Europe Center Research & Reports

The Europe Center conducts research to guide the actions and strategy of key transatlantic decision makers on the issues that will shape the future of the transatlantic relationship.

Europe Center Research & Reports

Report Nov 10, 2025

Is Europe waking up to the China challenge? How geopolitics are reshaping EU and transatlantic strategy

By Zoltán Fehér, Valbona Zeneli

China’s rising global ambitions challenge both US and European interests. By examining the EU’s gradual shift toward “de-risking” and gaps in transatlantic policy, this report offers insights for developing a more coherent and coordinated strategy to address Beijing’s economic and security challenges.
China Europe & Eurasia
Europe Center Research & Reports

Report May 20, 2025

The European Union Growth Plan for the Western Balkans: A reality test for EU enlargement

By Valbona Zeneli, Richard Grieveson, Isabelle Ioannides, Dimitar Bechev

EU enlargement faces a test case in the Western Balkans. The current plan offers real benefits before accession, creating incentives for reform, but questions of enforceability and the relatively low amount of financial support threaten the success of the EU’s political influence in the region.
Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia
Europe Center Research & Reports

Issue Brief Mar 5, 2025

The EU must become a strategic player in defense—alongside NATO

By Justina Budginaite-Froehly

The European Union and NATO need renewed alignment on defense to meet the new geopolitical moment. Refocused cooperation would provide a critically needed burden sharing to eliminate vulnerabilities and prepare Europe to withstand new realities.
Defense Industry Europe & Eurasia

All in-depth research & reports

Books

Jun 7, 2017

Turkey’s European journey

By Sir Peter Westmacott

Turkey, a NATO ally, bridges a region spanning from Central Asia to Central Europe and the Levant that is marred by centuries of division and conflict, but whose nations and people are also bound together. Following an attempted military coup in 2016 and widespread government crackdowns across Turkish society, where Turkey is headed is uncertain. […]

Turkey

Report

Jun 5, 2017

The Free World

By Ambassador Daniel Fried

Once again, authoritarians are challenging the world’s leading democracies, using twenty-first century versions of aggression, propaganda, and subversion.  The very notion of a rules-based, democratic-leaning international order—the Free World—seems in doubt, questioned also by newly-emboldened nationalists on both sides of the Atlantic.  In “The Free World,” Ambassador Dan Fried, who retired this year as the […]

Europe & Eurasia International Norms

Issue Brief

Dec 13, 2016

Spotlight France: Europe’s swing state

By Jeffrey Lightfoot, Jérémie Gallon

“France: Europe’s Swing State: Foreign Policy Begins at Home,” argue that France is the pivotal swing state in shaping the contours of a stronger European Union (EU) and a reinforced transatlantic alliance at a crucial moment in the history of the West.

European Union France

Issue Brief

Dec 13, 2016

Spotlight France: Europe’s swing state

By Jérémie Gallon and Jeff Lightfoot

France’s geopolitical power in Europe is unique. It combines a positive legacy of global leadership, a rich diplomatic network, universal aspirations, global military reach, cultural influence, and economic heft. The authors, Atlantic Council Senior Fellows Jérémie Gallon and Jeff Lightfoot, of this paper, “France: Europe’s Swing State: Foreign Policy Begins at Home,” argue that France […]

European Union France

Issue Brief

Nov 21, 2016

Broken embraces: is Central Europe falling out of love with the West?

By Jeffrey Gedmin, Simona Kordosova

Throughout much of the 1990s, progress was the order of the day. NATO enlargement under the Clinton administration was part of a broader global strategy, presenting democratic and entrepreneurial opportunity. This process was coupled with the prospect of new cooperation with Russia to create an undivided, free, and prosperous Europe. A decade and a half […]

Central Europe

Issue Brief

Nov 21, 2016

Broken embraces: is Central Europe falling out of love with the West?

By Jeffrey Gedmin and Simona Kordosova Lightfoot

Throughout much of the 1990s, progress was the order of the day. NATO enlargement under the Clinton administration was part of a broader global strategy, presenting democratic and entrepreneurial opportunity. This process was coupled with the prospect of new cooperation with Russia to create an undivided, free, and prosperous Europe. A decade and a half […]

Central Europe

Report

Oct 11, 2016

Into the clouds: European SMEs and the digital age

By Tyson E. Barker

Cloud computing, which relies on automatically available services, including storage, that can be shared among devices, is considered crucial to the digital transformation of industry and the economy. But fundamental questions remain on the role of cloud computing in Europe and the best strategies for fostering the conditions necessary for a barrier-free transatlantic digital economy. […]

Digital Policy Europe & Eurasia

Report

Apr 6, 2016

Building a Transatlantic Digital Marketplace: Twenty Steps Toward 2020

By Atlantic Council’s Task Force on Advancing a Transatlantic Digital Agenda

The United States and the European Union (EU) have a historic opportunity—perhaps their last—to be leaders in building the digital market of the future. To do so, they must seize the opportunity to create a transatlantic digital single market stretching from Silicon Valley to Tallinn, Estonia. Together, they can give a new burst of energy […]

Digital Policy European Union

Issue Brief

May 18, 2015

A transatlantic approach to Europe’s east: relaunching the Eastern Partnership

By Fran Burwell

On May 20-21, 2015, European leaders will gather for the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia, to discuss the future of Europe’s East. Given the extreme challenges faced by the countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) since the last summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2013, and the cooling of EU relations with several of the […]

Northern Europe

Issue Brief

Jan 21, 2015

A transatlantic approach for the Arab world: Stability through inclusivity, good governance, and prosperity

By Fran Burwell, Danya Greenfield, Amy Hawthorne

A new Atlantic Council report warns against the tendency of Europe and the United States to sideline political and economic reform in the Middle East while they pursue urgent security priorities in this turbulent region. Instead, the transatlantic partners should forge a shared strategy to encourage political systems that can protect Arab citizens’ basic rights, […]

European Union International Organizations
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