Russia’s War on Ukraine: Two Inconvenient Truths for the EU
Following a spectacular counteroffensive and the retaking of Kherson, the war in Europe’s east has moved into a new phase. The immediate focus is now shifting to the chilling effects of winter – both on the frontline and on Western morale. However, this must not prevent the EU and its member states from confronting two […]
Protests and Drones Push EU–Iran Relations to the Brink
The protests that have jolted Iran’s clerical leadership over the past weeks,[1] as well as news of Iran’s drone and missile sales to Russia,[2] raise questions that EU policymakers and foreign policy analysts have been struggling with for years: how stable is the Islamic Republic? How to support protesters? And how to reconcile condemnation of […]
Indonesia’s G20 Presidency and the War in Ukraine
At the end of June 2022, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) conducted a series of trips overseas. It was a week-long visit to Germany, Ukraine, Russia, ending in the United Arab Emirates. Jokowi’s visit to Germany corresponded with the G7 Summit, which often hosts the G20 Chairman. After the summit, President Jokowi visited Kyiv to […]
More Integration, Less Autonomy: The EU in Europe’s New Order
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not just shattered what was left of Europe’s post-Cold War order. It has also defined the broad contours of Europe’s future order and consequently of the kind of peace such an order will be able to sustain. An armed peace, again The war has no foregone conclusion. It may result […]
Turkey in the Black Sea: Is a Balancing Act Still Possible?
Turkey has placed efforts towards establishing amicable relations with Russia while being a part of the Western alliance. Just after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Turkey’s position in the region and the possible closure of the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits became one of the main debated issues. According to the 1936 Montreux Convention,[1] which […]
Brief/ Not Yet Time for Diplomacy. Lessons from Italy’s Ill-Conceived Peace Plan for Ukraine by Riccardo Alcaro and Nona Mikhelidze
In this new JOINT Brief, Riccardo Alcaro (JOINT Coordinator) and Nona Mikhelidze (IAI Senior Fellow) analyze Italy’s stillborn peace plan for Ukraine, arguing that it holds a lesson for EU: time is not yet ripe for diplomacy with Russia. Here’s the main findings:1. In its pursuit for a quick end to hostilities, the peace plan anticipated arguments […]
Not Yet Time for Diplomacy. Lessons from Italy’s Ill-Conceived Peace Plan for Ukraine
Few may have noticed, but Italy recently advanced its own diplomatic proposal for a resolution of the war in Ukraine. Rome’s ambitious peace plan[1] received little international recognition, although it was reportedly shared with the Quint – an informal consultation group comprising the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy – and formally […]
The War in Ukraine and Studying the EU as a Security Actor
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the most serious conflict on the European continent since the Balkan wars of the 1990s, if not since World War II. The amount of military and civilian casualties, displaced persons and material destruction after two months of war is astonishing. Unlike the Balkan wars, the direct involvement […]
Brief/Russia–Ukraine Talks and the Indispensable Role of the US and Europe by Riccardo Alcaro
In this new JOINT Brief, Riccardo Alcaro analyses the role of the EU and the US in the Russia-Ukraine talks, underlining that US and EU’s goals should now be: to end the war, to ensure Ukraine’s security and to stabilise the antagonism with Russia.
Russia–Ukraine Talks and the Indispensable Role of the US and Europe
Vladimir Putin’s imperialist war of conquest in Ukraine is about to enter its fifth week. Russia’s failure to shock and awe Ukraine’s government and armed forces into submission through a poorly executed Blitzkrieg has morphed into a slow and ever more brutal three-front campaign. While Russian forces struggle to make strides in the north and […]
The EU and the Ukraine War: Making Sense of the Rise of a “Geopolitical” Union
By ordering Russian armed forces into Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has arguably made the greatest blunder of his twenty-two-year long rule. The Russian president seems to have underestimated not just Ukraine’s capacity to resist the invasion, but also the resolve of the United States and its partners to oppose it.[1] If that is indeed the […]
Europe’s Post-Cold War Order Is No More
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognise the independence of the self-styled separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas[1] may very well be the beginning of the end of Ukraine as an independent nation. For Ukraine, a nation of almost 44 million people, catastrophe looms large on the horizon. For Europe, these events […]