Foreign policy & defence
Why Germany must spend more on defence
06 March 2018
CNN
Now that Germany has a new government, investing in defense and the transatlantic relationship has to be a priority for Angela Merkel.
How to think about Britain's post Brexit foreign policy
05 March 2018
E!Sharp
What impact will Brexit have on the UK’s foreign and security policy? While many Brexiteers argue it will lead to a global Britain, for many others it is clear it will result in a substantial loss of international influence.
Judy Asks: Is Central Europe damaging EU enlargement?
28 February 2018
Carnegie Europe
The EU’s big bang enlargement has always generated mixed feelings.
Waiting for Putin and Assad to run out of people to kill. Is that our plan?
25 February 2018
The Observer
It has been a quieter than average week in Syria. More than 400 people were killed in the unimaginably awful siege of eastern Ghouta, most of them civilians.
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change - Podcast: A Germany special - politics and defence
19 February 2018
Shashank Joshi and Simon Tilford of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change sit down with the Centre for European Reform's Sophia Besch to discuss the twists and turns of Germany's coalition talks, and the state of Germany's military.
What defence policy for the next German government?
19 February 2018
E!Sharp
As they try to form a coalition government after last September’s inconclusive elections, Germany’s politicians are debating Germany's role in protecting Europe.
PESCO unlikely to deliver much in the short term
13 February 2018
The Progressive Post
PESCO, or permanent structured co-operation, is a political framework that aims to help EU countries develop military capabilities together and improve their ability to deploy them.
BBC Radio 4 - A very British battle
12 February 2018
Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the CER speaks to Caroline Wyatt about the UK’s future defence relationship with Europe after Brexit (from 12:40 mins).
CER Bulletin podcast: Trade post Brexit; EU vs Poland; Trump's foreign policy
24 January 2018
In the CER Bulletin podcast, CER researchers brief podcast listeners on three of the most important topics for Europe this month.
EU need not fear new Russian gas pipeline
19 January 2018
EurActiv
Europe's continuing need for Russian gas – for reasons of proximity and price – is a reality, but it need not leave the EU over a barrel.
CER podcast: A briefing on Nordstream 2
17 January 2018
Noah Gordon talks to Sophia Besch about the controversial Nordstream 2 pipeline – who is in favour of the project and who stands to lose out, what the EU is doing and what it should do, and whether Nordstream 2 is about business, geopolitics, or EU solidarity.
CER podcast: CER researchers review the year 2017
20 December 2017
Charles Grant, Simon Tilford and Ian Bond review the political themes and events that shaped 2017, and take a look at some of the predictions they made last year.
Judy Asks: Is multilateralism on the wane?
06 December 2017
Carnegie Europe
Multilateral organizations have often been ignored by individual states: the Soviet Union defied the United Nations after its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.
Europe must guide Trump on Iran nuclear deal
05 December 2017
EurActiv
North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test is an unsettling reminder of what happens when there is no agreement in place to moderate the behaviour of a bellicose regime.
Eastern partners, eastern problems
23 November 2017
EU Observer
You can tell something about the degree of enthusiasm the EU has for relations with its eastern partners from the 'Myths about the Eastern Partnership' factsheet posted on an EU website on the eve of the fifth 'Eastern Partnership' summit on November 24th.
Fighting the Trump trade threat: The EU must go through Congress
17 November 2017
EurActiv
The Trump administration’s actions on trade so far reflect a mixture of traditional, assertive American approaches and more troubling new ideas that could have serious consequences, writes Noah Gordon, warning that Europe has a lot to lose in a steel trade war against the US.
Voice of America: EU signs historic defence pact as Brexit, Trump drive bloc to co-operate
14 November 2017
Three years later, Russia’s invasion of Crimea persuaded many European leaders of the need for closer defence.
The West cannot afford to give up on Turkey
17 October 2017
CNN
European leaders are set to discuss the increasingly difficult issue of Turkey at a summit this week in Brussels amid the deepest freeze in bilateral relations in years.
CER podcast: Peacekeepers for Ukraine?
11 October 2017
Sophia Besch talks to Luigi Scazzieri about Russian President Putin’s proposal to send a UN peacekeeping force to eastern Ukraine.
CER podcast: EU values and interests in the age of Trump
29 September 2017
Sophia Besch talks to Ian Bond about how the European Union can protect the international liberal order, as well as its security interests, when it can no longer rely on partnership with Trump’s America.