Europe Center Commentary & Analysis

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

100 Years Later, Wilson’s Fourteen Points Deserve Another Look

By Daniel Fried

This January 8 marks the 100th anniversary of President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points speech, a foundational moment in America’s rise to define and lead a rules-based world order. Wilson has not been in fashion for some time: his political rigidity at the end of his career probably tanked Senate acceptance of the League of Nations, […]

McMaster Accuses Russia of Subversion, Kremlin Reacts

By Daniel Fried

US National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and his team deserve credit for clear expression of the threat to the United States from autocratic, revisionist powers, especially Russia. Outlining the new National Security Strategy (NSS) to be released on December 18, McMaster earlier this week publicly cited Russia’s “sophisticated campaign of subversion and disinformation […]

Sparking entrepreneurship in the Balkans

Young entrepreneurs “can fix the Balkans,” said Mark Boris Andrijanic, director of public policy for Central and Eastern Europe at Uber, “but only if we are allowed to do so.”

How to Identify the Kremlin Ruling Elite and its Agents

By Anders Åslund, Daniel Fried, Andrei Illarionov, and Andrei Piontkovsky

Criteria for the US Administration’s “Kremlin Report” On August 2, 2017, US President Donald J. Trump signed H.R. 3364, Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), into law. Section 241 of the Act calls on “the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of State” to submit […]

Spain’s Crisis Sharpens

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The crisis in Spain dramatically escalated on October 27 with Catalonia’s regional parliament declaring independence and the Spanish Senate responding with the approval of unprecedented powers for Madrid to seize control of the autonomous region. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called an emergency cabinet meeting and could fire Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his ministers—he […]

Trump Administration’s Significant Action on Russia Sanctions

By Daniel Fried and Brian O’Toole

The Trump administration on October 26 issued a robust list of Russian defense and intelligence sector entities plus public guidance, which together seem to indicate its intention to robustly implement the new Russia sanctions. Although the list does not itself impose sanctions, it is a significant action, which, if implemented carefully, could impose new restrictions […]

Merkel’s Re-Election Seen as Good News for Transatlantic Ties

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Peter Wittig, cites ‘stability’ German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s re-election to a fourth term on September 24 is good news for the United States, which can continue to rely on Germany to be a “great transatlantic partner,” Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Peter Wittig, said in an interview. “It […]