International Relations

The Europe that will go to the polls in June 2024 is very different from that of 2019. Pandemic recovery, the climate and energy crisis, war in the continent, and the rise of the far right are all driving the narratives of the electoral campaign, but also mobilising progressive forces. Roderick Kefferpütz interviews MEP Terry Reintke, Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group and Spitzenkandidatin for the European Greens, on Green solutions for Europe in uncertain and volatile times.

The 2024 US presidential election will be closely watched. After all, the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House would have a significant effect on Europe’s security dynamics with profound implications for the European Union. This is raising some uncomfortable questions. Webinar with Max Bergmann (Center for Strategic & International studies), Jana Puglierin (European Council on Foreign Relations, Berlin), Steven Everts (EU Institute for Security Studies), moderated by Teresa Eder, Program Director Foreign & Security Policy, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC.

The fabric of the European security order is fraying. Putin’s imperialist revisionism threatens Europe. Trump is undermining US security guarantees for Europe. And Orbán’s vetoes are impeding European action. This is nothing new; the writing has been on the wall for a long time. What has changed is the urgency. Putin’s revisionism, Trump’s erraticism, and Orbán’s obstructionism are coming to a head. It’s crunch time.

On 13 January 2024, Taiwan successfully conducted presidential and legislative elections. The people have shown that their hard-fought democracy is the one value everybody can agree on. There were no big surprises. The DPP won the presidency and now faces a divided parliament in which no party holds a majority. This article analyses what this means for Taiwan, as well as cross-strait and EU-Taiwan relations.

Britain’s right-wing news outlets have sown doubt on the viability of net zero, and the government has pushed back targets and issued new licences for North Sea exploration. Hazel Healy explains how a group of influential think tanks whose donors and board members profit from fossil fuels have systematically undermined climate science and renewable technologies. Their connections to No 10 enable them to sway the Prime Minister and his ministers.

The 24th Foreign Policy Conference of the Heinrich Böll Foundation focusses on current debates around the future of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy with special emphasis on the outlook for a post-national European Security Order, including an EU Army and an independent EU nuclear deterrent. Another focus of the Expert conference is the search for a new balance in transatlantic burden sharing in three crisis regions: the Western Balkans, the Indo-Pacific and Ukraine. How much US engagement is still needed, and which role can Europe play for the security of these regions?

The United Kingdom has developed its contribution to European security in the context of its withdrawal from the EU. However, a more formal relationship between the two in the areas of foreign, security and defence policy remains to be desired.