Western Europe Archives

FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Two): French Doubts about European Defense

New Atlanticist
Mar 1, 2024

Don’t let the ‘boots on the ground’ debate obscure the progress France is making on Ukraine

By
Léonie Allard

Too much focus on the French president’s speculative comments about a potential Western military presence in Ukraine is a distraction from the concrete steps that European leaders made in Paris to support Kyiv.

Conflict
France

New Atlanticist
Feb 21, 2024

What I heard in Munich: Europe gets a brutal awakening

By
Anna Wieslander

Fear loomed that next year, Europe would be squeezed between a fascist Russia and an undependable United States—a Europe that would be pretty much on its own.

Europe & Eurasia
Germany

New Atlanticist
Jan 3, 2024

Delors and Schäuble leave melancholic legacies for Europe. Now no one is left in charge.

By
David Marsh

Former French Finance Minister Jacques Delors and former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble both passed away in December 2023, leaving behind an indelible imprint on the continent.

Economy & Business
Europe & Eurasia

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Defense Policy
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What can the US learn from Europe about support for Ukraine?

Defense Industry
Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia
European Union

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Wed, February 7, 2024 • 9:30 am ET

A conversation with Tánaiste of Ireland Micheál Martin

Europe & Eurasia
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Content

French Defense Minister Yves Le Drian and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, June 3, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 7, 2015

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Two): French Doubts about European Defense

By Leo Michel

Insights from the 13th annual “summer defense college,” in Strasbourg.

European Union France

Press Release

Oct 6, 2015

Secretary Kerry and German President Gauck to Commemorate Arrival of Berlin Wall Segment and Celebrate Our Transatlantic Friendship

By Atlantic Council

Secretary of State John Kerry will host the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Joachim Gauck at a ceremony to commemorate the arrival of a segment of the Berlin Wall at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7, in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State. The wall will be displayed in the […]

Germany

NATOSource

Oct 6, 2015

Letter from Strasbourg (Part One): French Defense Priorities and Capabilities

By Leo Michel

NATO is past the half-way mark between last September’s Wales Summit and the Warsaw Summit planned for next July. So it is not too soon to ask how Allies are responding to the strategic, capability, and other challenges identified in Wales.

France Iraq

Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted by UK Typhoon participating in NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission, June 17, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 5, 2015

A ‘New Normal’ for NATO and Baltic Sea Security

By Anna Wieslander

It might appear natural that focus on Baltic Sea security would have come quickly for NATO after the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014, but this was not the case.

Germany NATO

9P78-1 TEL for Iskander-M missile system, April 22, 2015

NATOSource

Sep 23, 2015

Kremlin: Russia Will Take Countermeasures if US Places New Nuclear Weapons in Germany

By AP, International Business Times, and Reuters

From AP: The Kremlin says Russia will take countermeasures if the U.S. places new nuclear weapons at a base in Germany.

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2015

Will the European Union’s Plan to Distribute Migrants Hurt Europe?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

European ministers on September 22 approved a plan that would force EU member states to take in their share of 120,000 migrants, a majority of whom are fleeing the war in Syria. In an unusual break from procedure, which emphasizes consensus on issues of national sovereignty, the ministers decided the issue on the basis of […]

Central Europe Europe & Eurasia

EconoGraphics

Sep 22, 2015

Migrant Flows and the Future of Europe

By Global Business and Economics

As Europe confronts the migrant crisis, much of the current coverage remains fixed on short run trends, but in order to have a comprehensive perspective it is necessary to project these trends into the future. In spite of commonly held concerns of migrants' effect on European identity, many of these nations' birthrates and outflows of migrants will actually be higher than their intake of migrants. Negative flows of migrants could further weaken pension plans, as aging European populations struggle to balance social welfare models with demographic realities.

Afghanistan Economy & Business

Middle East Strategy Task Force

Sep 19, 2015

David Miliband: Europe’s Feeble Response to Migrant Crisis Threatens EU

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Former British Foreign Secretary says United States, too, must ‘up its game’ and take in more refugees Europe’s “feeble” response to the migrant crisis—the largest displacement of people since World War II—is threatening the European Union, and European countries as well as the United States need to step up to do more to help these […]

European Union Germany

Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), Sept. 15, 2012

NATOSource

Sep 18, 2015

Lockheed, MBDA See NATO Future for MEADS

By Jen Judson, Defense News

Lockheed Martin and MBDA Deutschland are expecting to sign a contract with Germany next year to produce the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) and with that stamp of approval the pair is setting their sights higher.

Germany Missile Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2015

Wanted: All—Transatlantic—Hands on Deck for Implementation of Iran Deal

By Peter Wittig

Two factors made it possible to reach the nuclear agreement with Iran. First, unity was key. The agreement is also a transatlantic success. During the negotiations, the P5+1—that is, the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, and China—and the European Union remained united in the goal of preventing the nuclear armament of Iran. Second, […]

Germany Iran