Latest posts
China - Germany: A ‘new special relationship’
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This weekend, the newly appointed Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang makes his first offical visit to the EU - he travels to Berlin to meet Angela Merkel. This is a meeting of the two economicRead more…...
Searching for a new Palestinian vision
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At a time when the two-state solution is experiencing what could be its last agonising convulsions and with negotiations seemingly unable to achieve anything other than perpetuating the status quo,Read more…...
And the winner is … Azerbaijan
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No, it is not Eurovision but energy in South Eastern Europe I am talking about. There is a reason why a statue of the late leader Heydar Aliev adorns a square in downtown Belgrade. BalkanRead more…...
Economic reform in Egypt takes another hit
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A few weeks ago, an important player backed out of Egypt’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Hany Kadry Dimian, former deputy finance minister and the IMF’s “go-to” manRead more…...
Signs of straits in Algeria
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At the end of April as Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was flown to France for treatment, in my blog post "The perils of gerontocracy", I warned that these are testing times for theRead more…...
Time to get real about the European dream - and the American one
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As part of our Scorecard debate here is a new guest blog post - this time we hear from Prof. Michael E. Smith (University of Aberdeen). You can also follow him on twitter @ProfMESmith. May 9 wasRead more…...
US - Turkey relations: a bitter honeymoon
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Today relations between the US and Turkey are in a much better shape than a few years ago. Israel's decision to apologise to the Turks over the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident and offer financialRead more…...
Madrid view: Now, Eurunemployed
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The European economy now lies under a shadow - the severe situation of unemployment, stagnation and cutbacks in the welfare state, bringing hardship to millions of Europeans. The magnitudes areRead more…...
Bulgaria’s elections: change we disbelieve in
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“If elections changed anything they would have them banned”. So read a well-known piece of Sofia graffiti some years ago (inspired by political activist/anarchist Emma Goldman). Bulgaria’sRead more…...
Will China become an Arctic observer?
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Kiruna - a calm town in North Sweden - is currenty hosting the annual Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting. The Arctic Council is a regional organisation which usually does not receive a lot ofRead more…...
The Chinese scramble into Greenland over-hyped
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In Greenland the snows usually lie until May; this year I landed at the Cold War era airstrip at Kangerlussuaq in April and the bare hillsides were already visible. Under those slopes sit a wealthRead more…...
Will cooler heads prevail on Syria?
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Qatar’s gung-ho foreign policy (discussed in greater depth in ECFR’s latest Gulf Analysis) is so often depicted by big moves and big money. Before the Syrian uprising in 2011, Gulf powers,Read more…...
Rome view: John Kerry in Italy
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US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Rome from Moscow, where he convened with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to call for an international conference, possibly by the end of the month, toRead more…...
Surkov follows the system he created
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There is some symbolic value in the fact that Russia’s deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov resigned one year and one day after the start of President Putin’s third term. It does not matter whatRead more…...
A Gulf Union to bolster regional security?
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Since 2011, member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have expressed interest in full political and economic integration in a much-touted Gulf Union. As regional organisations areRead more…...
A conversation with Egypt’s soon-to-be minister for international cooperation
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On Tuesday 7 May the Egyptian cabinet was reshuffled – and one of the key portfolios for Egypt’s relations with the outside world went to Amr Darrag of the Freedom and Justice Party. Darrag wasRead more…...
Madrid view: Bad blood
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The expression bad blood denotes the unpleasant turn taken in a relationship when one party is perceived to be hurting the other. The result is animosity, and an inability to communicate andRead more…...
Transition time in Timbuktu?
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It was barely a few months ago: the French president, Francois Hollande, was fighting his way through Timbuktu's massive crowds and happily swanning through the streets of Bamako. At home andRead more…...
UKIP gains: good news for British Europhiles?
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Bad news for British Europhiles: the UK Independence Party, a group of bullishly Eurosceptic upstarts, did remarkably well in local elections (and one by-election) this week. Good news forRead more…...
Assessing the French White Paper
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In the follow up to ECFR’s recent European Strategic Cacophony Brief co-author Olivier de France was interviewed by Bruxelles 2’s Marine Formentini about the new French strategic defence review andRead more…...
