Current topics
Europe in the Age of Geoeconomics
On 19 February 2026, a report entitled The Mercosur deal tests Europe’s geoeconomic ambition by Anton Spisak, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, was published on the Centre’s website. The report deals with the issues that arose in the ratification of the free trade agreement with MERCOSUR and highlighted the structural deficiencies in the EU’s trade agreement policy.
The Mercosur deal tests Europe’s geoeconomic ambition
On 18 February 2026, the website of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) posted an article entitled Barometer Check: Transatlantic Security and the Munich Security Conference by Rachel Ellehuus, RUSI Director-General.
Barometer Check: Transatlantic Security and the Munich Security Conference
On 18 February, an article entitled Conférence sur la Sécurité : l’UE en quête de sa souveraineté by Bernard Chappedelaine, ex adviser to the French Foreign Ministry, was published on the website of the Institut Montaigne (France).
Security Conference: The EU in Search of its Sovereignty
Joseph Dellatte, an analyst at the Institut Montaigne, examines in his report entitled Qui a peur du Grand Méchant Marché Carbone? the future of the Emission Trading System (ETS), a mechanism that makes industries pay for CO2 emissions. It is about using money, rather than prohibitions, to reduce them; but today the system is increasingly working against Europeans.
Who Is Afraid of a Big Carbon Market? Three Future Scenarios for the European ETS System
Several months before the milestone Pact on Migration and Asylum enters into force and lays a basis for a large-scale reform of the bloc’s migration policy, the European Commission published another curious document on the topic. This is the first European asylum and migration management strategy It defines the priorities that will guide the agreement's implementation over the next five years.
Innovation in Migration Management. The EU searches for a new paradigm. Will it Succeed?
In the run-up to the Dutch general elections in the autumn of 2025, the question of the modernization of migration and asylum policies was raised as a topical issue. Some parties advocated a fundamental reform of the asylum system, whereby parts of the asylum procedure would take place outside the European Union and refugees would only be able to come to Europe through resettlement.
On Externalization of Asylum, with Responsibility Offloaded to Third Countries
In their report entitled Better coordination for a more efficient European energy system, the authors from the Bruegel Institute of Belgium examine the prospects of the European energy industry. They suggest three measures: to establish a single energy data hub, delegate cross-border grid planning to the European Commission and to link the national energy plans (NECPs) to funding from Brussels.
Better coordination for a more efficient European energy system
On 11 February, an article entitled Europe is chasing the wrong fix for its growth crisis was published on the Politico online newspaper’s website – dedicated to the idea of overcoming the EU’s economic lag by deepening its federalization and building it into the global economy.
Europe is chasing the wrong fix for its growth crisis
A report by Sofia Romansky, a strategic analyst at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), assesses the influence of AI on the military domain. According to the author, the acceleration provided by AI will be a crucial decision-making advantage for commanders in the battlefield.
AI’s Impact on Military Intelligence and Decision-Making The Simulacrum of Normative Power
In a RUSI report, experts Elijah Glantz and Dr. Pia Hüsch analyze the establishment of the UK National Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Policing (Police.AI). The authors discuss the technological risks: outdated databases, incompatible systems, and past projects’ failures. Yet the key threats stay beyond the discussion.
Police.AI – New Tech Tools for UK Law Enforcement
Anthropic PBC, a U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) startup, recently found Chinese State‑sponsored hackers to have manipulated Claude Code, an Anthropic AI orchestration tool, in order to carry out a sophisticated cyber espionage campaign targeting some 30 organizations worldwide.
Weaponizing AI A new Global Cyber Battlefield Appears
On 8 February 2026, the Middle East Eye website posted an article by Marco Carnelos, a former Italian diplomat who had mainly served in the Middle East. The publication analyzes the causes and consequences of a speech made by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the 2026 forum in Davos and shows the context of the global processes and the possible consequences of the changes.
Could Carney’s Speech in Davos Mark a Turning Point Towards a Post-American World Order?