The geopolitical story of the last few years has featured Western democracies’ gradual awakening to the realities of an increasingly ambitious and authoritarian China. European countries have gone from competing with each other to be …
Articles by: "Mark Leonard"
The images of desperate Afghans scaling the perimeter fence at Kabul’s airport in an attempt to flee Taliban rule provide a heartbreaking record of our geopolitical moment. The brutal way in which the West’s former …
As Germany prepares for its federal elections in September, many are wondering what will come next. Under outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has become an ‘indispensable nation’ in Europe and within the broader rules-based international …
In the last 50 years, Germany has experienced three miracles. The one-time sick man of Europe became an Exportweltmeister (export world champion). It also overcame its past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung). And it built a political and economic …
Some months ago, Chinese authorities approached some of the biggest foreign companies in the country and asked them to tap a representative to participate in a small closed-door gathering on China’s new economic strategy. The …
Decades after the Cold War, Russia remains the perfect enemy, with an unmatched ability to agitate Europe’s political class. But the intensity of European debates and emotions regarding Russia masks a growing unity that should …
The United States is suffering from a double crisis. Headlines in recent months have focused mainly on America’s crisis of democracy, but its crisis of global power may turn out to be more consequential in …
Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election has been met with a wave of relief across Europe, where many feared that a second term for Donald Trump would have threatened the very survival of …
The images were touching. In early October, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin with his Israeli and Emirati counterparts. How better to celebrate the recent normalisation of relations between Israel …
Covid-19 has made a mockery of the world’s great powers. US President Donald Trump promised to ‘make America great again’, but his administration’s handling of the pandemic has been anything but great. Chinese President Xi …
With November approaching, I’m becoming ever more nervous about the US presidential election. While my American friends focus on Joe Biden’s lead over Donald Trump in opinion polls, believing deeply in US democracy’s capacity for …
Is Turkey the new Russia? That question is increasingly being asked in European capitals as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan adopts a more aggressive foreign policy. In addition to using migration to threaten and finagle …