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

Report

Apr 19, 2007

Transatlantic Leadership for a New Global Economy

The Council’s report Transatlantic Leadership for a New Global Economy is the product of a commission co-chaired by Stuart E. Eizenstat, former deputy secretary of the Treasury a­nd Council board member, and Grant D. Aldonas, former under secretary of Commerce for international trade. The report argues that to deal with a new international economy, the […]

Economy & Business European Union

Report

Apr 17, 2007

Law & the Lone Superpower: Rebuilding a Transatlantic Consensus on International Law

Throughout 2006, allegations of U.S. involvement in “renditions” of suspected terrorists from Europe to prisons in Afghanistan and elsewher­e reverberated around European capitals. Charges that the United States had established secret prisons in some European countries raised the temperature even further. The European Parliament and the Council of Europe initiated investi­gations, while some European leaders […]

Europe & Eurasia United States and Canada

Issue Brief

Mar 31, 2007

Can German Locomotive Drive the European Economy?

During the second half of 2006 and in early 2007, the German economic eng­ine seemed to gain speed, moving into recovery after several years of stagnation. Whether this recovery is sustainable is still unclear, however. With its­ reliance on exports, Germany remains vulnerable to any downturn in the global economy. Nor is it yet clear […]

Economy & Business European Union

Report

Jan 25, 2007

Advancing U.S. Interests with the European Union

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the face of Europe has been transformed. Most Americans have focused on the geopolitical and security dimensions of these changes, overlooking another signifi cant aspect: the evolution and expansion of the European Union. Europe today is a unique construction, comprised neither of individual, sovereign states, nor of a […]

European Union International Organizations

Issue Brief

Nov 25, 2006

Launching a New NATO – EU Relationship

By Transatlantic Relations Program

In late November, the leaders of the NATO nations will gather in Riga for “a transformation summit.” Yet, if the agenda develops as currently planned, the Alliance will not even consider a fundamental element of transformation — building a new partnership with the European Union. The failure to establish a strong relationship with the EU […]

European Union International Organizations

Issue Brief

Jun 22, 2006

Whither the European Union?

The stunning rout of the proposed EU constitution a year ago in the referenda in the Netherlands and France leads one to wonder, a year later, where Europe goes from here. One must also consider what went wrong and whether circumstances have changed, or will change, sufficiently to allow another approach to a European charter, […]

European Union International Organizations

Report

Mar 10, 2006

Transatlantic Transformation: Building a NATO-EU Security Architecture

Since 1989, the security environment facing the United States and its European allies has changed beyond recognition. The Soviet Union has disintegrated, as has the division of Europe between East and West, and new threats have arisen. The disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s demonstrated that instability and war emerging from failing states could affect […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union

Report

Feb 13, 2006

Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic Ambitions

By Steven Pifer

Since his inauguration in January 2005, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has repeatedly stated that his foremost foreign policy goal is his country’s integration into European and Euro-Atlantic institutions. “Joining Europe” today, be it preparing a country for a bid to enter the European Union or NATO, is an extraordinarily complex business. It will require the […]

European Union International Organizations

Report

Apr 1, 2005

The New Partnership: Building Russia-West Cooperation on Strategic Challenges

The challenge of transcending the Cold War relationship between Russia and the West and supplanting it with a new partnership capable of dealing cooperatively with the major international issues of the time has been a major focus of policy for the past decade and a half. This report, prepared by non-official leaders and experts from […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union

Report

Dec 1, 2004

The Post 9-11 Partnership: Transatlantic Cooperation against Terrorism

On September 11, 2001, the world was introduced to a new type of terrorism, one that was truly global in its organization and its impact. In both Europe and the United States, it was immediately clear that an effective response would require new levels of cooperation across the Atlantic and around the world. Download the […]

European Union International Organizations
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