Charles Grant

Charles Grant

Director
Areas of expertise 

Britain's EU referendum, the 'future of Europe' debate, the euro, Russia, European foreign and defence policy and China's relations with the West.

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The EU-Russia energy dialogue

The EU-Russia energy dialogue

09 May 2003
Russia is the EU's biggest neighbour. The EU is Russia's most important trading partner and source of foreign investment. Yet EU-Russia relations have often suffered from discord over contentious issues such as trade quotas, rules on visas, the Kaliningrad enclave or human rights in Chechnya. So it is all the...
Transatlantic relations

The decline of American power

01 April 2003
Saddam Hussein notwithstanding, most of the world's problems cannot be solved by military force. Their solution requires 'soft power', which can be defined as a country's ability to influence events through persuasion and attraction, rather than military or financial coercion. A country has more soft power if its culture, values...
The Europeans can stick together on Iraq

The Europeans can stick together on Iraq

07 February 2003
The emergency EU summit on Iraq has produced a useful statement on what unites Europeans in their dealing with the Iraq crisis. After the very public squabbling of recent days and weeks, EU leaders pulled back from the brink and decided to underline the common ground between them. But deep...
Germany-France

The return of Franco-German dominance?

03 February 2003
The Franco-German alliance has provided both stability and momentum to the European Union, for most of its history. But by the time that François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl left the scene, the EU's 'motor' had more or less broken down.
What role for NATO?

What role for NATO?

01 November 2002
NATO adapted well after the end of the Cold War. An organisation which had been focused on collective defence against the Soviet threat found new things to do: spreading security and stability through NATO enlargement to new members and partners in Central Europe, and applying force to impose – and...
New designs for Europe

New designs for Europe

04 October 2002
Everybody agrees that the EU's institutions are in bad need of reform. In the Convention on the Future of Europe, and elsewhere, a real debate has begun on how Europe should be governed.
Restoring leadership to the European council

Restoring leadership to the European council

01 April 2002
Everybody knows the European Commission is in bad need of reform. The problems in the European Council - the regular summits of heads of government - and the Council of Ministers are less widely known but just as serious, and they contribute to Europe's lack of leadership.
Europe after September 11th

Europe after September 11th

07 December 2001
This report argues that many good things have come out of the crisis, so far. The US is re-engaging with the world. The European Union has accelerated its plans to integrate in the fields of external and internal security.
US, EU and Russia: A new order?

US, EU and Russia: A new order?

01 October 2001
In the aftermath of September 11th's horrific events, the world has focused on America's diplomatic and military response. Some of the security issues that commentators were worrying about before the terrorist attacks - such as missile defence, the Balkans and the future of NATO - have left the headlines.
France, Germany and "hard-core" Europe

France, Germany and "hard-core" Europe

01 August 2001
In Paris, thinking on the future of the EU tends to focus on two French worries. One is the decline of the Franco-German relationship, and the consequent threat to French influence.