Europe & Eurasia

Leopard tank saga: Germany remains haunted by history

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

Germany's reluctance to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine reflects the ongoing influence of war guilt for the crimes of the Nazi era while also highlighting a failure to differentiate between modern Russia and the Soviet Union.

Biden’s call to modernize US tech policy would pay transatlantic dividends

By Kenneth Propp

If Congress and the White House can unite to pass regulations on data privacy and tech competition, they would set the stage for deeper EU-US coordination.

What’s behind the Western divide over arming Ukraine?

By Eric Adamson

Two schools of thought have emerged on arming Ukraine—defeat Russia vs. avoid escalation. A recent conference hosted by the Atlantic Council in Stockholm investigated the roots of the divide.

State of the Order: Looking Back on 2022

This special edition of State of the Order breaks down the most important events that shaped the democratic world order last year.

Authoritarian kleptocrats are thriving on the West’s failures. Can they be stopped?

By Francis Shin, Ben Judah

A new, more dangerous form of kleptocracy has arisen since the end of the Cold War, and the transatlantic community—hobbled by outdated, cliched images of what kleptocracy looks like, and by siloed, reactive regulatory and enforcement systems—isn’t equipped to handle it. A Transatlantic Anti-Corruption Council could coordinate anti-corruption reforms.

Russian finance pivots east

By Niels Graham

Starting in 2014 and accelerating after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow launched a financial pivot toward China. While it initially worked for both countries, economic stress in China as well as the risk of overreliance on Beijing may hinder its future success

It’s been over a decade since Ankara and Damascus talked. What changed? 

By Ömer Özkizilcik

The December 2022 meeting in Russia is the first of many that may ultimately result in a direct encounter between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar al-Assad.