I am pleased to introduce the second edition of The State of the Transatlantic World. As with last year’s edition, we have assembled essays from a number of current and former fellows of the Transatlantic Academy to offer their insights on significant developments in transatlantic relations over the past year and offer some glimpses on what to expect in the year to come. Over the next couple of weeks, we will highlight one essay each day on our website. We will publish the reflections as a unified volume in February. Last year, the focus was on the impact of the Edward Snowden revelations, especially on the German-U.S. relationship and the challenge to the transatlantic community posed by the excesses of a burgeoning national security state in the United States. The so-called Pacific pivot of the Obama administration was also a central topic, as were the problems of democracy and governability in Europe and the United States. Developments in Turkey and in the field of energy and natural resources also received a lot of attention.

In contrast, the year which just ended, 2014, was dominated by Russia’s actions in Ukraine and their implications for the post-Cold War European order. Essays by James Goldgeier, Hanns Maull, Kateryna Pishchikova, Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, and Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard, which will be appearing this week, focus on the complex of issues surrounding this geopolitical earthquake. Beyond this week are considerations by Christina Lin on NATO, Nathalie Tocci on the revival of Italy’s foreign policy role, Bartlomiej E. Nowak on Polish foreign policy, Geoffrey Kemp and Michael Bell on the Middle East, as well as Michael Leigh on the United Kingdom and the possibilities of “Brexit” from the European Union, Thomas Straubhaar on the eurozone, Martin Jacques on the continued rise of China, and a pair of considerations on where Turkey is heading by Juliette Tolay and Kemal Kirişci, among other reflections.

Running through all these essays are questions for Western leadership. The United States, for a variety of both domestic and international reasons, will not play the role in this new Europe that it did in the postwar era. With a new set of leaders and faltering economies, Europe will now have to step up and take on more responsibility while maintaining the cohesion it has shown so far in its response to Putin’s challenge. These essays, we hope, will prove stimulating, and we welcome your comments.

The State of the Transatlantic World
Russia and the West: Looking Ahead - James Goldgeier
Crisis in Eastern Europe: Will the Transatlantic Alliance Be Up to the Challenge? - Hanns W. Maull
The State of the Crisis in Ukraine - Kateryna Pishchikova
Germany’s Learning Curve: Transiting from Restraint to Responsibility - Klaus Dieter Frankenberger
Galapagos Europe - Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard
The EU: Made in Britain - Sir Michael Leigh
Italy’s Foreign Policy Activism: The Quest for Sustainability - Nathalie Tocci
A Dangerous and Bloody 2014 in the Middle East - Geoffrey Kemp
Consociationalism: The Last Best Hope for the Middle East? - Michael Bell
Russia, the Islamic State, and Emerging Non-Traditional Security Challenges for NATO - Christina Lin
Canada in the Transatlantic World - David Cameron
Polish Foreign Policy: End of the “Golden Years” - Bartlomiej E. Nowak
An Illiberal Polity in the Euro-Atlantic World: Lessons from Hungary’s Backsliding - Gábor Halmai
No Solidarity? Growing Refugee Inflows and the Need for EU Asylum Policy Reforms - Steffen Angenendt
China’s Rise Continues - Martin Jacques
At Last, a European Energy Union? - Tim Boersma
Climate & Energy Politics: Brussels & Washington on the Road to Paris - Stacy D. VanDeveer
Self-Inflicted Wounds: The War on Terror’s Continuing Toll on Liberal Values - Clifford Bob
The Islamic State, Saudi Arabia, and the Recurrent Purification Impulse in the Arab World - Janice Stein
The Growing Transatlantic Divide on Israel - Michael Barnett
The Islamic State Group and the Tragedy of the Yazidis - Pavol Demeš
Turkey and the European Union: Cooperating on Asylum and Migration, For All the Wrong Reasons - Juliette Tolay
Turkey and the Euro-Atlantic Community: Turbulence and Ties of Interest - Kemal Kirisci 
The Eurozone in 2014: Some Improvements, but More Must Be Done - Thomas Straubhaar