Publications

Myanmar is a nation trapped between democratic aspirations, ethnic rebel forces controlling vast territories and a military junta determined to cling to power. In the midst of turmoil, its citizens search for meaning and a sense of direction wherever they can get it.

In this episode of Handing over the Mic, we hand over to Argentine writer and journalist Gabriela Cabezón Cámara. One of the most powerful literary voices in Latin America today, she reflects on Europe through the lens of history, language and lived experience.   

As Trump takes aim at Europe, alleging ‘decay’ and ‘civilizational erasure’, Mark Gilbert counters that both its cheerleaders and detractors, American and European, have created a false dichotomy in their characterizations. The European project is both more complex and subtle than either the Euro-boosters or sceptics would have us believe. Europe’s journey still has a long way to go.

Across Central and Eastern Europe, political parties are now divided into opposing pro-EU and pro-Russia camps, subverting the well-established left–right cleavage that has organized politics since the fall of communism. Meanwhile, a shifting geopolitical reality is driving a securitization of politics that in turn is further fuelling polarization. The EU must tread carefully.

November’s G20 summit in Johannesburg – the first on African soil – and the African and European Unions’ (AU-EU) summit marking 25 years of partnership in Luanda were reminders that both continents are now operating in a new, more competitive geopolitical environment. It also exposed the narratives each side holds about the other.

Amid a maelstrom of peace plans, ceasefire negotiations, leaks and reactions, predicting the outcome is a bold endeavour. Yet one thing is increasingly clear – the Europeans are facing a situation they failed to anticipate, despite repeated and consistent warnings.  

Discussions are ongoing around a US-led framework for peace in Ukraine, the terms of which suggest stark choices ahead for both Kyiv and Europe. How are the proposals viewed within Ukraine? And how feasible are the alternatives to continued engagement from the White House? BIG asked Oleksandra Azarkhina, Head of Defence Industries Initiatives at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine.

Georgia’s authoritarian turn is not an isolated crisis - it is a test of Europe’s geopolitical foresight and credibility as a guarantor of democratic reforms, transparency and the rule of law. In an essay for BIG, the country's fifth President urges the EU to match her compatriots' civil courage with strategic resolve.

Russia’s frozen assets are currently poisoning EU politics: the dilemma besetting Europe is whether to break the taboo of seizing them or not. Even if Belgium's fears are allayed, the plan is not without risk. Yet between Kyiv's plight and budgetary pressures at home, there are few easy choices left for Europe's leaders - or are there?

Can a political community designed to escape the logic of power evolve into one capable of exercising it and of acting strategically in a world increasingly defined by conflict?

Contrary to their name, rare earths are not particularly scarce in terms of geological abundance. Yet they are integral elements of the global economy - and thus pivotal to the EU's strategic ambitions. Where are the hotspots for these critical metals within Europe - and what's keeping them in the ground?

María Corina Machado's decision to stay in Venezuela and lead demonstrations against the Maduro regime despite personal risk earned her the Nobel Peace Prize this autumn – and worldwide recognition. Outside the confines of her safe house and among the massed crowd, her symbolic power lies in the details.

Climate diplomacy increasingly mirrors great-power politics, and the EU's new Global Climate and Energy Vision is an attempt to move beyond moral appeals and embrace 'Green Realpolitik'. COP30 in Belém will test whether Europe can turn this emergent internal realism into a credible external strategy.

When Raila Odinga – ‘Baba’ to millions (‘father’ in Swahili) – died this October, Kenya was convulsed with grief. Within hours of the news breaking, crowds thronged the streets. Songs and tears mingled with marches and gunfire. Some mourners were even killed in the mayhem. For a newcomer from Europe, this raw emotion, almost religious verve and outpouring of love for a political figure felt at odds with the political cynicism we have become accustomed to in the West.  

In the latest episode of Handing Over the Mic we hear from Dr Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and previously Secretary-General of Amnesty International - the first woman to hold either post. On the agenda: the geopolitics of social media regulation, and Europe's potential role as a driver of an alternative tech model in equal partnership with the Global South.

Pharmaceutical prowess and access to medicine production have become major levers of power and prestige. Yet as China's biopharma industry booms, and the US reshores production and threatens tariff hikes, Europe risks falling behind. Beijing's dominance of the electric vehicle sector offers clues to how Europe should respond now that another key industry faces a similar challenge.

This past summer the EU accepted asymmetric US tariffs, not just as the price for maintaining access to American markets but also for keeping Washington engaged in NATO and Ukraine. The much-criticised deal underscored the institutions' limited capacity to integrate commercial clout and statecraft - a geostrategic void at the heart of EU decision-making which demands urgent attention. BIG has a proposal.

The convincing victory in the Czech elections by Andrej Babis’s populist movement heralds his return as prime minister and immediately raises questions and concerns about what it means for the country, for Central Europe and for the EU.

Maps shape the way we see the world, reflecting power structures, magnifying some nations and regions, minimizing others and placing some at the centre. A more equitable projection could foster a better-balanced view of the global picture - and our place in it.

On 15 November 1988, the Palestinian National Council proclaimed the State of Palestine at an extraordinary meeting held one year after the start of the First Intifada. Algeria, then under the presidency of Chadli Bendjedid, offered its capital, Algiers, as the stage for this historic declaration, placing the country at the heart of Arab diplomacy in support of the Palestinian cause.

Digital cooperation is central to a more strategic framing of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. The EU and its partners share a quest for greater digital autonomy from China and the United States. Europe can increase resilience by providing alternatives that combine private tech solutions with public support for governance and skills. Digital solutions need to be developed jointly with partners to generate lasting local benefits.

Copenhagen hosted two major European summits at the start of October, following drone incursions into Danish airspace which pushed security even higher up the leaders' agenda. BIG asks one of the country’s leading experts on NATO and European security for his perspective.

Europe is learning that American gas, too, can be turned into a tool of leverage. True energy independence lies not in choosing a new supplier, but in choosing a new path.

The era in which the EU’s core economic competencies could be exercised in isolation from wider geostrategic concerns is over - and institutional decision-making has thus far failed to integrate the security considerations which now suffuse commercial policy. A European Economic Security Council would provide the 'strategic lens' necessary for the Union to exercise economic statecraft more effectively and coherently.

As its seventh summit approaches, the EPC continues to defy definition – and prove its value, despite the doubters. Our latest paper assesses how this geopolitical forum has matured, how it could develop in future, and what the EPC’s “staying power” means for the other actors on the stage – particularly the EU.