Research
The EU will want more from Serbia than arrests
25 July 2008
On July 21st 2008, Serbian security agents hauled Radovan Karadzic off a bus in Belgrade and took him into custody. The long-wanted wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs now awaits extradition to the International War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY) in The Hague, where he stands accused of crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnia war.
Ukraine needs new politicians
22 July 2008
Ukraine is heading for an economic crash. At least that was the message I picked up in the Crimean resort of Yalta earlier this month, at the 'Yalta European Strategy' conference.
The latest Euro-Med jamboree
16 July 2008
On July 13th 2008, President Sarkozy, surrounded by 42 EU and Mediterranean leaders, launched his pet project, the Union for the Mediterranean. The Paris summit was a success.
The CER guide to the French presidency
04 July 2008
France's EU presidency was always going to be ambitious, with wideranging plans for climate change, immigration and defence. Now, however, France will have to focus on resolving the legal and institutional mess created by the Irish No to the EU's Lisbon treaty. President Nicolas Sarkozy will struggle to save the...
Russia and the multipolar myth
04 July 2008
I attended a curious conference the other week in Moscow. It was a posh event with a stellar cast and the grand, even pompous, title of ‘Forging common futures in a multipolar world’.
Can the EU thaw frozen conflicts
30 June 2008
The Czech government floated proposals in May that would see the EU take a more active role in solving frozen conflicts in eastern Europe. The Czechs hold the EU’s rotating presidency next year, so their wish may become reality.
Tough choices to avoid euro-paralysis
19 June 2008
The Irish did the wrong thing for the right reasons in their referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Voters rejected an international treaty, the benefits of which did not seem to merit a change to the country's constitution.
Humanising China
05 June 2008
An extraordinary thing happened to China the other week. Not the Sichuan earthquake, even though that was an enormous, catastrophic event. Nor even the phenomenal popular response to this tragedy.
Will the Irish guillotine Lisbon?
04 June 2008
On 12 June 2008 Ireland will hold the EU's only referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. With the campaign entering its decisive phase, polls indicate that the vote could be dramatically close with turnout determining the result.
Four pillars for an EU-India partnership
02 June 2008
Until recently, neither the EU nor India took their relationship very seriously. That is starting to change, thanks to burgeoning economic ties.
Europe can afford to curb greenhouse gases
02 June 2008
In March 2007 the EU pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020, from 1990 levels. But as EU governments and the Commission work on the policies needed to achieve this goal, opposition is mounting, particularly towards the Commission’s proposals for reforming the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS).
Willing and able? EU defence in 2020
02 June 2008
Demand for military forces is growing. And the Europeans increasingly turn to the EU when in need of troops for peacekeeping or for delivering humanitarian aid. But will the EU be able to keep up with the demand?
Towards better days in EU-US relations
02 June 2008
As the field of candidates in the US presidential election dwindles, the future of US foreign policy is becoming clearer. The changes, as seen from Europe, will be mostly for the better.
Issue 60 - 2008
30 May 2008
- Towards better days in EU-US relations, Tomas Valasek
- Four pillars for an EU-India partnership, Charles Grant
- Europe can afford to curb greenhouse gases, Simon Tilford
What Arab countries think of democracy
21 May 2008
Earlier this month, the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI) presented its first report on the state of democratic reform in the Arab world. ARI is a consortium of a dozen leading Arab research institutes which try to promote peaceful democratic reform across the Middle East (CER and a few other non-Arab think-tanks are associated with the initiative).
France, NATO and European defence
12 May 2008
France and the UK are close to an agreement that would dramatically improve relations EU and NATO. The two institutions currently make poor partners. Besides Franco-disagreements, Turkish squabbles with the EU also impede EU-NATO co-operation.
France finds a friend in Ukraine
02 May 2008
The government of Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a charm offensive towards Ukraine. French diplomats in Brussels have begun saying that Ukraine should have a ‘privileged’ status with the EU.
How to make EU emissions trading a success
01 May 2008
The European Union has set ambitious targets to limit greenhouse gases. But it will not be able to meet these targets without an effective market for trading carbon emissions.
Can Europe and China shape a new world order?
01 May 2008
A new world order is emerging, with multiple centres of power. But will this order be multilateral, with governments accepting global rules and institutions? Or will the strongest states assert their interests unilaterally, without regard to international law?