Articles by: "Carl Bildt"
The West’s crisis of confidence

In an age defined by US President Donald Trump’s rage, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s revisionism and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s unbridled ambition, the international order is becoming increasingly disorderly, dysfunctional and even dangerous. How did …

Putin’s pyrrhic victory

Vladimir Putin’s re-election to a fourth term as Russia’s president was a foregone conclusion. The Kremlin undoubtedly orchestrated ballot-box stuffing and other measures to ensure that Putin received at least 70% of the vote across …

European security in the Trump era

At last year’s Munich Security Conference, the mood of fear and apprehension among European security officials was palpable. Three years earlier, Russia had annexed Crimea and launched incursions into Eastern Ukraine. And in the previous …

Securing the digital transition

Every year, the World Economic Forum publishes a Global Risks Report, which distills the views of experts and policymakers from around the world. This year, cybersecurity is high on the list of global concerns, as …

Can Europe sustain the Macron moment?

At the start of 2017, many feared that the European project would experience a near-breakdown within the next year. The United Kingdom had decided to leave the European Union, the United States had elected a …

The Pandora’s box of the digital age

Is the world sliding dangerously towards cyber Armageddon? Let us hope not; but let us also apprehend the threat, and focus on what to do about it. One country after another has begun exploring options …

The only way forward on North Korea

Could the world soon witness another devastating war on the Korean peninsula? That question looms large in many conversations these days. Of course, concerns about the North Korean regime’s nuclear-weapons program are nothing new. The …

Redefining Europe, and Europeans

Traveling through Germany in the run-up to its federal election on 24 September, one cannot help but be struck by the lingering signs of profound trauma from the 2015 refugee crisis. Suddenly and virtually without …

The wrong way to prevent nuclear war

A vast majority of countries want to eliminate the existential threat of nuclear catastrophe, and rightly so. But achieving a world free of nuclear weapons is easier said than done, and there is a risk …

Turkey’s year of turmoil

It has been one year since the failed coup in Turkey, and questions about the country’s future still abound. Last year’s attempted coup was nothing if not dramatic. Mutinous F-16 fighters bombed the Turkish parliament, …

Keeping the Balkan ghosts at bay

European Union leaders have suddenly awoken to new realities in the Balkans. At a recent summit, they emphasised the need for increased EU engagement to maintain stability—and to push back against Russian influence—in the region. …

Russia’s imperial instinct

Russia is once again at the center of policy debates in many Western capitals. And for the third time in a row, a new US president will start his administration with ambitions to improve bilateral …