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On Defense, France Bites the Bullet, But Avoids Strategic Insolvency May 7, 2013
Iceland’s Recovery Saga Presents Opportunities for Brussels, Washington—and Beijing May 6, 2013
Which Way Forward for Europe’s Hybrid Regimes? May 2, 2013
The Arab Revolts and the Liberal Order May 2, 2013
Events
GMF celebrates its 40 year history and Founder and Chairman, Dr. Guido Goldman at Gala Dinner May 09, 2013 / Washington, DCGMF held a celebratory gala dinner at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, Wednesday May 8.
In this podcast, GMF Vice President of Programs Ivan Vejvoda discusses last month's historic agreement to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
Anchor Elaine Reyes speaks with Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow of the Asia Program for the German Marshall Fund, about Beijing's potential role in brokering peace between Israel and Palestine
News & Analysis Archive
From Crisis to CollapseMay 06, 2013 / Nicholas Siegel
Europe’s problems are mirrored on the national level: Regions like Catalonia are speaking up against transfer payments – and contemplate secession.Geostrategic Annual ReviewApril 30, 2013 / Alexandra de Hoop SchefferLe Monde
In Le Monde’s annual issue on the state of the world, Bilan Géostratégie 2013, GMF's Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer argues that economic & geopolitical trends are reshaping transatlantic cooperation.Denmark’s Unnecessary Clash of CivilizationsMarch 01, 2013 / Fabrizio Tassinari, Mona Kanwal SheikhCNN
Denmark is in the midst of a clash of civilizations and the perceived fight among some Danes is hardening the lines of conflict between Islam and the West.The Karzai We NeedFebruary 21, 2013 / Mark R. JacobsonCNN
Afghanistan needs Karzai the statesman: the Karzai who can work with both the international community and the Afghan people, not just play one against the other. Time to Breathe New Life into Ties with EuropeFebruary 19, 2013 / Peter SpardingCNN
For decades advocates on both sides of the Atlantic have been arguing for a more comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the EU. Now it finally seems within reach.Italy at Crossroads—AgainFebruary 18, 2013 / Fabrizio Tassinari
A Conversation between Stefano Guzzini and Fabrizio Tassinari ahead of general election on 24-25 February. A New Era for Transatlantic Trade LeadershipFebruary 13, 2013 / Jim Kolbe, Jennifer Hillman, Bruce StokesGMF & ECIPE
President Obama announced plans for a free trade agreement between the US and Europe during his annual State of the Union address. GMF publication, A New Era for Transatlantic Trade Leadership, calls for the creation of a barrier-free transatlantic market as part of ambitious recommendations for a new U.S.-EU trade agenda.Europe: The Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Offer Three New FrontiersFebruary 12, 2013 / Bruno LétéEuropean Global Strategy
By evolving clearer approaches to these new frontiers, Europe would send a reassuring signal to the rest of the world that it remains a global player.Neighbourhood Policy Paper Series Tackles Issues Affecting Black Sea RegionFebruary 11, 2013 / Slawomir Raszewski et al.CIES and BST
Paper series delves into a range of challenges that the Eastern neighborhood is facing.It Must Adapt, Not DisintegrateJanuary 28, 2013 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffThe New York Times
The price to pay for disintegration is higher than any conceivable gain. Disintegration is a lazy response to a nuanced current problem.America Rediscovers the AtlanticJanuary 28, 2013 / Ian LesserAspenia
Most Europeans will be pleased with the re-election of President Obama after a campaign that many in Europe never realized was such a close run thing. Unfinished Transitions: Challenges and Opportunities of the EU’s and Turkey’s Responses to the “Arab Spring”January 25, 2013 / Emiliano AlessandriIstituto Affari Internazionali
As the geopolitical implications of the Arab uprisings become clearer, the EU and Turkey should adopt a more lucid and nuanced
approach to democracy and a more explicitly political response to the “Arab Spring.”A Big Year for Transatlantic Ties?January 14, 2013 / Bruce StokesCNN.com
The next twelve months could prove key for both security and economic ties between Europe and the United States.For US and Europe, governance by brinkmanshipJanuary 14, 2013 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffChristian Science Monitor
Following this practice of governance by brinkmanship, the United States has Europeanized its crisis response by artificially erecting a number of cliffs, obstacles, and deadlines.Look East, Act East: transatlantic agendas in the Asia PacificDecember 19, 2012 / Peter Sparding, Andrew SmallEUISS
Latest policy brief by GMF Fellows details transatlantic agendas in the region.Two ways US and Europe can boost their economiesDecember 13, 2012 / Peter SpardingChristian Science Monitor
The US and Europe now have two great opportunities to give their economies a much needed boost. One is to successfully navigate their debt mountains and fiscal cliffs. The other is to finally negotiate a US-EU free trade agreement.GMF’s Dr. Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer Testifies before French National AssemblyDecember 11, 2012 / Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer
Dr. Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer testified before the Foreign Affairs Committee on America’s foreign policy agenda.The Good, the Bad, and the UglyDecember 05, 2012 / Celeste A. WallanderForeign Policy
There’s more than meets the eye to Russia’s change of defense ministers.Rethinking Poland in the Second TermDecember 03, 2012 / Andrew A. MichtaThe American Interest
Poland’s dynamic economy and growing geopolitical weight make it an increasingly important European ally for the United States.A World RecastNovember 30, 2012 / Simon SerfatyRowman and Littlefield
New book by GMF’s Simon Serfaty argues Western era’s passing is exaggerated as an irreversible decline relative to an irresistible rise of other powers.Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer Testifies on State of Transatlantic Relations before French SenateNovember 13, 2012 / Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer
In her testimony before the French Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces, Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, GMF's Paris Office director, discussed transatlantic ties and future foreign and defense challenges facing the United States.European Relief and JittersNovember 09, 2012 / Constanze StelzenmuellerInternational Herald Tribune
Americans and Europeans need each other now more than ever. And, frankly, it’s time for Europeans to step up and say: “Yes, we can, too.”Untapped Trilateralism: Common Economic and Security Interests of the EU, the US and ChinaNovember 08, 2012 / Andrew SmallEUECRAN
Ties between the EU, China, and the U.S. are more interlinked than ever but a joint collaborative response remains elusive.More women in the workforce to sustain “Made in Germany”October 16, 2012 / Sudha David-WilpGlobal Post
Paying women to provide child care at home is discouraging women from working.What if Britain left the European Union?October 10, 2012 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffChristian Science Monitor
British PM David Cameron is hinting at a referendum on membership in the European Union. But remember, Britain, if you leave the EU, it's cold out there.Underground, but Not BuriedSeptember 17, 2012 / Joerg Forbrig
The saga of Charter ’97 says much of the dedication of Lukashenka's opponents as well as the misguided support of the West.Transatlantic Relations Four Years Later: The Elusive Quest for a Strategic VisionSeptember 14, 2012 / Emiliano AlessandriThe International Spectator
The transatlantic tensions of the Bush years are behind us but the future of transatlantic relations remains uncertain at the closing of the Obama term.Europe Must Drop its Crisis RoutineSeptember 12, 2012 / Peter SpardingThe Christian Science Monitor
As the eurocrisis continues, Europe must avoid its precarious crisis routine and forge a sustainable plan. Bleak Prospects for No-Fly Zone as Proxy War Grips SyriaAugust 14, 2012 / Ian LesserDeutsche Welle
GMF's Ian Lesser talks to Deutsche Welle about possible military action to stem the violence in Syria as the conflict enters its 18th month in the Middle East nation.Why the EU must counter Belarus’ latest provocationAugust 09, 2012 / Joerg ForbrigEU Observer
President Lukashenko's recent explulsion of the Swedish ambassador has handed the EU an opportunity to drive a more effective policy towards Belarus. The EU must seize this moment.Food crisis: a new normal?July 26, 2012 / Jonathan M. WhiteGlobalPost 
Food shortages are a chronic problem in many parts of the world. Over a billion people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger. Why the World Needs AmericaJune 14, 2012 / Kati SuominenGlobal Trends 2030
The global economic order – the post-war framework of global governance built on rules-based institutions and free and open markets – is largely America’s creation. It has been the midwife of growth and globalization that have produced prosperity around the world.
Spanish bailout, Greek elections make June a make-or-break month in debt crisisJune 12, 2012 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffChristian Science Monitor
One day, when historians look back to June 2012, they will likely find it was a make-or-break month for Europe. The debt crisis, now in its third year, has produced a moment of extraordinary clarity for the 17 countries joined by the euro: Either move toward real fiscal union or break apart.
Why the Liberal Order Will Survive in a Post-Western WorldMay 31, 2012 / Dhruva JaishankarGT2030.com
Predicting the decline of the liberal order (often inextricably linked to narratives about the future of democracy, liberalism, free markets, peace, and global institutions) is an age-old pastime. But, first drafts of history are often destined for the rubbish bin.
A More Global NATO to Anchor Liberal Order in a Less Western World?May 29, 2012 / Sarah Rainehttp://gt2030.com
Europe’s extreme dependence on the United States for NATO’s hard security capabilities is bad for stakeholders in the liberal international order and bad for the alliance.
The Rise of the Rest and the Return of Spheres of InfluenceMay 28, 2012 / Minxin PeiGT2030.com
The question being asked most often today is whether rising powers, such as India, China, Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey, will help maintain the post-WWII liberal order by contributing to its costly maintenance.This may not be the right question to answer.
GMF’s de Hoop Scheffer on implications of France’s withdrawal from AfghanistanMay 24, 2012 / Alexandra de Hoop SchefferAtlantico
Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer wrote an article in French for the journal, Atlantico. The article is on NATO, Afghanistan and transatlantic relations and addresses the strategic and transatlantic implications of France’s decision to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012 and the contradictions of NATO’s strategy for Afghanistan.Transatlantic Trends: Public Opinion and NATOMay 16, 2012 / Zsolt Nyiri, Joshua RaisherTransatlantic Trends
While a transatlantic opinion gap still exists on certain security topics, Transatlantic Trends revealed notable shifts that brought public opinion in the U.S. and Europe closer on key security policies.
How a German state election affects EuropeMay 11, 2012 / Sudha David-WilpCNN.com
Germany's electoral map has many colors in comparison to the red and blue of America, yet on both sides of the Atlantic, battleground state elections can portend change on the national level.
Sarkozy’s exit could transform France’s world roleMay 07, 2012 / Mark R. JacobsonCNN.com
The election of the first French Socialist president since 1995 also could dramatically change France's role in the world, at a particularly sensitive time.China, the Euro Crisis and Transatlantic CooperationMay 02, 2012 / Andrew Small
In this testimony to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Andrew Small explains that, despite the euro crisis, the European Union has been toughening up its stance in its economic relationship with China. For the United States, the opportunities to coordinate with the EU on economic policy responses loom larger than the risks that Europe’s need for Chinese money will act as a constraint.
Europe’s Bleak FutureApril 18, 2012 / Bruce StokesNational Journal
The euro crisis will one day be a dim memory. The bigger challenge is avoidingthe kind of stagnant economy that now seems likely.
The West Runs Out of PowerApril 09, 2012 / Constanze StelzenmuellerPolicy Review
The challenge of the 21st century is not the weak ness of others, but the weakness of the West.
An Idea Whose Time Has ComeMarch 23, 2012 / Bruce StokesEuropean Voice
The EU and the US can at last begin working on the details of creating a true transatlantic market.
What the EU should do to end state terror in BelarusMarch 22, 2012 / Joerg Forbrig, David J. KramerEU Observer
True to his image as Europe's last dictator, Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko has just added two more crimes to a long list of repressions against his own people.
Will Europe Lose its East?March 20, 2012 / Joerg ForbrigNeue Zürcher Zeitung
Largely unnoticed by European politics and publics, a new division looms in the East of the continent.
Raising ExpectationsMarch 16, 2012 / Bruce StokesNational Journal Daily
Instead of resigning itself to sluggish economic growth, it’s time for Europe to face facts.
Despite the euro crisis, the Continent has avoided turning to extremist political parties.
Is There Life for the G20 beyond the Global Financial Crisis?February 24, 2012 / Kati Suominen, Uri Dadush
To transform from a crisis-fighter to an effective forum of global economic governance, the G20 has to confront four major challenges: build on its comparative advantages, be realistic in what it can achieve, effectively integrate emerging economies in global governance, and clarify its own structure and composition.
Poland’s Flame of HopeFebruary 09, 2012 / Tim Boersma, Corey JohnsonEuropean Energy Review
Poland has pinned its energy hopes for the future on a shale gas miracle. But Poland would be wise to make its shale gas ambitions part of a ‘grand strategy’ towards a low-carbon economy.
Why the Euro Crisis MattersFebruary 03, 2012 / Bruce Stokes
As Washington scrambles to cope with the economic fallout, it must reassess Europe's reliability as a strategic partner.
While America SleptFebruary 01, 2012 / Bruce StokesNational Journal Daily
From the euro to Iran, the world is about to intrude on the nation’s slumber. And no one—the voters or the media—seems to care.
EU Could Benefit from US’s Pacific focusJanuary 19, 2012 / Bruce StokesEuropean Voice
Last year was a big year for US trade policy and 2012 could be more active still.
Ivan Vejvoda Testifies on Balkans and the 2012 NATO SummitJanuary 18, 2012 / Ivan VejvodaUnited States Senate Testimony
In testimony before the U.S. Helsinki Commission, GMF's Ivan Vejvoda highlighted the progress made in security and democratization in the Balkans and called for Macedonia and Montenegro membership at the Chicago NATO Summit.
A New Poll Finds that the Hard Line that Works for Candidates in the Primaries will Wound Them in the GeneralDecember 16, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal Daily
There is no doubt that immigration is a hot-button issue in the GOP primaries. But the presidential contenders need to carefully weigh its relative political salience.
Shale StormDecember 14, 2011 / Andrew A. MichtaThe American Interest
An earthquake is winding up under the crust of European soil with the potential to transform the Continent’s energy market and alter the strategic parameters of Russian-European relations.
Don’t Sideline EU EnlargementDecember 07, 2011 / Michael LeighWall Street Journal
Stability in the Balkans may become the next victim of the euro crisis.
Only Germany can save the euro zone, therefore Germany must — such is the refrain heard around the world....
Moment of TruthDecember 05, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal
Germany's chancellor can save Europe. But it means betraying her voters....
Constanze Stellzenmueller: EU Playing Game of Chicken with Reform Measures (video)December 02, 2011 / Constanze StelzenmuellerFrance 24
On December 2, 2011, GMF Senior Fellow Constanze Stelzenmueller spoke with France 24 about the ongoing eurozone crisis and the prospects for progress.
Europe’s Euro Problem – and OursDecember 02, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal Daily
It's more than economic. It's a national security crisis, too.
...
Berlin has much potential for global influence, and just as many shortcomings....
There’s Good Reason to UniteNovember 29, 2011 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffNew York Times
According to Angela Merkel, Europe will fail if the euro fails. And the euro will fail, one might add, if the Franco-German alliance fails. Disturbingly, there are signs of strain in that crucial relationship - at the most dangerous of moments....
State of Affairs in the BalkansNovember 15, 2011 / Ivan Vejvoda
In his testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, GMF Vice President for Programs Ivan Vejvoda outlines the progress made and challenges ahead for Balkan nations...
At the G20, Look to the Swing StatesNovember 02, 2011 / Daniel M. Kliman, Richard FontaineWorld Politics Review
As the leaders from the 20 largest economies gather this week in Cannes,observers will note the difficulties in forging consensus. But this G20 summit will highlight another challenge to coordinated international action....
Hanging Between Hope and Fear: Italians at the Heart of International CrisisOctober 25, 2011 / Emiliano AlessandriIstituto Affari Internazionali
Italy’s public opinion seems more open and daring of its political elites on some hot issues of the international agenda. Although increasingly concerned about the economic context and for the future of the European integration process, Italians seems rather optimist about stabilizing the situation in Libya and strongly in favor of promoting democracy in the Arab world, even if this entails the risk of greater short-term instability.
Three pending agreements are idling and jobs are slipping away. It’s time to move.October 06, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal Daily
Later this month, trade may have its day in the spotlight when, if all goes according to plan, Congress passes the long-pending U.S. free-trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Then the press of more immediate concerns - unemployment, spending - are likely to consign trade to the attic once again.
Will China’s Rise Spoil the Transatlantic Relationship?September 23, 2011 / Andrew Small, Daniel M. KlimanSpiegel Online
A new survey by the German Marshall Fund finds that China's rise is leading Americans to turn their attention away from Europe and to view China as more of a threat than Europeans do. But how much do these factors threaten the trans-Atlantic relationship, and how well can it adapt to changing circumstances?
GMF’s de Hoop Scheffer on Regime Change in Politique EtrangèreSeptember 01, 2011 / Alexandra de Hoop SchefferPolitique étrangèreGMF Paris Office Director Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer published an article on the U.S. policy of regime change from Iraq to the Arab revolts, in the journal Politique étrangère, vol. 76, n° 3, autumn 2011, special issue on the U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Erdogan’s African AdventureAugust 29, 2011 / Nicholas Siegel
Turkey's prime minister Erdogan has traveled to Mogadishu as the first Western head of state in twenty years. This reckless gesture illustrates his daring vision: Erdogan's Turkey as a regional broker whose influence extends deep into Asia and Africa. And who, according to this vision, will lose out? Europe.
Europe’s far-right problemJuly 26, 2011 / Joerg ForbrigCNN Blog
As the immediate shock and mourning from the Oslo attacks subside, many ask for the possible reasons behind the attack. Their search, in Norway and across Europe, has quickly zoomed in on an issue that challenges the entire continent: the rise of the far right.
No Time to Turn AwayJune 23, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal Daily
European leaders dodged yet another volley of bullets this week in their ongoing debt crisis. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote. But the Greeks have little reason to celebrate, says Bruce Stokes.
EU’s strategy on Political and Security issues in the four seas: a multilateral approachJune 22, 2011 / Niels AnnenThe EU4Seas ProjectImproving the conditions for the overall success of her policies in the four seas (the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the Caspian Sea) will test the EU's ability to implement a more coherent foreign policy, writes Niels Annen.Gates was far too nice about Nato’s failingsJune 15, 2011 / Constanze StelzenmuellerFinancial Times
Last week Robert Gates gave a valedictory “shock and awe” speech in Brussels in which he excoriated the military weaknesses of Nato’s European members. But matters are a lot worse than he thinks, says Constanze StelzenmüllerA taxing transatlantic challengeJune 14, 2011 / Bruce Stokes
Without co-ordination, Europe and the US risk rewriting their corporate-tax codes in self-destructive ways, writes Bruce Stokes.Belarus: No more Maneuvering between the EU and RussiaJune 13, 2011 / Joerg Forbrig
The December 19, 2010 presidential elections in Belarus have, more than any other recent event, put the complicated position of the country between the EU and Russia in the spotlight. The poll hardly differed, in process and result, from earlier elections in 2001 and 2006.Lukashenka – What are the prospects for spring in Belarus?June 09, 2011 / Joerg ForbrigopenDemocracyCaptivated by the upheavals facing Arab autocrats, few in the West have noticed the troubles of another dictator, this time on Europe's very doorstep -- Belarus' Alexander Lukashenka.Not Just a Flesh WoundJune 09, 2011 / Bruce Stokes
The Doha Round is dead. The sooner the World Trade Organization recognizes that, the sooner negotiators can turn their attention to other trade-liberalization accords.Turkey’s Global StrategyJune 07, 2011 / Emiliano Alessandri, Joshua W. WalkerLSE
After nearly a decade in power, Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has grown increasingly confident in its foreign policy, prompting observers to wondered aloud whether the country might be leaving "the West," forcing that group to confront the question "who lost Turkey?"
What Makes a Country Great?June 06, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal
A new rating system compares more than gross domestic product, and it suggests that the U.S. lags many of its peers on health, education, and personal fulfillment. By Bruce StokesObama’s crucial moment in PolandMay 26, 2011 / Ivan Vejvoda
President Obama’s visit to Europe this week is giving him the opportunity to bury once and for all perceptions that have dogged his administration from the outset: that the United States has lost interest in Europe, and has put a higher priority on resetting relations with an authoritarian Russia than it has on the completion of a Europe whole, free, and at peace. UN Climate Talks and Power Politics: It’s Not about the TemperatureMay 25, 2011 / Daniel Twining
Must U.S. climate diplomacy be a wedge rather than a bridge between the United States and key international partners? GMF Senior Fellow for Asia, Daniel Twining's testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on climate diplomacy.
Turkey’s Future Reforms and the European UnionMay 24, 2011 / Emiliano AlessandriTurkish Policy Quarterly
The European Union (EU) has played a critical role in Turkey’s reform process since the end of the Cold War but over time it has become less central a factor in Turkey’s internal transformation. The goals of “Europeanization” and “democratization” are no longer fully intertwined and the ruling elite seems to be focused on power consolidation just as much as on democratic consolidation. Above the Fray No MoreMay 23, 2011 / Bruce Stokes
For the United States, there is much to fear from Europe’s debt crisis but not much it can do. When the first wave of Europe’s debt crisis hit a year ago, the U.S.’s fledgling recovery immediately began to stall. Stock-market volatility spiked to levels not seen since the depths of the financial crisis, and stock prices weakened.14 New Fellows Selected for Transatlantic Forum on Migration and IntegrationMay 23, 2011 / Fariz Ismailzade
The German Marshall Fund of the United States announces that 14 new fellows have been selected for the Transatlantic Forum on Migration and Integration (TFMI), to be held in Trivandrum, India, from October 17 – 22, 2011. TFMI is a leading platform for convening future decision-makers for exchange on crucial immigration and integration issues.
Why the Next IMF Head Must Be EuropeanMay 19, 2011 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffWith Dominique Strauss-Kahn having resigned as IMF general director on Wednesday, the debate about his successor promises to get even more heated. But those who argue the next IMF shouldn't be European are wrong. Change is coming to international organizations, but it shouldn't be rushed.Refugee crisis: the end of Europe without borders?May 06, 2011 / Francois Lafond
François Lafond, Director of the German Marshall Fund (Paris Office), participates in a debate on the migration related consequences of the Arab Spring.Emerging HangoverApril 20, 2011 / Kati Suominen
As the economic crisis fades in the rearview mirror, some analysts on Wall Street and in Washington expect the world economy to enter a prolonged global growth spurt powered by the emerging markets as a result of "industrialization and urbanization of emerging markets and global trade."NATO’s Last ChanceApril 13, 2011 / Andrew A. MichtaThe American Interest
As spring 2011 bursts into bloom, the NATO alliance finds itself withering on the vine. An alliance that was once the quintessential expression and spearpoint of the Transatlantic security relationship is now at risk of undermining it.
A Resurgence of RelevanceMarch 31, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal Daily
Multinational institutions like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are more important than ever in the wake of the economic crisis, says Bruce Stokes.Francois Lafond on Libya SituationMarch 24, 2011 / Francois Lafond
GMF's Francois Lafond recently conducted a series of Q&A sessions with France 24 on the unrest in Libya.What we learned from the Security Council debate over LibyaMarch 18, 2011 / Daniel TwiningForeign Policy
The United Nations Security Council voted to authorize military intervention to protect the Libyan people from the depredations of Colonel Qaddafi's rule. What have we learned from the debate over the resolution and its outcome?
Jim Kolbe moderates discussion with heads of the World Bank and WTO on Aid for Trade AgendaMarch 15, 2011 / Jim KolbeUS Chamber of Commerce
On March 14, GMF Senior Transatlantic Fellow Jim Kolbe moderated a discussion between the President of the World Bank Group, Robert Zoellick, and the WTO's Director-General, Pascal LamyFrancois Lafond on Unrest in EgyptMarch 11, 2011 / Francois LafondFrance 24
François Lafond participates in debate on the recent turmoil in Egypt and the Arab world, and on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2011 Munich Conference remarks.
Dan Price Interview on G20 Finance Ministers MeetingFebruary 18, 2011 / Francois Lafond
Dan Price, GMF G20 Advisory Group member and former U.S. sherpa to the G20, is interviewed by the Business News Network on the G20 finance ministers’ meeting taking place on February 18-19, 2011.One Mouth, One Voice?February 16, 2011 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffIPOne of the prettiest phrases in politics is the demand that Europe speak “with one voice.” For 40 years, this has sounded as plausible as it is unrealistic, thanks to the capacity for Europe’s residual nationalism to promote cacophony.The G20 Should Ride to Europe’s RescueFebruary 14, 2011 / Bruce StokesFiscal Times Blog
Yet another European sovereign debt crisis plan is expected to be unveiled soon by European leaders. Squabbling over its specifics and recent experience suggest the effort will be a day late and a euro short, doing little to slow Europe’s slow motion economic train wreck.Trilateral ConcernsFebruary 10, 2011 / Bruce StokesNational Journal
The Stockholm China Forum, a semiannual gathering of American, European, and Chinese interests, is a useful venue to take the temperature of what is arguably the most important trilateral relationship in the world.Mideast Protests Drive Up Oil, Threaten RecoveryFebruary 01, 2011 / Bruce StokesFiscal Times
With oil prices soaring past $100 a barrel on Monday, thanks to growing uncertainty about stability in the Middle East, the somewhat distant, feel-good, democracy-awakening story coming out of Egypt suddenly took on a more ominous, economic tone that could hit Americans where it hurts most — their wallets.Recalibrating the Transatlantic Relationship for a Multipolar AgeJanuary 26, 2011 / Constanze Stelzenmueller, Tomas Valasek
GMF's Constanze Stelzenmüller and Tomas Valasek co-author a new report with Fabrice Pothier on the Transatlantic Relationship in a Multipolar Age.Stopping the Transatlantic DriftJanuary 25, 2011 / Constanze Stelzenmueller, Tomas ValasekInternational Herald TribuneYou might call it the Obama paradox: Atlanticists on both sides of the ocean were certain that this president, inaugurated two years ago, would renew the trans-Atlantic alliance. Yet two years later, the United States and Europe seem further apart than they have ever been in their policies as much as in public attitudes.
Is Multi-Kulti Dead?January 12, 2011 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffAngela Merkel’s claim that “multi-kulti” has failed set off a wave of critical reactions from the foreign press. But many of her critics abroad failed to set her quote in context. Far from disavowing the idea of a diverse Germany, Merkel was actually criticizing Germany’s integration track record.Belarus Elections Cause ChaosDecember 20, 2010 / Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff
Hundreds of people, including several presidential candidates, have been arrested in Belarus for protesting against the announced results of the country’s recent presidential elections.Holbrooke Remembered for Contributions to Transatlantic RelationsDecember 14, 2010 / Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff
The German Marshall Fund is very saddened by the death of Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke. He was a close friend of GMF and a committed transatlanticist. The transatlantic community will greatly miss his tireless efforts as a diplomat.Transatlantic Opinion on Immigration: Greater Worries and Outlier OptimismDecember 09, 2010 / Delancey GustinThis article outlines some of the key findings of the 2008 and 2009 Transatlantic Trends: Immigration1 public opinion study.Why Europe MattersDecember 04, 2010 / Bruce StokesNational Journal
When European leaders announced a $112 billion bailout of Ireland last week, only to watch bond markets start panicking about whether Spain and Portugal might be the next dominoes to fall, it was hardly a surprise that neither President Obama nor congressional leaders even seemed to notice the tremors across the Atlantic. But that indifference could be a mistake.A Climate Conference ReaderDecember 01, 2010 / Bruce Stokes
GMF is sending a contingent of climate change experts to the COP16 United Nations Climate Change Conference this week. A brief Q&A with one of our program associates outlines expectations, incentives, and the key players at the conference.
The Long Currency WarNovember 12, 2010 / Kati SuominenForeign PolicyAt the end of the G-20 summit, where world leaders managed only to delay dealing with difficult challenges from global imbalances to trade protectionism, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proclaimed a "temporary end" to the so-called currency wars that have reached a fever pitch over the last two months as countries have manipulated their exchange rates to gain an edge in world markets.G20 Meeting Starts in SeoulNovember 10, 2010 / Kati Suominen
With the fifth meeting of the G-20 heads of government kicking off in Seoul this Thursday, GMF and Club de Madrid presents a series of materials exploring the likely outcomes and implications of this year's summit.An EU Model for Asia?October 29, 2010 / Amy StuddartThe Straits Times
Despite being the largest meeting of heads of state and government in the world, the 8th Asia Europe Meeting (Asem) held in Brussels last week went largely unnoticed by the majority of the inhabitants of the two continents its members represent.The Return of GlobalizationOctober 21, 2010 / Kati Suominen, Gary HufbauerForeign Policy
As the G-20 finance ministers gather in South Korea this weekend in advance of November's big meeting, they will surely notice that globalization is back -- almost. The trajectory of world trade over the last two years looks V-shaped: a drop of 12.2 percent in 2009 followed by a projected gain of 13.5 percent in 2010. Can they agree to cooperate before protectionist urges tear them apart?Ensuring globalization after the great crisisOctober 13, 2010 / Kati Suominen, Gary HufbauerVox
The patchwork of initiatives established between NATO and Asia has never been framed by any overarching region-specific rationale. Insofar as there is a strategic imperative driving outreach in the region, it has been an effort to draw in "global partners" into closer cooperation with existing alliance operations - primarily in Afghanistan - rather than any broader process of identifying shared security concerns either with the major Asian powers or even with traditional partners in the region.Double-Teaming ChinaSeptember 24, 2010 / Bruce StokesNational Journal
Baroness Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s new foreign minister, will come to Washington next week on a mission. One of her goals is to strengthen the transatlantic dialogue about China.
Turkey Drifts AwaySeptember 24, 2010 / Bruce StokesNational Journal
Add Turkey to the Obama administration’s lengthening list of foreign-policyheadaches.Balance of payments: Different definitions of normalSeptember 23, 2010 / Bruce StokesCongress Daily
Slow economic growth is potentially becoming a "new normal" for both European and American economies. However, in these circumstances there is much to suggest that a European style social security net could help reduce the U.S's spiraling unemployment rates.Beijing is Worth a Missed Dinner – Lady Ashton Goes to ChinaSeptember 02, 2010 / Andrew SmallTransatlantic Take
Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, chose to pass up dinner at the White House and instead pressed ahead with her trip to China, where she inaugurated a new strategic dialogue with her Chinese counterpart. Despite some consternation in Paris, Ashton’s decision reflects a well-founded conviction that China policy is one of the few areas where the new post-Lisbon foreign policy machinery could make a real difference.When Sanctions Work: The Belarus BuckleAugust 11, 2010 / Damon Wilson
Almost as soon as the United Nations Security Council voted in June for a new sanctions resolution against Iran, doubters questioned whether it would have any real impact on Iran’s behavior.Walk, But Learn to Chew Gum, TooAugust 10, 2010 / Constanze StelzenmuellerHeinrich Boell Foundation
The Russo-Georgian war was a defining moment for the United States and Europe, showing the flaws of Western policy for the region. The challenge of crafting a coherent and effective policy for Eastern Europe remains unresolved on both sides of the Atlantic.How the EU is seen in Asia, and what to do about itJuly 28, 2010 / Andrew SmallEuropean View
In Asia's major capitals, the last few years have seen marked shifts in perspectives on the European Union. Not so long ago the EU was viewed as everything from a rising political power to a model for regional order. The combination of economic stagnation and the painful process of fixing the EU's institutional arrangements has been part of the problem.Medvedev Is No DemocratJuly 26, 2010 / Andrew SmallThe Moscow Times
Those who had hoped that President Dmitry Medvedev would lead Russia to a more democratic, Western-friendly future have experienced a roller coaster of emotions recently. They were uplifted by a speech Medvedev gave before Russia’s ambassadors two weeks ago in which he spoke of the need for “modernization alliances” with the United States and other Western countries. Three days later, however, Medvedev took responsibility for a law that would dangerously expand the powers of the Federal Security Service.Why the U.S. can’t look to NATO or the EU to support its Russia strategyJuly 23, 2010 / Stephen SzaboEurope's World
Europe is proving a foreign policy disappointment to the Obama Administration as it struggles to propound a clearer strategy toward Russia. Washington now recognizes, says Stephen Szabo, that only Berlin has the key to a new relationship with Moscow.More doubtful about the gains, but still committed to the EUJuly 15, 2010 / Bruce StokesEuropean VoiceEuropean publics are still Europhiles in theory, but there is growing Euroscepticism in practice. From Stalwart To Skeptic, Germany Rethinks EU RoleJuly 13, 2010 / Constanze StelzenmuellerNPR's Morning Edition
The financial calamity of the European Union's sovereign debt woes has shaken the pillars of the postwar ideal of a united Europe. Germany, long a postwar champion and financier of European integration, is flexing its muscles more independently. And more of its citizens are questioning the country's leading role in the European project.The Congress on the RhineJuly 10, 2010 / Bruce StokesNational JournalThe European Parliament, newly powerful, is becoming a magnet for U.S. lobbyists.How to prevent another war in the Southern CaucasusJuly 03, 2010 / Bruce StokesThe Washington Post
After Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent visit, the Obama administration wants to prove it has a strategy to deepen ties with allies such as Poland while it pursues a reset with Russia, so it has sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on a whirlwind tour of Central and Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. The trip also seeks to blunt conservative criticism that Washington is sacrificing allies for the sake of reconciliation with Moscow.
Clinton to Kyiv: Speaking truth to powerJuly 01, 2010 / Bruce StokesMoldova.orgOf all the stops on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s upcoming trip to Europe, none is more important than Ukraine. This is a country heading in the wrong direction—as evidenced by the disturbing and rapid rollback of its democratic gains. Much is at stake, for the implications of a Ukraine moving toward a non-democratic, if not authoritarian, system of governance are enormous not just for Ukraine, but also for Europe and the United States.Duck Soup (1933): An IntroductionJune 30, 2010 / Constanze StelzenmuellerSpeech to Junge DGAPConstanze Stelzenmüller introduces the movie Duck Soup in advance of a screening for the Junge DGAP’s Foreign Policy Movie Series. Duck Soup, she says, is a political satire despite the protestations of the Marx Brothers themselves, who claimed they were just "trying to get a laugh," according to Groucho Marx.‘No-One Is Going to Be Bought Off by a Tiny Revaluation’June 26, 2010 / Andrew SmallSpiegel Online
In the run-up to the G-20 summit, China has tried to placate the United States with a revaluation of its currency. But the move is not a real change of course, explains the German Marshall Fund's Andrew Small in a Spiegel Online interview. He argues that the Chinese leadership is more concerned with deflecting external criticism than with the health of the global economy.Modernizing Russia’s Economy… and PoliticsJune 24, 2010 / Andrew SmallForeign PolicyU.S. policymakers for years have lamented their lack of leverage in pushing for democratic reform and respect for human rights in Russia. Well, now we may have an opportunity, but the question is whether we will make use of it. If Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is serious in wanting our help with his economic modernization agenda, we should insist that he needs to make measurable progress in political liberalization first.Berlin, the Euro and Europe: It?s German Question Time?AgainJune 19, 2010 / Constanze StelzenmuellerKeynote Lecture at IPRI Summer School on German Unification and the New Europe, ÓbidosIs all this criticism justified? Is it true that the Germans still have a special debt to Europe—and that they are neglecting it? Is it accurate to say that Germany has departed from its earlier pro-European stance, and is becoming more nationalist? Or are we in fact being held to a higher standard than other countries? And if so, is that fair? Are we really failing to answer the Question, or are our friends and neighbors asking the wrong questions?
Twenty Years of Western Democracy Assistance in Central and Eastern EuropeJune 15, 2010 / Pavol DemešIDEA
Before the European Union and its allies can effectively promote democracy in other countries, they need to address the internal problems brought on by the global economic crisis, from which they have not yet fully recovered. Democracy assistance needs to be tailored to the specific needs and expectations of each country and handled with tact and with respect for local democracy activists. Donor countries also need to be aware of ways that pursuing their own economic or security goals can tarnish their democratic credibility. Despite all these challenges, recent history has provided ample evidence that the human spirit and solidarity can overcome even the direst obstacles and may be our strongest resource in the quest for democracy and cooperation in Europe and beyond.Did global imbalances cause the crisis?June 14, 2010 / Kati SuominenVoxEU
Did global imbalances cause the global crisis? This column summarises the variety of explanations of the relationship between imbalances and the crisis. While the debate continues, it suggests that, as a matter of prudence, policies to contain global imbalances may still be warranted even if they did not trigger the crisis.
Much has been written about the world becoming multipolar, but nobody seems to be able to tell what such a world would actually look like. After the spectacular nuclear deal between Turkey, Brazil and Iran, the picture becomes a little clearer and it seems that the P5 will have to share some of the world’s attention.Opinion: Europe needs more than a bailoutMay 17, 2010 / Jonathan M. WhiteGlobal PostThe sovereign debt crisis has cast doubt over the future of the European project. Europe needs more than an aid package. It needs an aggressive growth agenda coupled with effective tools to manage economic divergence.Pushing Merkel: wie Amerika über die Kanzlerin denktMay 12, 2010 / Niels AnnenHandelsblattThe current crisis of the Euro has shaken American confidence in the EU and the president is working the phones to encourage European leaders to take action. Nevertheless the American debate about the EU is multilayered and depends strongly on how Americans themselves see the future of their country. In a multi-polar world, the relevance of alliances is growing.New START vs. missile defense: is it one or the other?April 30, 2010 / Niels AnnenForeign PolicyThe Obama administration is already gearing up its push for Senate ratification of the recently signed START agreement between the United States and Russia. As senior administration officials make their case around town at various think tanks and before Congress, they need to do a better job of refining their message to make sure it stands up to scrutiny.Helping Obama Close Guantanamo is in Europe’s InterestApril 24, 2010 / Niels AnnenWith a record approval rating of 88% in Germany, President Barak Obama shouldn't be too much concerned about his plea to Europeans to help him close the detention Camp Guantanamo at the US base in Cuba. But sympathy alone does not lead to a new policy. Obama is learning this the hard way. And Europeans may miss a unique opportunity to influence the way in which the US is going to deal with terrorists in the future.Foundations and post-Lisbon EuropeApril 01, 2010 / Pavol DemešEffect MagazineThe end of last year was marked by two overlapping historical moments -- the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which led to a profound rearrangement of the European continent, and the anxiety-filled end of the complicated eight-year process to bring about badly-needed constitutional reforms of the EU. After the second Irish referendum, and the Czech Republic finally coming on board, the Lisbon Treaty came into power on December 1, 2009. It is believed that this Treaty will transform Europe into a more unified and influential global player with the capacity to make Europeans more secure and prosperous.Good NeighborsMarch 29, 2010 / Jörg HimmelreichInternationale PolitikFor decades, suspicion and outright animosity characterized relations between Turkey and its neighbors. The country's allies were to be found only in the West. Recently, however, the Turkish government has managed to implement a foreign policy shift of historic, even revolutionary proportions. Brussels should put to use the opportunities resulting from Turkey's international realignment.Friend or Foe: Does the Obama administration know the difference?March 22, 2010 / Jörg HimmelreichForeign PolicyA slam against the Obama administration heard with greater frequency these days is that it is much harder on its allies than on its enemies (even former enemies). At the same time that it desperately tries to win over "new friends," the administration treats its old friends either with indifference (e.g., most of Europe) or a critical eye. A perfect example of this is the administration's handling of the recent blow-up with Israel over settlements in East Jerusalem as compared with its response to Russia's announcement last week on nuclear reactors in Iran.L’alternativa al sarkozismoinate?March 20, 2010 / Francois LafondEuropaDomenica i francesi torneranno alle urne per il secondo turno delle regionali. Difficilmente, questo test elettorale potrà fornire indicazioni precise sugli elementi che caratterizzeranno la seconda metà mandato di un presidente che si è presentato come un riformatore e un modernizzatore. Malgrado ciò, dall'esito del primo turno è possibile leggere alcune tendenze. In the European Monetary Fund proposal, a chance to get the IMF rightMarch 17, 2010 / Kati SuominenVoxEU.orgWhatever its merits for rescuing European nations mired in crisis, the German finance minister's March 7 proposal for a European Monetary Fund provides an opportunity for Europe and the United States to get the future of the IMF right.Hands Off Our Shackles, PleaseMarch 01, 2010 / Constanze StelzenmuellerIP Global
The momentous decision made by a German colonel in September to call in a NATO air strike on fuel trucks hijacked by the Taliban could become a test of Germany’s maturity 20 years after regaining complete sovereignty. But this incident, and its handling, has already turned a harsh spotlight on the shortcomings of German security policy
Dealing With a More Assertive ChinaFebruary 08, 2010 / Andrew SmallTransatlantic Take; Al Jazeera; Forbes; The Diplomat; RealClearWorld; Foreign Policy; The Atlantic Community
The mood on China in Western capitals is beginning to darken. From cyber-attacks to obstinacy in Copenhagen, Beijing's assertiveness and the hardening tone of its diplomacy are prompting a rethink. If the competitive aspects of the relationship with China are going to dominate in the years ahead, have the United States and Europe got their strategies right? And if not, what are the options?Economic rebalancing is coming, whatever the EU wantsFebruary 04, 2010 / Bruce StokesEuropean VoiceObama wants to change the balance of the international economic order. Europe will need to adapt or to persuade him otherwise.Splitting Europe’s budget billFebruary 03, 2010 / Jack ThurstonEuropean VoiceWho are the misers and who are the gold-diggers among the EU's 27 member states? Some are Gold Diggers, happy to reap the benefits of integration and let others pick up the tab. Others are Misers – fans of budget discipline and a smaller CAP, but keen to claim compensation for their net balance deficits. Others still are Fence-Sitters: quick to pay lip service to the idea of budgetary discipline, they are still keen to maintain CAP spending levels. That is the conclusion of a new paper analysing the EU member states' responses to the “fundamental” review of the EU budget, which the European Commission launched in 2007.Farming Should Protect Europe’s Environmental Resources, not Use Them UpJanuary 29, 2010 / Jack ThurstonLe Monde
In 2009, farm incomes fell across the whole of the EU, not least in France. This is despite the EU spending 55 billion euro on the common agricultural policy (CAP), one of whose aims is to ensure farmers a fair standard of living. The data shows that across Europe, 85 percent of aid goes to the top 17 percent of recipients.Some American Priorities For 2010January 23, 2010 / Francois LafondDéfense NationaleU.S. President Barack Obama’s greatest achievement during his first year in office has been to dramatically improve the image of the United States around the world. His actions and ideas are viewed favorably by most Europeans. This “Obama effect” has also affected U.S. foreign policy. From a European perspective, Obama now has four main foreign policy goals to achieve. The most crucial test for the Obama administration in 2010 will be the so-called “clash of civilizations.” The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is stalled, and Iranian nuclear negotiations are in a deadlock. Nevertheless, Obama’s open-handed and global rhetoric will help the regional actors to better engage with one and other and lead to new paths of progress. Obama’s three other foreign policy challenges are: “afghanizing” the ongoing “war of necessity,” trying an open-handed approach to Russia, and putting back on track the fundamental issue of strategic alliances such as NATO. These are the four areas on which U.S. foreign policy will be assessed.Controlling the Human TideJanuary 18, 2010 / Delancey Gustin, Zsolt NyirieSharpWhen the Lisbon Treaty entered into force on December 1, the European Union took a large step toward establishing a common immigration policy. This is the dream – or the nightmare, depending on whom you ask – of many leaders in Europe.Eine deutsche PakistanstrategieJanuary 09, 2010 / Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Daniel TwiningBerliner ZeitungIn this German-language op-ed (full text in original language here), Kleine-Brockhoff and Twining argue that ignoring Pakistan is dangerous for a country that has troops in Afghanistan -- even if it is only a midsize country and has no historical ties to Pakistan or interests there. But if Germany wants to be successful in Afghanistan and eventually withdraw, it will have to engage more actively in Pakistan, and make more resources and attention available.A new decade and a new transatlantic strategy?January 07, 2010 / Bruce StokesEuropean Voice.comA new year, a new European Commission and a U.S. president who can no longer get by simply by not being George Bush create an opportunity to take a new look at the U.S.-EU strategic relationship for the new decade.Ein ganz normaler PräsidentJanuary 06, 2010 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffZeitA year after taking office as the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama has transformed himself from a modern day Messiah to a perfectly normal President. Some speculate whether a failed presidency is in the making. But, by any measure, this is anything but a failed presidency, at least so far. Three accomplishments mark Obama’s first year as President: he has prevented a recession from becoming a depression by coordinating the global response to the crisis and introducing financial market reforms; he has presented a package of economic and social reforms to modernize America; and he has reconceptualized American foreign policy to fit the era of multipolarity. Failure this is not.The Self-Chained RepublicJanuary 01, 2010 / Constanze StelzenmuellerInternationale PolitikThe lonely decision by a German colonel in Kunduz to call in a NATO airstrike on Taliban forces who had hijacked a pair of fuel trucks may yet become a maturity test for Germany's political culture, twenty years after the fall of the Wall. A specially created investigative committee in the German federal legislature will now examine who was responsible for the many weaknesses and flaws apparent in the incident itself, as well as in its handling. But it is unlikely to examine the fundamental issues at the heart of German security policy: Does Germany even have a security policy which deserves that name? Does it have a strategy? How effective are the actors, institutions and instruments of German security policy?The new pecking orderDecember 27, 2009 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffDer Tagesspiegel
Copenhagen has shown the globe to be in transition. The multipolar world may be arriving, but so far multipolarity means chaos. In such moments of transition it is not quite clear where power rests.Russia’s ‘sphere’ in EuropeDecember 26, 2009 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffThe Washington PostAs Washington and Moscow zero in on a new strategic arms control treaty, it is time to look at what lies ahead in U.S.-Russian relations. The greatest gap between Western and Russian thinking today may not be on Afghanistan or Iran. It may well be on Europe.Lessons of the Copenhagen discordDecember 21, 2009 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffFinancial TimesIt will be discussed for some time whether the Copenhagen accord represents an unsatisfactory compromise or an unmitigated failure. Whatever the ultimate answer, there are some preliminary lessons that can be drawn from a memorably chaotic global gathering.
The role of think tanks in shaping EU policiesDecember 16, 2009 / Pavol DemešEurope's WorldThere are various institutions on the Old continent which employ highly educated people to think about our societies and to study social, political, economic and environmental issues. Traditionally, universities and later academies of science and research institutes, attracted smart people whose role was to develop new thinking about human affairs and to explain to power-holders and the public what is really going on in our societies and what is likely to happen in the future.U.S. Expectations of Germany After the Election: A Highway to Hell or a Stairway to HeavenDecember 01, 2009 / Pavol DemešAmerican Institute for Contemporary German Studies
The recent German election presents real opportunity for the German-American relationship, but that opportunity will be bounded by both the harsh realities of the challenges both countries face in 2009 and beyond.
Global security conference opens in Halifax this weekendNovember 19, 2009 / Craig KennedyThe Chronicle HeraldWhen the Halifax International Security Forum gets underway Friday, it will be the first gathering of its kind in North America. There have been events like this in Europe for years, notably the Munich Security Conference, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Brussels Forum in Belgium. Because of Halifax's historical, commercial, and strategic status in the transatlantic community, this city is the right place to hold this inaugural meeting.Analyze DasNovember 01, 2009 / Constanze StelzenmuellerThe American InterestNinety years after 1919, seventy years after 1939, twenty years after 1989: Could it be it time for Germany to declare normalcy, for Germans to stop obsessing about their history and start living in the present? After all, we Germans have accomplished what is today broadly reckoned to be an honorable and complete accounting of the guilt amassed in the Holocaust and two world wars (admittedly, with some early prodding from outside, including the Nuremberg Tribunal and the Eichmann trial).
"Normal" tends not to be an adjective that individuals or nations cherish for themselves. Who wants to be merely normal, average or typical when one can be exceptional or superior? Germans do, and it is not hard to understand why. As a united polity only since 1870, Germany's bloody odyssey from the Franco-Prussian War to World War I, revolution, depression, Hitler, World War II, the Holocaust, and a country divided into two diametrically opposed political systems defines its historic "normalcy." At least for Germans born after World War II, normal meant being deviant, subject to a kind of metaphysical disfigurement, symbolized in concrete by the hideous wall sprawled across Berlin. Thus to be genuinely normal meant Germany must divorce itself from its own history, an abnormal enterprise-and so a problem of another sort. To what extent has Germany achieved this divorce and solved this problem?
Euro Defence Spending and NATOOctober 20, 2009 / Daniel FataGlobalBriefThis week, NATO defence ministers are meeting in Bratislava for their thrice-annual regular meeting. Topping the agenda will be a discussion about the current status of Allied defence capabilities – specifically, the need to improve and invest in such capabilities. The discussion comes in the midst of NATO’s ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and on the heels of the Obama administration’s decision to largely retool and resize America’s ballistic missile defence system in Europe – a decision that has reenergized the debate in Central and Eastern Europe as to whether more emphasis should be placed on procuring military capabilities to defend the territory of the newest Allied member states, or whether NATO members should continue procuring materials for expeditionary operations.No More Low-Hanging FruitOctober 14, 2009 / Pavol DemešTransitions OnlineThis year found the Euro-Atlantic community not only busy with pressing economic and political issues but also commemorating several important milestones – the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II, the 60th anniversary of NATO's founding, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This last opened space for unprecedented changes in the former Soviet bloc.
Europe is in love with Barack Obama, according to recent polls. But will this affair of the heart be a brief flirtation or something more enduring? Like many relationships, the partners themselves may not really know until times get tough. With troubles looming in Afghanistan and Iran, that day of reckoning is fast approaching.
Missing from the Georgia ReportOctober 03, 2009 / Jörg HimmelreichThe New York TimesThe Russian-Georgian "five-day war" in August 2008 did not end the political conflict: It has all the potential to explode into a new armed confrontation any day.Can Berlin and Washington Agree on Russia?September 28, 2009 / Stephen SzaboWashington QuarterlyBoth Russia and Germany are back on the U.S. agenda. Russia will be a key element of a wide array of policies to the Obama administration, including dealing with Iran and the construction of a broader nonproliferation regime, energy security, nuclear arms reductions, and Afghanistan. Russia policy will also be central to U.S. designs for NATO, including how to deal with Georgia and Ukraine, and the viability of a pan-European security structure.Shattered Confidence in EuropeSeptember 19, 2009 / Stephen SzaboWashington PostPresident Obama's decision to shelve the Bush administration's missile defense plans has created a crisis of confidence in Washington's relations with Central and Eastern Europe. The defense architecture the administration proposes may make more strategic sense in addressing the immediate Iranian threat. Nevertheless, it runs the risk of shattering the morale and standing of transatlantic leaders in the region who now feel politically undermined and exposed.Placating Russia Won’t WorkSeptember 18, 2009 / Stephen SzaboThe Washington PostRussian leaders never liked the idea that the United States, Poland and the Czech Republic were cooperating on missile defense to confront an emerging Iranian threat. With the Obama administration's announcement that it is indeed abandoning the Polish and Czech sites, Moscow's complaining appears to have worked.
Germany shoots first and thinks againSeptember 09, 2009 / Constanze StelzenmuellerThe Financial TimesThe night a German army colonel by the name of Georg Klein called in a massive Nato airstrike on two fuel trucks hijacked by Taliban fighters in northern Afghanistan was a watershed moment. Although the exact number of casualties is still unknown - estimates suggest more than 50 died - it seems likely that it will prove to have been, as one American newspaper put it, "the most deadly operation involving German forces since World War II". But will we also remember it as the night Germany grew up and started to call a war a war?Europe and the Obama BounceSeptember 09, 2009 / Constanze StelzenmuellerThe New York TimesEuropean attitudes toward the United States have experienced up and downs during past decades - with significant drops in support during the Vietnam war, the Euromissile crisis of the early 1980s or the war in Kosovo in 1999. But never before in the history of trans-Atlantic polling have we seen the kind of plunge that took place under George W. Bush.
Fighting Chance Chapter 13: Europe and NatoSeptember 08, 2009 / Ian LesserFighting ChanceSeveral points are worth noting as context for discussing trends and shocks in Europe. First, the region is more dynamic than it appears. At first glance the Western Europe/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) region seems relatively settled, with a reasonably predictable trajectory, few opportunities for conflict, and gradual social, economic, and political adjustments—a place of gentle trends and few shocks. Is this realistic?Ironed Curtain: The Biggest Loser in the EU’s Report on the Russia-Georgia War is Europe.September 08, 2009 / Ian LesserThe New RepublicAfter the Russo-Georgian War in August 2008, the European Union found itself in a difficult position. Moscow had not only invaded a neighbor for the first time since the Soviet assault on Afghanistan in 1979. In recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, it had also broken the cardinal rule of post-cold war European security: that borders in Europe would never again be changed by force of arms. Yet Georgia, too, had clearly made mistakes, not the least in embroiling itself in a military conflict with Russia that Georgia's own allies had repeatedly warned against. Stelzenmüller becomes a GMF Senior Transatlantic FellowMay 04, 2009 / Ian LesserConstanze Stelzenmüller, the Berlin office director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), will become a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at GMF. In her new capacity Stelzenmüller will work on a broad spectrum of foreign and security policy issues.Sarkozy’s decision ups pressure on ObamaMarch 14, 2009 / John K. GlennGlobalPostWhen Obama travels to Europe in early April, he will face questions on the economic crisis and about whether Europeans are willing to do more in Afghanistan. Complicating matters is French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s announcement that he will bring France back into the military wing of NATO, reversing Charles de Gaulle’s decision of 40 years ago.Germany’s Russia Question: A New Ostpolitik for EuropeMarch 03, 2009 / Constanze StelzenmuellerForeign AffairsNow that Obama is president, will Germany respond to the call and join the United States as a key European partner in addressing global challenges and threats? Is Germany able and willing to use its considerable political resources to change Russia's behavior and to stand up to Moscow when necessary?Germany’s Russia QuestionMarch 01, 2009 / Constanze StelzenmuellerForeign AffairsLast July, more than 200,000 people flocked to a public park in Berlin to hear Barack Obama, then the Democratic candidate for president of the United States, deliver a speech calling for renewed transatlantic partnership and cooperation. The choice of Germany’s long-divided capital as the backdrop for his only public speech in Europe was deliberate.To the Germans listening to him that summer evening in the Tiergarten,Obama made a special appeal, citing “a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people,” the same “dream of freedom” that was the basis of the relationship between the United States and West Germany during the Cold War. Now that Obama is president, will Germany respond to the call and join the United States as a key European partner in addressing global challenges and threats?Rousing Doha from its dozeFebruary 12, 2009 / Bruce StokesEuropean VoiceThe Doha round of global trade talks can be revived but the EU needs to help Obama. The recent uproar in Europe over the ‘Buy American' provisions in the US economic stimulus package has turned the transatlantic trade dialogue into a divisive, finger-pointing exercise aimed at forestalling protectionism rather than a collaborative effort to broaden trade liberalisation. If global commerce, which is shrinking at a near-record rate, is to be revived, advocates of trade must stop playing defence and re-double their efforts to finish the Doha round.For Obama, the key to Russia is in BerlinJanuary 26, 2009 / Stephen SzaboFrankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungThe renewal of the transatlantic relationship is one of President Obama's most important tasks and America's partnership with Germany will be crucial for the administration's policy in Europe, especially Russia. Germany's warm relationship with Russia will play a key role in framing the next U.S. Russia policy. The full version of this article, written in German, is available for download below:
Foreign policy and war: Is Barack Obama an “Obamacon?”January 25, 2009 / Michael WerzHeinrich Boell StiftungIn his inaugural address, Barack Obama struck a conciliatory tone in foreign policy. The perhaps most important change in rhetoric from the former Administration is his decision not to talk about the "war on terror." Instead, he chose a descriptive phrase and spoke of a "network of violence and hatred," which must be combated. However, Obama supplemented this clear distinction from his predecessor's exaggerated rhetoric about war and staying the course with an emphatic reaffirmation of military force as a means to achieve freedom or prevent major calamity.
Obama to Europe: Ich bin ein listenerJanuary 21, 2009 / John K. Glenn, Kristin M. LordPoliticoBarack Obama's election was greeted with jubilation in many parts of the world, raising hopes that his personal appeal will translate into progress on a range of important issues: stabilizing and reconstructing Afghanistan, countering Iran's nuclear ambitions, resolving the global financial crisis, reaching an international climate change agreement and responding to a newly assertive Russia, among others.Country analysis: The end of the American century?January 20, 2009 / Michael WerzInternational Policy Analysis, Friedrich-Ebert-StiftungIn this issue of International Policy Analysis, GMF Transatlantic Fellow Michael Werz examines the phenomena surrounding Barack Obama, the consolidation of the Democratic party during the 90s, the impact of minority and first time voters, the challenges facing the Republican party, and interior as well as foreign policy aspirations for the new administration.
The Presidency of an apoliticalJanuary 18, 2009 / Michael WerzDer TagesspiegelNo picture documents the closing moments of George W. Bush's term better than the picture of him on the morning of September 11, 2001, at an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida. He was reading to the students when his cheif of staff whispered the disaster that was transpiring in New York. At this moment, only six months into his term, his Presidency was over. The article, written in German for the Berlin daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, is available for download below:
Foreign policy challenges for the Obama administrationJanuary 01, 2009 / John K. GlennSIEPS European Policy AnalysisThis European Policy Analysis reviews the foreign policy challenges for the new U.S. administration. President Barack Obama faces a formidable set of international challenges including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the prospect of a nuclear Iran, a resurgent Russia, and a short calendar for a new treaty on climate change. On each of these issues, Europeans have the potential to play a key role as allies. President Obama has called for the mending of relations with Europeans, but the ability of the United States and Europe to address these pressing foreign policy challenges will be constrained by the financial and economic crisis. This analysis will review the Obama administration's vision for foreign policy and analyze the major challenges on the foreign policy agenda, considering opportunities for U.S.-European engagement and looking ahead to prospects for the future.The EU is in urgent need of a foreign energy policyNovember 11, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichNeue Zürcher ZeitungThe EU is in urgent need of a Foreign Energy Policy. Without closer coordination within the EU, Moscow has more pull.The transatlantic marketplace and Obama: don’t be quick to celebrateNovember 03, 2008 / Joseph QuinlanSüddeutsche ZeitungIt's no secret that Europeans won't miss President Bush when he hands over the presidency to President-elect Barack Obama in January 2009. Because of the extremely unpopular, U.S.-led war in Iraq, the past eight years in transatlantic partnership have been tenuous, and the general impression is that the years following this administration can only improve.
Putin’s Great EmpireOctober 09, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichInternationale PolitikUnfortunately, the Russian Georgia war confirmed that, beyond the constitution and even as prime minister, Putin is still the political leader in Russia and will be so for some time. The war indicated more parallels to the expanding Russian empire of the 19th century than of the USSR after the Second World War when the Soviet Union's main interest in Europe was to consolidate the frontiers. Today's revisionistic Russia in contrast to the the static Soviet Union pursuits to newly revise its frontiers in the European Post Sovitic space. This is driven by an increasing Russian Neonationalism. Europe, in particular, is required to readjust its Russia policy to formulate a robust economic response.
New Plumbing, New Purposes – Rebuilding the Atlantic AllianceOctober 05, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichThe American Interest November/DecemberPrinciples in the pipeline: Managing transatlantic values and interests in Central AsiaOctober 01, 2008 / Alexander CooleyInternational AffairsAfter 9/11 the Central Asian states hosted coalition military bases and became important security partners for operations in Afghanistan. The rising price of oil and gas, coupled with a renewed western concern about its energy security, made the development and export of Central Asian production a much more pressing commercial and strategic priority for Brussels and Washington than it was in the 1990s. A region that was effectively ignored for over a decade has now become a vital area of transatlantic interest.
Climate Change and GeopoliticsOctober 01, 2008 / Michael WerzHeinrich Böll StiftungOne of the consequences of climate change is the dearth or excess of water. Both do not only present imminent danger to many human beings but also present a major threat to the global military balance. Global warming, for example, is of concern to the U.S. Navy at all coasts.Rue de la Loi: The Global Ambition of the European ProjectSeptember 20, 2008 / Michael WerzThe Stanley Foundation Working Paper Reaction by Robert CooperThe creation of the European Union — or what is often known as the European project — is a remarkable and ongoing experiment. It is the example par excellence of norm-building at home and, increasingly, the projection of those norms abroad. At its heart, European integration was and remains a Wilsonian project designed to ban the possibility of conflict through the application of the rule of law and norm-building on a transnational scale. The enforcement of such norms is the core of the European Union’s power. With its aim originally limited to banning conflict in Europe – and above all in the relationship between France and Germany – the EU today has since graduated to a much broader vision of both unifying the European continent as a whole and seeking to be a model and inspiration for a global order based on the rule of law and international norms.A balance of power askewSeptember 18, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffDie ZEITIt matters less than it used to what NATO promises new member states or candidate countries. Russia is no longer easily deterred. It's never been a secret that Russia objects to NATO enlargement, especially when it comes to countries bordering its own territory. Post-soviet Russia was initially poor and weak. Russia has since become rich, authoritarian, and has discovered new weapons in gas and oil. At the same time, America is overstretched.
Finding Out Truth about Georgian WarSeptember 17, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffRealClear WorldLast week Senator Hillary Clinton called for a congressional commission to investigate the origins of the Georgian war. It is the latest skirmish in an intellectual battle over how a little war in farway Georgia started and what it mean for US policy for years. There are clashing narratives of what happened and what it means.
Europeans and Americans: Why Europe prefers Obama to McCainSeptember 10, 2008 / Francois LafondAffari Internazionali2007-08 has been a time of changes and mutation. Sen. Barack Obama's trip to Europe gave us an appetizer of a potential new era of cooperation between U.S. and European countries. One cycle will end, but we still do not know who will be in charge of writing the new one. Data from the last seven years of Transatlantic Trends can help us understand where we are and perhaps where we are going.
Russia warms to the West no moreAugust 26, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffSüddeutsche ZeitungGerman policy vis a vis Russia needs to be rethought. There is no longer a basis for Germany's "Strategic Partnership" with Russia. The occupation of parts of Georgia is a game changer. In 1996, Chancellor Helmut Kohl offered the Russians a deal: Nato would allow the Central and Eastern European countries to join while Russia would be offered to gradually integrate into Western and global institutions. Germany would anker this common western policy. The argument was: Integration would make Russia safer and richer. The strategy has worked: Russia is safe and rich. Yet it is choosing a different path: it wants to be rich, authoritarian and a bully vis a vis its neighbors.NATO’s HourAugust 18, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffThe Wall Street Journal EuropeRussia's invasion of Georgia is a game changer. This war is part of a Russian strategy of roll-back and regime change on its borders. The more evidence that comes in, the clearer it is becoming that this is a conflict Moscow planned, prepared for and provoked -- a trap Tbilisi unfortunately walked into. A core Western assumption since 1991 -- that Moscow would never again invade its neighbors -- has been shattered. As Moscow basks in its moment of nationalistic triumphalism, the West needs to take steps to prevent further Russian moves from spreading instability to others parts of Europe.
Naive MiscalculationsAugust 15, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichFrankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungThe Russian military overreaction to Georgian occupation of Tskhinvali will change the German and European relationship with Russia. Europe's helplessness and America's inability to pose a military presence in the Caucasus represents a new geopolitical order in which Russia has yet again established the power to redraw the contours of Europe, going far beyond just its energy distribution power. Russia's agression offers an opportunity for Germany to develop a new Russia policy. Instead of Germany's special relationship with Russia, it seems as though closer cooperation with East European EU members and America could have greater success.
How the West Botched GeorgiaAugust 13, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichThe New RepublicThe guns around Tbilisi have now fallen silent. Efforts are underway to finalize a truce between Russia and Georgia to end Moscow's bloody invasion. It is time for the West to look in the mirror and ask: What went wrong? How did this disaster happen? Make no mistake. While this is first and foremost a disaster for the people and government of Georgia, it is also a disaster for the West--and for the U.S. in particular.
Politics beats economics, againJuly 30, 2008 / Jack ThurstonThe GuardianWhoever's to blame for the collapse of the Doha round, one thing's for sure ? we'll all have to live with the consequences.Obama’s European trip pays offJuly 25, 2008 / Michael WerzTages-AnzeigerGMF Transatlantic Fellow Michael Werz examines the odd choice by Obama to campaign for America's presidency from abroad and the success with which it was received by the people of Berlin. This interview is in German.La Europa balcánicaJuly 24, 2008 / Ivan VejvodaLa Razón DigitalIvan Vejvoda, Executive Director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, discusses the recent capture of former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. The article is written in Spanish.Groß ist die HoffnungJuly 23, 2008 / Stephen SzaboSueddeutsche ZeitungDr. Stephen Szabo, Executive Director of the Transatlantic Academy at the German Marshall Fund, discusses Senator Barack Obama's visit to Berlin, Germany and greater Europe. The article is written in German.EU-US scholar: Obama may not be the easy partner Europe hopes forJuly 23, 2008 / Francois LafondEurActive.comAmid their 'Obamania', Europeans tend to overlook that on certain issues like trade, a President Obama pressured by a Democrat-led Congress could be a more difficult partner in pushing for a common agenda, Francois Lafond of the German Marshall Fund told EurActiv in an interview.Merkel’s Ukraine Visit Signals Crucial ShiftJuly 21, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichRadio Free Europe - Radio LibertAngela Merkel's arrival in Kyiv marks the first visit to Ukraine by a German chancellor since the 2005 Orange Revolution brought a reformed, pro-Europe government to power. Her predecessor never found his way to Kyiv because he was worried by the grievances from Moscow that such a trip would have provoked. Merkel, though, gives less weight to Russia's concerns, even though they are expressed much more bluntly these days.We’re quick to damn the US but slow to see our own faultsJuly 20, 2008 / Constanze StelzenmuellerThe ObserverPresident Obama is finally coming to Europe! All right, the Americans haven't elected him ... yet. But that's a mere technicality as far as we're concerned. We made up our minds long ago: our President is Barack Obama.Democracy and a Piece of ClothingJuly 18, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffPostGlobal, Washington PostFrance has rejected a citizenship application from a burqa-wearing Moroccan woman on the grounds that she has "insufficiently assimilated" to French culture. Should cultural assimilation be a requirement for citizenshipA War The West Must StopJuly 15, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffThe Washington PostThere is war in the air between Georgia and Russia. Such a war could destabilize a region critical for Western energy supplies and ruin relations between Russia and the West. A conflict over Georgia could become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. How they respond could become a test of the potential commander-in-chief qualities of Barack Obama and John McCain.“America, this is our Moment” – Barack Obama writes historyJuly 01, 2008 / Michael WerzKommuneNothing has been decided as of yet with regard to the new occupant of the White House. Nevertheless major changes have happened in US society already. When Barack Obama declared himself Democratic candidate for the Presidency on June 3rd in front of 17,000 enthusiastic supporters in St. Paul, Minnesota, American history seemed to take place in fast motion. The nomination of the first black candidate for the highest office evoked three centuries of American history and at the same time documented the astonishing path this nation has taken.America must correct course: a conversation with Helmut SchmidtJuly 01, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-BrockhoffThe American InterestThomas Kleine-Brockhoff, the senior director for policy programs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, recently met with former German Finance Minister and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in his Hamburg office on behalf of The American Interest to discuss the United States and the world economy.
What We Can Learn From SwedenJune 21, 2008 / Bruce StokesNational JournalIn the early 1990s, Sweden experienced the worst financial crisis suffered by any industrial country since the Depression. The Swedish banking collapse wiped out fortunes, cost taxpayers a staggering amount of money, and may have permanently reduced the country’s standard of living. Thus, as Washington watches Wall Street’s slow-motion meltdown, Stockholm may have much to teach the next president about weathering banking tsunamis.
U.S. Needs Alliance With EuropeJune 18, 2008 / Jack MartinThe Wichita EagleAs President Bush made his farewell tour of Europe, one could almost be forgiven for thinking the continent had become an afterthought for the United States. Yet such a view would ignore the fact that a strong trans-Atlantic alliance is needed now more than ever, as America shares many more values, challenges and goals with the democracies of Europe than with any other nations.
Merkel in der Moskau-Falle (“Merkel in the Russia trap”)June 05, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichDer SpiegelThe cordial meeting between Merkel and the new Russian President Medvedev on his first trip to the West might indicate a change of style of Russia's foreign policy, but not its essence. The slalom course of Merkel and Steinmeier bears the risk for Germany to become isolated in Europe in its Russia and "Ostpolitik," Jörg Himmelreich warns. This article is written in German.
Get involved over Georgia or invite a warJune 03, 2008 / Jörg HimmelreichFinancial TimesThe west could be sleepwalking into a war on the European continent. Georgia, which burst into view with a moving display of democratic ambition during the Rose Revolution of 2003, is teetering on the brink of war with Russia over the separatist Georgian enclave of Abkhazia. The outcome of this crisis will help determine the rules of the post-cold-war security system. But western diplomats are notsending strong enough signals to either side.
The Dalai ObamaJune 03, 2008 / Constanze StelzenmuellerSüddeutsche ZeitungBarack Obama drums up admiration in Germany as only the Dalai Lama can do, but the end of this euphoria is foreseeable. As America chooses, the world looks on. The next man at the helm of America will determine global politics like none other. In this sense, won't he in fact become the world's President? He's pretty much there, at least that's so far the case in Germany.
Turkey, Closer to the U.S. than EuropeJune 01, 2008 / Michael WerzHeinrich Böll StiftungIf you compare the geographical distances from Ankara, Los Angeles is 11,000 Kilometers removed, whereas Berlin is a mere one-fifth of that distance. This proximity Germany and Turkey should offer great opportunities to each other's societies. But if one compares the political debates vis-à-vis Turkey in Germany and the United States, the relationship of distance and proximity reverses itself. (Written in German)
A counterrevolutionaryMay 01, 2008 / Michael WerzKommuneAs the Democratic nomination of a presidential candidate captivates the United States, the Republican race is already settled. But the headstrong outsider John McCain is still being identified with the unpopular President George Bush. And many of his political positions have not yet been clarified and he has a number of foes in his own party. Will he be able to unite the disparate parts of the party? This article is written in German. The Schism Between Washington and BerlinApril 25, 2008 / Michael WerzFrankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungWhat happened at the NATO Summit in Bucharest is gradually becoming clear. This summit was the most dramatic since Madrid 11 years ago, and, if it becomes dramatic, it could either be a success or not matter whatsoever. A dramatic debate can lead to something new or lead to an uncertain stillstand. In Bucharest it was probably the latter. (This article is written in German)
The End of the End of HistoryApril 22, 2008 / Robert KaganThe New RepublicGMF Transatlantic Fellow Robert Kagan gives five reasons as to why the twenty-first century will look like the nineteenth.
“Preventing the next Cold War” revisitedApril 21, 2008 / Andrew SmallDe Volkskrant
The war in Iraq may yet prove to have one lasting and little-noticed benefit: reducing the threat of a new cold war between the United States and China. The weakening of the U.S. global power position that the war induced has led officials in the second Bush administration to turn again and again to seek the support of the country that they labeled a strategic competitor only a few years earlier.
India’s relations with Iran and Myanmar: “Rogue state” or responsible democratic stakeholder?April 10, 2008 / Daniel TwiningIndia ReviewWhat kind of great power will India become as it rises in the twenty-first century? Indian foreign policy today embodies the contradictions and ambiguities stemming from India's ongoing evolution from a nonaligned, developing nation into one of the world's most powerful democracies. Rethinking NATO Partnerships for the 21st CenturyApril 01, 2008 / Daniel TwiningNATO ReviewSecurity threats today are globalised and non-traditional. It’s time for NATO’s partnerships to follow suit.
Supping at the WTO’s Last Chance SaloonMarch 27, 2008 / Daniel TwiningEuropean Voice, Editorial & OpinionThe global credit squeeze has made the world's economics ministers understandably jittery. But the crisis unfolding over world trade is far more serious. With the Doha Round of talks at the WTO at a standstill, now the unthinkable could happen. The global trading system may be abandoned.The Copenhagen Consensus: Reading Adam Smith in DenmarkMarch 01, 2008 / Daniel TwiningForeign Affairs, March/April 2008Atlantic Faces InterviewFebruary 18, 2008 / Daniel TwiningAtlantic-Community.org: Atlantic Faces InterviewGMF provides me with the unique opportunity to work on these issues in partnership with other top-notch institutions in the US and Europe. I am convinced that fostering these networks of transatlantic thinkers and opinion-makers not only strengthens the relationship between the US and Europe in general, but also provides intellectual input outside the realm of government that can avert conflict and in turn inform policy decisions.
German voters peek through the looking glassJanuary 25, 2008 / Constanze StelzenmuellerFinancial TimesThe incumbent campaigning for re-election in this weekend's German election is one of his party's heavyweights, an ambitious and confident bruiser with a talent for scorching populist rhetoric. His challenger is a woman, a diffident speaker in a party with few women in top leadership positions; her peers would mostly have preferred another man as their candidate. It seemed an easy win for the incumbent. Now, polls show the race is too close to call.
The Baltic ModelJanuary 16, 2008 / Constanze StelzenmuellerWall Street JournalIt is difficult to recall today the West's hostility in the early 1990s toward Baltic membership in NATO and the European Union. At a time when even embracing Poland was controversial, the aspirations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were considered nutty if not outright dangerous. Moscow's reaction was even worse.Europe’s Philosophy of FailureJanuary 04, 2008 / Stefan TheilForeign Policy; Financial TimesWhat a country teaches its young people reflects its bedrock national beliefs. Schools hand down a society's historical narrative to the next generation. There has been a great deal of debate over the ways in which this historical ideology is passed on - Japanese textbooks that downplay the Nanjing Massacre, Palestinian textbooks that feature maps without Israel, and new Russian guidelines that require teachers to portray Stalinism more favorably. Yet there has been almost no analysis of how countries teach economics, a subject equally crucial in shaping foreign and domestic policies.ACPs and EPAs: where’s the beef?January 03, 2008 / Stefan TheilTrade Negotiations InsightsNow that the Doha round appears to be stirring back to life, some of the world's poorest countries should be looking to multilateralism to protect their interests with a renewed sense of urgency.Is our aid making us safer?January 02, 2008 / Jim KolbeBaltimore SunIt is increasingly apparent that our aid - and trade - policies are not really supporting economic growth in impoverished countries. Nor are they enhancing our own security.The U.S. Factor in Sino-European RelationsDecember 01, 2007 / Andrew SmallChina-EU: A Common Future
For Europe and China alike, the most important bilateral relationship is with the United States. Although often described as a ‘strategic triangle’, neither the Chinese impact on the transatlantic relationship nor Europe’s role in the Sino-US relationship is remotely comparable to the significance of the United States for the Sino-European relationship.Is There A West?October 30, 2007 / Stephen SzaboThe GlobalistGlobalization has meant that a global public is emerging through the vast expansion of the mass media. Genocide cannot occur unnoticed for long. Human rights are now a rationale for the intervention into what used to be the internal affairs of sovereign states.
The NATO intervention into Kosovo established the principle of limited sovereignty - and this was done without a UN mandate. As former British Prime Minister Tony Blair stated in a speech he gave in Chicago in 1999 during the Kosovo conflict, the Kosovo intervention was a "just war" because it was not based on any territorial ambitions - but rather upon values.
Saying Yes to FranceOctober 29, 2007 / Stephen SzaboThe Washington PostFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy has indicated his willingness to bring France back into NATO. It is an offer the United States should not refuse. Earlier in my career, I was a hard-liner on France and NATO. In fact, when I stepped down from the State Department in 2000, the French ambassador to Washington was so relieved he toasted my departure at a European Union ambassadors' lunch because of my dogged pursuit of U.S. interests.Border WarsSeptember 01, 2007 / Philippe LegrainWorthDoes immigration reform dig a gigantic money pit, or does it open the floodgates of fiscal opportunity? Counterpoint to article by Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation.
Does Joining the EU Strengthen Central and Eastern Europe’s Transatlantic Ties?August 01, 2007 / Philippe LegrainCQ Global ResearcherAt the end of the Cold War, a new map of Europe began to emerge from the rubble of the Berlin Wall. Successive U.S. administrations have sought to create a new Europe that was peaceful, democratic and undivided.End of Dreams, Return of HistoryJuly 18, 2007 / Robert KaganHoover Institute Policy ReviewThe world has become normal again. The years immediately following the end of the Cold War offered a tantalizing glimpse at a new kind of international order, with nations growing together or disappearing altogether, ideological conflicts melting away, cultures intermingling through increasingly free commerce and communications.Foreign Fathers: The Idea of the Marshall Plan is still in EffectJuly 08, 2007 / Jörg HimmelreichFrankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungThe Marshall Plan was introduced sixty years ago. On June 5th, 1947, then American Foreign Minister General George Catlett Marshall announced in a speech at Harvard University the plan for an American help program for the reconstruction of the destroyed European economy, a program which from then on would bear his name. This article is available in English and original German.
In Favour of a Selective PartnershipJuly 01, 2007 / Jörg HimmelreichDie Berliner RepublikGermany plays a specific role for Russia and vice versa. It is apparently no coincidence that the German chancellor and the Russian President communicate in Russian and German - after all German-Russian relations have always been complex and changeable. Mutual fear and admiration, phobic defensiveness and empathetic fondness have characterized the situation on both sides - not merely in recent times, but always.
No Wishful Thinking helps against Putin’s Power PoliticsMay 19, 2007 / Jörg HimmelreichWelt am SonntagThe EU-Russia summit in Samara came to an end without any tangible results and indicates a low point in Russian-European relations. There is and will not be a new Cold War, but the peace is becoming cooler.Putin shatters the European illusionMay 18, 2007 / Jörg HimmelreichDie WeltThe EU-Russia Summit in Samara came to and end without tangible results. It indicates a continuing low point in Russian-European relations, which are steadily getting worse. Moscow has found itself wrapped up in its present energy power, the primary campaign of the elections in the Duma in December, and the presidential election next March. Russia is once again a presence on the world's stage and wants everyone to know. This article is available in its original German.
Germany has been celebrating Europe's 50th birthday, and itself: Hooray, we're a normal country again, with a normal foreign policy! Indeed, Germany has come a long way in this half century. And Angela Merkel has done much to reestablish it in its old role as a balancer and mediator in Europe, as well as within the transatlantic relationship.
Can the Development Agenda Save the Doha Round?April 01, 2007 / Constanze StelzenmuellerBRIDGES Monthly ReviewWhile it is frequently bemoaned that designating the Doha Round as a 'development round' has made the negotiations more difficult, the designation may offer the only solution to the larger questions of legitimacy and credibility facing the WTO and the global trade regime.War or PeaceMarch 27, 2007 / Constanze StelzenmuellerFinancial Times DeutschlandGermany wants to be a "normal" country, with a "normal" foreign policy. But recent debates on the use of force in Afghanistan and on missile defence in Europe are anything but. Article in original German.
The critics were wrong when they opposed adding nations to the alliance in the 1990s, and they are still wrong. In fact, the more time that passes, the better the arguments in favor of enlargement look. There were basically three reasons for expanding NATO, and each has been proved right.
NATO must go global to have a meaningful purposeFebruary 06, 2007 / Jörg HimmelreichFinancial TimesWhen western security experts gather this weekend in Munich to discuss the future of Nato at their annual security conference, they will be considering an Atlantic alliance that faces two rather stark choices: re-reinvent itself to handle the threats of a new century, or watch itself drift slowly into strategic marginalisation.Don’t Blame the Unit of AccountFebruary 05, 2007 / Jonathan M. WhiteWallstreet JournalOn Jan. 1, the fifth anniversary of the introduction of euro notes and coins, Slovenia became the currency club's 13th member. Recent opinion polls, though, show that a majority of citizens in the larger euro-zone countries don't feel like celebrating.
Why We Need A New Transatlantic OstpolitikFebruary 01, 2007 / Jonathan M. WhiteDie ZeitIt is time for a debate across the Atlantic about a new Eastern policy. The Russia we face today is a different one than what we hoped for. EU and NATO policy toward an enlarged Europe's new neighborhood needs to be rethought. And the United States and Europe need to get their act together on energy policy. With leadership changes coming up in Paris, London and Washington, the time is ripe to get out our laptops and debate the framework for a new policy. Strategies instead of blindfoldsJanuary 15, 2007 / Tanja WunderlichDas ParlamentIt was suddenly as if a catalepsy had dissolved. On January 1, 2005, Germany's new immigration law was passed. It was just as much a rejection of the native multiculturalism of earlier years as it was a heated, populist warning of terrorist infiltration. (Article in German)Europe in the Era of GazpromJanuary 12, 2007 / Jörg HimmelreichDer TagesspiegelThe EU-Commission's "Strategic Energy Report" contains many feasible suggestions for improving competition conditions within the European energy market, promoting environmental protection, as well as developing renewable energy. These objectives provide, without a doubt, indispensable elements of a common European energy policy considered essential in order to protect the survival of the human race on our planet.
Strong response to Putin’s Russia overdueJanuary 09, 2007 / Robin ShepherdFinancial TimesAs Russia and Belarus sought to blame each other on Monday over the suspension of oil supplies through the northern leg of the Druzhba oil pipeline to Poland and Germany, Europe might well have paused to take stock of its own share of responsibility for the latest threat to its energy security.
Germany and Europe: New Deal or Déjà Vu?December 14, 2006 / Ulrike GuérotNotre EuropeThe Weimar Triangle – Improvements in the German-Polish RelationshipDecember 07, 2006 / Jörg HimmelreichDziennikThe meeting of President Chirac, Chancellor Merkel and President Kaczynski in western Germany was a success particularly for the German-Polish relationship. This article, written in German and translated to English here, appeared in the Polish Dzennik.The Whirlwind Angie-George WaltzNovember 01, 2006 / Jörg HimmelreichAtlanticChancellor Angela Merkel and President George W. Bush seem to get along splendidly. But the German public remains critical of the U.S., and will be watching closely to see who is leading whom.Germany’s Russia Policy Following the Murder of Anna PolitkovskayaOctober 16, 2006 / Jörg HimmelreichDziennikPresident Putin's recent visit to Germany was overshadowed by the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya of just a few days before. In the subsequent press conference, after only a few opening remarks, Chancellor Merkel demanded an explanation for the killing. Putin's cynical assertion that the murderous act damaged Russia more than the supposedly unimportant work of the journalist horrified the German media. At state visits in Dresden and Munich, German protesters waved banners depicting President Putin as a murderer.
Analysis: Eastern Europe ready for euro?August 03, 2006 / Robin ShepherdUnited Press InternationalAn old Chinese proverb has it that we should be careful what we wish for. As the European Union's new accession countries from the former communist world scramble to drop their national currencies for the euro without even the semblance of a debate about the potential risks, it is a warning they might want to bear in mind.Towards a Better DealAugust 01, 2006 / Ann TutwilerGlobal Subsidies Intiative, Sudsidy Watch, Issue 3The crash of the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks was greeted with muted cheers by some protected farmers in wealthy countries, some even buying new tractors to celebrate yet another failure to produce a more efficient and just global marketplace.A Question of Destiny in the 21st CenturyJuly 14, 2006 / Jörg HimmelreichDie WeltThe main topic of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg will be the question of energy security. How can the peaceful worldwide distribution of nonrenewable energy resources, such as oil and natural gas, be secured? The answer to this question will decisively shape the global order of the 21st century. (In original German and English translation)World Cup: Germany wins – just not the CupJuly 07, 2006 / Constanze StelzenmuellerInternational Herald TribuneSo we lost the World Cup. But we Germans seem to be coming out as winners in all sorts of other odd ways.Slovakia sets extremist challenge for EuropeJuly 07, 2006 / Robin ShepherdThe Financial TimesThe European Union was presented with another serious challenge to its ability to contain hardline nationalism this week with the inclusion in the government of new member state Slovakia of a key party with rabidly xenophobic views and a nostalgic attitude to that country's pro-Nazi wartime government.E.U.’s Reforms Similar to Trends Seen in U.S. Agriculture PolicyJuly 01, 2006 / Ilene GrossmanStateline ExpressEuropean agriculture policy is undergoing a transformation. In 2003, wide-ranging changes began to take Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in a direction that tied government payments less to production and focused more on rural development and environmental initiatives.
Trading UpJune 26, 2006 / Ann TutwilerThe New York TimesAfter protests, walk-outs, missed deadlines and deadlock, trade negotiators in Geneva have been moving toward a deal on agricultural subsidies and tariffs that could clear the way for a world trade agreement.The reform of the IMF: the tree which hides the forestMay 09, 2006 / Benoît ChervalierThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) faces an identity crisis. Many member governments feel that the IMF is not responsive to their needs and that they lack the voice and vote, in other words, the influence, to bring about the institution.Europe in a Pause for ThoughtMay 01, 2006 / Ulrike GuérotKulturaustauschSince the French and Dutch voted against a European Constitution, Europe has found itself in an identity crisis, euphemistically referred to as an "opportunity for reflection."The Third Way to LisbonMarch 21, 2006 / Ulrike GuérotWall Street JournalThe European Union is facing a crisis of historic proportions. Its infamous social model is failing as new trends in the industrialized world -- globalization, ageing, and rapid technological change -- threaten to permanently destroy the European way of life.Next Step for NATOMarch 14, 2006 / Richard HolbrookeThe Washington PostIn the new global security environment, NATO has to address the gravest threats to its members’ collective security.The Touch, and Clout, of Merkel and RiceFebruary 28, 2006 / Ulrike Guérot, Marta DassùFinancial TimesIs there a female touch at work in foreign policy? Most powerful women would probably deny this and consider the hypothesis thinly veiled discrimination. And yet, meeting in Berlin for an Aspen Conference, we decided to speculate a bit.Background paper: Merkel’s Foreign PolicyFebruary 24, 2006 / Ulrike GuérotDelivered at "Transatlantic Dialogue," hosted in Berlin by Aspen Institute Italy, February 24 and 25, 2006.Much to everyone’s surprise, the new Chancellor Angela Merkel had a glorious start in foreign policy. Within only a couple of weeks, she smoothed out the formerly strained relations with the U.SContain Iran: Admit Israel to NATOFebruary 21, 2006 / Ulrike GuérotThe Washington PostThe choice of how to respond to Iran’s growing threat to the West in general and Israel in particular is not an easy one.The European Union Between Interests and IdentityFebruary 17, 2006 / Ulrike GuérotSpeech, Cultural Politics Convention Evangelical Academy, Loccum, GermanyThe grand coalition that has been the outcome of the indecisive election has left the waiting world perplexed. Germany’s future foreign policy choices will probably now be much less spectacular that some had hoped for. We’ll see more shadowy grey areas than we will U-turns, more continuity with the past than stark black-and-white choices. Perhaps we’ll also see a Germany that has even less energy now to devote to foreign policy.
Looking for a Stability Pact for the Southern CaucususFebruary 09, 2006 / Jörg HimmelreichNeue Züricher ZeitungGermany is heavily engaged in Georgia. At the same time, Germany does not have a comprehensive foreign policy in the Southern Caucasus.Becoming sober again; To Romanticize or Destruct: Germany has yet to find a realistic relationship with RussiaJanuary 15, 2006 / Jörg HimmelreichDer TagesspiegelDuring centuries of a shared past with a large variety of ties, Germans have sometimes had romanticized notions of Russia as a mythical place spared from modernity’s troubles. Instead of this misplaced German sentimentality, Germany should act upon sobriety, common sense, and rationality when dealing with Russia.Mother mercantilismJanuary 01, 2006 / Jack ThurstonProspect Magazine
To leaven the mood at the opening session of the WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong in mid-December, Pascal Lamy, the WTO’s newly installed director general, pulled a magic wand from his breast pocket. Progress has been so slow and the main protagonists dug in to such seemingly irreconcilable positions that Lamy, who has the unenviable task of brokering a final deal, could be forgiven for resorting to sorcery.
But if he had been looking for a prop to sum up the overall mood of the delegates and observers arriving in Hong Kong, Lamy might well have brandished a stethoscope. After the acrimonious walkout by developing countries at the last summit in Cancún in 2003, the main objective for the WTO this time around was survival. The diminishing of expectations to such a low level was profoundly depressing, particularly in a year when the British government threw the weight of its twin presidencies of the G8 and the EU behind the trade justice movement.
The good news is that the WTO did survive Hong Kong, and its 149 members agreed a text which includes a small measure of progress towards a final deal. The new text is less than spectacular, but everyone agreed to keep talking, and to hold a Hong Kong 2 in Geneva in the spring. The bad news is that there is an enormous amount still to do, and not much time in which to do it.
The EU delegation came to Hong Kong expecting the worst. In the late summer "bra wars," Peter Mandelson had flunked his first major test as EU trade commissioner, and over the months that followed, the US consistently outmanoeuvred the EU in the build-up to Hong Kong. If America's multibillion-dollar cotton subsidies, so crippling to poor west African farmers, had made the US the villain at Cancún, it did not seem impossible that fortress Europe would carry the can for a potentially fatal breakdown at Hong Kong. This is because progress in agriculture, the sector of the world economy most heavily distorted by trade barriers and most important to developing countries, has become the prerequisite for progress in other areas like manufactured goods and services. Brazil, the world’s most competitive agricultural exporter and leader of the powerful G20 grouping of developing countries, recently turned its fire away from US cotton, corn and soybean subsidies and towards Europe’s farm tariffs.
Mandelson’s negotiating position has not been helped by a French government whose leaders – from President Chirac down – seem to relish the chance to strut on the world stage and belittle EU institutions by threatening to veto any trade deal which might require shaving a little of the fat from Europe’s bloated farm subsidy programmes. US negotiators face exactly the same kind of opposition from an increasingly protectionist congress, but the difference is that for the most part congress has had the good grace to refrain from using the handcuffs in such a public manner.
Facing isolation, Mandelson’s strategy in the early exchanges at Hong Kong was to go on the offensive. To the point of obsession, he criticised US "food aid" (see "Aid-dumping," Prospect July 2005), arguing that it serves the narrow interests of American farmers and aid charities more than the needs of the world's hungry. In a more subtle and effective move, he challenged the US, Japan and middle-income countries, including Brazil, to match the EU’s unilateral move to completely open its markets to the 50 least developed countries for all products other than armaments. Economists tell us that the benefits of trade liberalisation always outweigh the costs. While this may be the case as far as economics is concerned, with politics the reverse is closer to the truth.
When Germany takes over the EU presidency in the first half of 2007, it must be clear where Europe is heading. The tracks for the direction of the EU have to be switched now -- even if the EU gives a rather disoriented impression at the moment. This critical analysis of the current state of the European project sketches out what a European vision for the 21st century could be -- that of an outgoing and active Europe that plays a formative role in world politics.
Energy by all meansDecember 28, 2005 / Jörg HimmelreichDer TagesspiegelGerhard Schröder takes a job on Gazprom's Baltic pipeline — this news raises an ethics question for retired politicians. It also raises another, more important, question: does this pipeline really serve Germany’s geopolitical interests?
Why Europe deserves a better farm policyDecember 02, 2005 / Jack ThurstonCentre for European ReformThe prospects for radical CAP reform look bleak. At the time of writing (December 2005) neither the arguments over the EU budget nor pressure from major farm exporters at the world trade negotiations look likely to force the EU to reform. The resistance to change is too strong.Tough on TradeDecember 01, 2005 / Jack ThurstonProspect MagazineIt ought to be good news that the current round of WTO trade negotiations is finally getting serious. The world needs an example of international cooperation to cheer about.Enjeux globaux, peurs nationalesDecember 01, 2005 / Benoît ChervalierL'Organisation mondiale du Commerce (OMC) est-elle en mesure de réussir son cycle de négociation?A Sensational CoupNovember 23, 2005 / Benoît ChervalierFinancial Times DeutschlandInstead of enlarging the Security Council, EU members should agree on two instead of three non-permanent seats. The open seat could be assigned to the group of Asia and Africa, showing Europe’s willingness for just representation. Without any additional changes to the UN Charta necessary, this proposition could be more easily adopted than other reform proposals.Geographical Indications (GIs): Squaring the Doha Round circleOctober 28, 2005 / Stephanie HenningAgra EuropeThe European Union has a political need to deliver on the GI issue during World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks to prove that there is a future for European farmers in high-quality, niche agriculture.
Winds of ChangeOctober 13, 2005 / John AudleyWallstreet Journal EuropeConfronted by strong political winds in the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes and gusts of hot air blowing off Capitol Hill, the Bush administration still has signaled the right message on global trade negotiations: Breaking the deadlock in the WTO’s Doha round of talks begins by taking initial steps to reform U.S. farm policy.Merkel’s coalition will be lucky to survive two yearsOctober 11, 2005 / Constanze StelzenmuellerFinancial TimesGermans heaved a collective sigh of relief on Monday when they heard that the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats had finally cut a deal to form a grand coalition government, to be headed by Angela Merkel. Germans do not much like uncertainty, and they certainly do not like it in their politics. After three weeks of wrangling following the inconclusive September 18 poll, it seemed any news would be good news. But just how good is it, and for whom?Come sarà la nuova politica estera di Angela Merkel?October 10, 2005 / Ulrike GuérotFocus, Aspen Institute ItaliaAs Germany is a core country in the middle of Europe, the anticipated general elections caused a lot of expectations on a new government that won’t be constituted until November. Yet, it is sure that Angela Merkel will lead a grand coalition, and it is essential for foreign observers to know what her foreign policy could be. This article analyzes likely changes in German policy under a chancellor Merkel and tries to show what realistic expectations can be made.Why Europe Will Run the 21st CenturySeptember 13, 2005 / Mark LeonardAfter launching in Europe earlier this year, Mark Leonard's Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century will be released for an American audience on September 13. Leonard wrote the book while serving as a Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund in Washington, DC, and in it describes the European Union’s strength as a “transformative power.”Merkel’s New Foreign Policy: What, if Anything, Will Change?September 08, 2005 / Ulrike GuérotAmerican Institute for Contemporary German StudiesIf Angela Merkel is elected and put in the position to run a governmental coalition together with the liberals (FDP) – the only coalition that would allow real change in foreign policy – some things in German European and foreign policy may indeed change.
Leidenschaftslose 51 GradSeptember 07, 2005 / Constanze StelzenmuellerFinancial Times DeutschlandDistanz zu den USA, Skepsis gegenüber Ankara: Was die Deutschen über die Außenpolitik denken, bestimmt auch den Spielraum der nächsten Regierung.
America must make democracy a global causeSeptember 07, 2005 / Craig KennedyFinancial TimesPresident George W. Bush, in his second term inaugural speech, placed the promotion of democracy at the centre of the American foreign policy agenda. A recent GMF poll shows both Europeans and Americans supportive of democracy promotion.The EU Can Continue to Unite Without a ConstitutionAugust 01, 2005 / Ulrike GuérotEuropean AffairsNeither Albania nor Turkey will join the European Union if, when the time comes, the EU Presidency is still rotating among member governments, with each one taking a six-month stint at the reins. Either the European Union gets a constitution that streamlines its institutions, thereby abolishing the rotating presidency, or none of the long list of aspiring member countries is likely to enter the Union in the foreseeable future.Rethinking the EU: Why Washington Needs to Support European IntegrationAugust 01, 2005 / Ulrike GuérotSurvival; vol. 47, no. 3; Autumn 2005; pp. 93?102It is time for the United States to rethink its policy toward the European Union and European integration more broadly. The challenges of the twenty-first century and America’s changing priorities and strategic needs are making the United State more rather than less dependent on the EU and its success.Aid, not TradeJuly 01, 2005 / Jack ThurstonProspect MagazineDespite the French “no” vote, the Franco-German relationship remains strategic, primordial, and essential for Europe. Nothing will happen without or against France, Germany, or the two combined. All things considered, however, the relationship needs more cooperation. Both countries are perceived as anti-liberal, anti-enlargement, and anti-American, and they both share the blame for this. Germany has forgotten certain key elements of its European policy, and France over-promoted the idea of European-American counterpoise. Now Germany finds itself in a difficult balance — trying to help France find its way in the newly enlarged Europe without being pulled into France’s shrinking refuge. This new, larger Europe needs the Franco-German relationship to expand its perception and enlarge itself, helping to organize the Europe of tomorrow, not yesterday’s small Europe of Charlemagne.
The Shared Farm Policy Agenda in Brussels and WashingtonMay 27, 2005 / Jack ThurstonAgra EuropeEU-US policy dialogue on farming and food policy rarely rises much beyond a ‘blame game’ in which each side accuses the other of being the worst offender in terms of subsidies, tariffs or discriminatory use of food safety regulations. But with ever-growing internal pressures as well as new international challenges, now is the time to begin a constructive transatlantic dialogue on the future evolution of agriculture policy.