Returning from their summer recess, European Union leaders have a packed agenda. At the top of the list are strengthening the bloc’s readiness for conflict and bolstering its economic competitiveness. For decades, the EU relied on economic influence as a substitute for hard power. But in an era of renewed geopolitical tensions, soft power is not sufficient. The evidence of this comes in many forms. If Europe’s shrinking industrial base and scramble to adjust to the reality of de-globalization a

The second round of Iran’s presidential election unfolded with little fanfare last weekend. But with reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian defeating his hardline anti-Western opponent, Saeed Jalili, the world should be paying attention. At a time of deep tensions and shifting alliances, these results will reverberate across the region and beyond. The election’s backdrop was messy, to say the least. The death of Iran’s last president, the hardline Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash in May, tog

June has been a busy month for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a speech at Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he outlined his terms for peace negotiations with Ukraine and proposed establishing an alternative international security system in collaboration with China. A week later, during a two-day visit to Pyongyang, he signed a strategic defense pact with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Russia and North Korea pledged to provide each other with immediate military assistance in the ev

Earlier this month, the European Union celebrated the 20th anniversary of its biggest-ever enlargement, which brought 10 new members into the bloc. That event remains a potent reminder of the EU’s potential to advance peace and unity across the European continent. But, at a time of deep internal divisions and an increasingly volatile external environment, the giddy idealism of 2004 seems a distant dream, and the prospects of further enlargement appear uncertain. The promise of EU accession has

Once the “sick man of Europe,” Germany seems to be under the weather once again. That might be putting it mildly: much as it did in the late 1990s, Germany is staring down the barrel of “stagflation” – high inflation and unemployment combined with stagnant demand and low growth. A lack of effective political leadership further darkens the outlook for Germany – and for the European Union that depends on it. France might be the EU’s second-largest economy, a nuclear power, and the only member sta

MADRID – If anyone had lingering doubts about the fractured state of global rule-making, they should now be dispelled. The just-concluded G20 summit in New Delhi attracted as much attention for who was not there – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping – as for the discussions among those who showed up. But the real takeaway from the summit, as well as the gathering of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) that preceded it, is that global rule-maki

MADRID – The just-concluded BRICS summit – bringing together the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – was touted as a pivotal event that could change the contours of international relations. Some compared it to the Bandung conference of 1955, which laid the foundation for the Non-Aligned Movement, while others anticipated movement toward an alternate system of global governance fit for a multipolar world. But what the summit showed is that shared grievances do not amount t

MADRID – Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s weekend rebellion has shone a harsh spotlight on the apparently fragile state of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime. While Prigozhin soon agreed to stand down, and ordered his mercenary army to halt its advance on Moscow, the warlord-led uprising highlights, yet again, the imminent and existential risks that an aggressive and unstable nuclear power poses to the world. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year – and espec