Europe Center Commentary & Analysis

The Europe Center uses real-time commentary and analysis to explain to key audiences in America current developments in Europe and how they affect the transatlantic relationship.

All timely commentary & analysis

New Atlanticist

Feb 28, 2018

A Threat to May’s Unrealistic Brexit Stance

By Reginald Dale

British Prime Minister Theresa May is entrapped in a maze of blind alleys, self-delusion, and bitter divisions over the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the rest of the European Union (EU) after Britain is due to leave the EU in just over a year’s time—at precisely 11:00 p.m. on March 29, 2019. She will try […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Feb 23, 2018

Trump’s New Sanctions Hit North Korea Where it Hurts Most

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald J. Trump on February 23 announced that his administration has imposed what he described as the “largest-ever” set of new sanctions on North Korea. The US Treasury Department later announced measures to cut off sources of revenue and fuel that have helped North Korea advance its nuclear program. Treasury said the action […]

Korea

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2018

Why Sobchak is Wrong and Navalny is Right

By Daniel Vajdich

Ksenia Sobchak sees a “big double standard” in fellow Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s criticism of her decision to stand in the presidential elections in Russia on March 18. In December of 2017, Russia’s Central Electoral Commission determined that Navalny was ineligible to participate in the presidential election citing a sham corruption conviction.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 16, 2018

Russians Charged with Meddling in 2016 US Election

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Thirteen Russians and three Russian entities have been indicted by a grand jury for interfering in the US presidential elections in 2016, US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office said on February 16. The thirty-seven-page indictment alleges that Russians’ operations “included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump…and disparaging Hillary Clinton,” Trump’s Democratic opponent, […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 8, 2018

What’s the Deal?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council analysts discuss agreement that could end political uncertainty in Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel on February 7 moved a step closer to forming a coalition government that would include her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). But first, more than 460,000 members of the SPD will need to approve […]

Germany

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2018

A Controversial Bill in Poland Would Make it Illegal to Use the Term ‘Polish Death Camps’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

On February 1 Poland’s Senate passed a controversial bill that would make it illegal to blame Poles for crimes committed by Nazi Germany. Violations would be punished by fines or prison sentences up to three years. Polish President Andrzej Duda has previously said that he will consider signing the measure into law. That would risk a […]

Poland

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2018

Kremlin Report: A Missed Opportunity to Check Russian Aggression

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The US Treasury Department’s decision not to slap sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials, some with ties to the Kremlin, is a missed opportunity to check Russian aggression, according to the Atlantic Council’s Daniel Fried. “I think the [Trump] administration missed an opportunity [on January 29] to extend the use of sanctions to Russia’s aggressive […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2018

Deterring Russian Hacking

By Brian O’Toole and Daniel Fried

The apparent lack of US preparation and defense nearly eighteen months after Russia’s interference in the presidential elections, especially given numerous media reports that Russia aims to interfere in the 2018 US midterm elections, is deeply troubling. We are heartened that Congress has taken up leadership to defend the US electoral process. But notwithstanding its […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 19, 2018

In Germany, Social Democrats Hold Merkel’s Future in their Hands

By Jörn Fleck

The SPD’s upcoming vote on the future of coalition negotiations government will not only dictate the trajectory of the country’s politics, but could have serious ramifications for the future of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. For a brief moment on January 21, all eyes in German politics will shift from Berlin to Bonn. In the predicted […]

Germany

New Atlanticist

Jan 2, 2018

A New French Renaissance

By Nicholas Dungan

Just as Queen Elizabeth II offers her yuletide greetings to the British people in her Christmas Day broadcast each December 25, so, tradition goes, the president of France presents his New Year’s wishes to the French people on December 31. Emmanuel Macron’s speech on the last day of 2017 was his first New Year’s address. […]

France