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

Apr 4, 2012

Obama Must Reset Relations with Russia Along Economic Lines

By Fran Burwell and Svante Cornell

As Vladimir Putin prepares for his May inauguration and return to the Russian presidency, the United States must design a new relationship with this often difficult leader and his country. The “Russian Reset” of President Obama’s first term sought to overcome the strain in relations of recent years in order to achieve some specific foreign […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2012

How the French Might Split their Vote

By Nicholas Dungan

The French people go to the polls to choose their next president in a first-round election on April 22, with a second round between the two top contenders on May 6.

Elections France

New Atlanticist

Feb 6, 2012

Transatlantic Relationship Words at Odds with Deeds

By James Joyner

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said all the right things about the transatlantic relationship at the Munich Security Conference. Alas, Panetta made a mockery of them on his way there. Panetta declared that “peace and prosperity of Europe is critically important to the United States, but because Europe remains […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 17, 2011

Ales Byalyatski and the Price of Freedom

By Cynthia Romero

In the midst of the euphoria brought on by the “Arab Spring,” it is easy to forget that freedom struggles are oftentimes hard-fought battles with few wins and more losses.

New Atlanticist

Oct 14, 2011

Georgia’s Path to the West

By James Joyner

At a time when “Russia has been going backwards, not forwards in democratic reforms,” it is vital that the United States and Europe work together to bolster emerging democracies like Georgia.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 15, 2011

NATO Support Steady Through Transatlantic Twists and Turns

By James Joyner

The German Marshall Fund has just released its annual Transatlantic Trends report, which measures U.S. and European public opinion on transatlantic issues and trends. The big headline is that a bare majority of Americans, 51 percent, now think the countries of Asia are more important to their national interests than the countries of the European Union, which […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Aug 12, 2011

“About Time, Mr President.” The Atlantic Charter Then and Now

By Julian Lindley-French

Blois, France. 14 August, 2011. Seventy years ago today President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill met for the first time off the Canadian coast. “About time, Mr President”, said as the two men met. What emerged from that fateful meeting was the “Joint Declaration by the President and the Prime Minister”, which was soon […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2011

Death of Transatlantic Relationship Wildly Exaggerated

By James Joyner

The blistering farewell speech to NATO by U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates warning of a "dim, if not dismal" future for the Alliance drew the Western public’s attention to a longstanding debate about the state of the transatlantic relationship. With prominent commenters voicing concern about much more than just a two-tiered defensive alliance, questioning whether […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2011

Trans-Atlantic Cooperation and a Spirit that Binds Us

By Mark Vlasic

Like many on both sides of the Atlantic, I watched President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Europe with great interest. And not just because this visit has taught us that President “O’Bama” is actually Irish — or the fact that he can trace his roots to the British Army (he is the grandson of a […]

Transcript

Jun 10, 2011

Transcript: 2011 Freedom Awards Dinner

This year at the 2011 Atlantic Council Freedom Awards, apresented awards to Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski, Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat, journalists Adam Michnik and Helena Łucywo of Gazeta Wyborcza; Egyptian activist Esraa Abdel Fattah; Belarusian dissidents Ales Byalyatski, Natalia Kaliada, and Zhanna Litvina; and US Senator John McCain. We also presented […]