Europe Center Commentary & Analysis

May’s Humiliation Could Make Brexit Easier

By Reginald Dale

The Conservative government’s surprise loss of its parliamentary majority in the United Kingdom’s June 8 general election will greatly complicate the task of withdrawing the country from the European Union (EU), on which negotiations are due to start June 19. But it might conceivably lead to a better outcome in the end. Prime Minister Theresa […]

Theresa May’s Failed Election Gamble

By Ashish Kumar Sen

British Prime Minister Theresa May made a gamble when she decided to call early elections with the hope of shoring up political support ahead of difficult Brexit negotiations. That gamble did not pay off. May’s Conservative Party, while still the largest in Parliament following the June 8 election, failed to secure the 326 seats necessary […]

For Macron, the Hard Part Starts Now

Emmanuel Macron’s election as the next president of France marks a defeat for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a setback for the wave of populism that has swept the West, but France is not out of the woods just yet. “Vladimir Putin emerges as a loser,” said Daniel Fried, a former US assistant secretary of […]

Durakoglu Testifies Before House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Turkey

By Naz Durakoglu

Read the full testimony here.

Is Brexit Good for the EU?

The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) has strengthened solidarity among the bloc’s other twenty-seven member states, David O’Sullivan, the EU’s ambassador to the United States, said at the Atlantic Council on March 29. “The debate around Brexit has strengthened support for the European Union elsewhere around Europe,” according to O’Sullivan. “If […]

The EU Now Controls the Brexit Talks

By Reginald Dale

With the United Kingdom formally starting the process of leaving the European Union on March 29, the Atlantic Council is launching a series of blog posts that will track the course of the Brexit negotiations and the many challenges they pose for the future of US-UK relations.  By formally notifying the European Union that it […]

Italy Seeks a US-European Front to Face Common Challenges

‘Transatlantic bond remains as important as ever,’ said Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano Unprecedented migration, instability in the Middle East, and the growing threat of terrorism necessitate a joint US-European approach to common security challenges that stem from the Mediterranean region, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said at the Atlantic Council on March 21. “In […]