed the lack of principles and interests in Germany’s response.
Cruise missiles and lofty speeches will not bring peace to the Syrians. France must enlist the EU to start working on a real settlement.
Brussels should compartmentalise its approach to Washington: Finding possible agreements over shared concerns while staunchly defending the Iran nuclear deal itself.
European donors should persist with a localist approach in Syria, but efforts should generate an inclusive notion of democratic citizenship rather than just support the liberal-moderate opposition.
The EU’s external financing instruments should be improved to make the union’s civil society support efforts more politically effective and more closely aligned with strategic aims.
The course that Turkish leaders choose to follow in the Syrian war will have long-term consequences for their country and for the world.
European policy toward Iran is likely to be hampered both by transatlantic tensions and regional turmoil.
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