Europe & Eurasia

Greece and France give European strategic autonomy a shot

By Katerina Sokou

A new defense pact between the two aims to address instability in the Mediterranean by tackling multiple challenges in the region.

The EU must stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials

By Daria Kaleniuk

If the EU is serious about helping Ukraine achieve a decisive break with the institutional corruption of the post-Soviet era, it must also stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials.

Una squadra vincente: The US-Italian defense-industrial partnership

By Mauro Gilli and James Hasik

The United States needs to more closely integrate its own defense-industrial base with those of its allies, including Italy. This issue brief focuses on the US-Italian defense-industrial partnership to enable policymakers to better understand this relationship, leverage it more comprehensively to meet key strategic objectives, and secure the supply chains necessary to ensure US national security.

West seeks new ways to hold Belarus dictator Lukashenka accountable

By Brian Whitmore

US and EU leaders are exploring new options as they seek to hold Kremlin-backed Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka accountable for his increasingly brazen violations of international norms.

Geopolitical change and the emergence of Chinese banking

By Elmar Hellendoorn

Although China's "Big 4" state banks remain focused on supporting domestic Chinese growth and consumption for now, they are also increasingly active across international borders. Their global expansion could seriously challenge the primacy of Western banks and may thus have geopolitical reverberations.

Baltic Sea Security Conference 2021

The fourth international Baltic Sea Security Conference (BSSC) on October 5-6, 2021, organized by the Atlantic Council Northern Europe Office in cooperation with the Swedish Armed Forces, took place with a new 2021-2025 Swedish Total Defence strategy in place. The BSSC was thus a timely platform for representatives of the Nordic and Baltic states, Germany, […]

Saakashvili arrest overshadows Georgian ruling party’s election win

By Peter Dickinson

Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream secured victory in October 2 local elections but the imprisonment of returning ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili leaves little realistic chance of an end to political tensions.

China Pathfinder: Annual Scorecard

By GeoEconomics Center and Rhodium Group

Over the past eight months, teams from the Atlantic Council and Rhodium Group have taken a dive into China’s economy to address a fundamental question: Is China becoming more or less like other open-market economies? 

Time to rethink Ukraine’s fight against corruption

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

The ongoing struggle against corruption in Ukraine would benefit from greater coordination among the country's international partners and a longer term strategy, argues Bohdan Vitvitsky.