The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement: The Implications for Europe’s Energy Security
The new agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey exposes Europe to hidden Gulf energy shocks, making true economic resilience a vital priority.
The EU Cannot Win Its Eastern Neighbourhood Through Normative Power Alone
The EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood is being contested by actors who move faster, ask less, and deliver sooner, yet its policy strategy remains calibrated to a less competitive environment.
One Storm, Two Models: How the EU and ASEAN Weigh Efficiency Against Equality
Trade fragmentation and geopolitical shocks are testing two opposing answers to the same question.
Europe’s $750 Billion Promise to Buy US Energy That Nobody Needs
The EU has pledged $750 billion in US energy purchases at the exact moment its own gas demand is beginning to fall. Priced to satisfy trade negotiators rather than actual demand, the commitment risks locking Europe into fresh import dependency just as its own consumption starts to shrink.
Europe’s Extremists Are Outgrowing Its Terrorism Categories
Europe knows how to respond when extremist violence carries a familiar label, but what happens when it no longer does?
Why Transport Connectivity Can Accelerate the Credibility of EU Enlargement
How functional integration and corridor-wide network development can reinforce EU Accession in the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova.
Progressive Bulgaria and the Paradox of Power
Has stability finally come to Bulgaria? It appeared that it might have on 19 April 2026.
Europe’s Opening in Africa’s Finance Race with China Lies in Local Value Creation
As Europe and China converge on de-risking private capital in development finance, the real contest is shifting from mobilising finance to turning it into value-chain offers built around African priorities.
The Case for a European Security Architecture Beyond the EU’s 35 Chapters
On September 15, an unidentified drone entered Lithuanian airspace. Earlier the same day, a top Kremlin aide warned Poland that it would take just two or three days for Russia to make Poland disappear. In the first 15 days of September 2026, Germany, Denmark, Moldova, Lithuania and Poland have all lodged complaints against Russian aggression.
Addressing the Growing Threat of Crypto-Asset Circumvention to EU Sanctions
Sanction circumvention is an adaptation game, and crypto has dealt Russia a new hand. To prevent the erosion of sanctions effectiveness, the EU must adapt to new evasion practices and tools to better target entry points into the formal economy.
Europe’s Second Front Is From Within
With conflict growing along the EU’s borders, the rising wave of the far right is limiting the capacity for response.
Icelanders Say “Nei” to EU Talks: Why the Push to Resume Accession Failed
Iceland voted 52.8% to 47.2% against resuming EU accession talks, as rural “no” strongholds outweighed pro-EU Reykjavik despite rising Arctic tensions. The verdict comes down to fisheries, the króna, and contentment with EEA membership, and it challenges the idea that EEA integration is just a waystation to joining the EU.
