Can Governments Advance Trade in a Fragmented World?
HR Dr Oleksandr Balanutsa, Ambassador of Ukraine to the UAE, discusses the UAE-Ukraine Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Europe stands at a strategic and socio-economic crossroads. Russia’s protracted assault on Ukraine has put the post‐Cold War security order into question and sparked important debates about national defense and nuclear deterrence. Meanwhile, instability in the European neighborhood amplifies debates on strategic energy corridors, critical mineral partnerships, and food security buffers. Domestically, the rise of far‐right movements is testing the stability of liberal democracies. Within the European Union, rule‐of‐law disputes collide with calls for treaty reform ahead of any possible enlargement. At the same time, an ambitious industrial and climate transformation is under way, seeking to future-proof European economies and position Europe as a driver and beneficiary of innovation and digital transformation, even as ageing workforces, fiscal imbalance, and populist backlash expose structural fault lines. Fiker Institute’s Europe Program seeks to interrogate Europe’s position in the shifting global order and analyze regional and domestic dynamics that will shape the continent’s political, security, and economic trajectories. How are European states navigating international partnerships and calls for strategic autonomy in an increasingly multipolar world? How is Europe rethinking defense and security in light of the fracturing of the transatlantic alliance?
Ideology & Integration in Inaam Kachachi’s Sayf Siwisri
In Inaam Kachachi’s Sayf Siwisri, a newly developed Swiss medicine, which is referred to as “bonbon”, can cure people from the deadliest disease of all—ideology. Kachachi’s novel is an exploration of forced migration, fundamentalism and its origins, cultural identity, and the lasting effects of colonization on the human psyche. At its essence, Sayf Siwisri asks what it means to be accepted and integrated, and where the blame lies in systemic trauma.
Prospects for a European Military
Last month’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit put the question of burden-sharing for Europe’s security provision at center stage. While, ostensibly, transatlantic leaders appeared more unified around joint commitments to increase defense spending, the summit highlighted ongoing divergences between the allies. The gathering was notably short with only one working session scheduled to last a mere […]
Undoing the Transatlantic Partnership: Europe vs. Trump
The transatlantic partnership, historically a shared pillar of security and economic prosperity for the United States (US) and Europe, now faces unprecedented challenges as US President Donald Trump’s second term ushers in a new era of confrontation. At the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized European leadership, revealing the widening rift between the […]
The 2025 German Elections: Party Politics & International Implications
After the fall of the traffic-light coalition in November 2024 and Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s failure to win a vote-of-confidence the following month, Germany’s government has a fresh opportunity to re-constitute itself in the upcoming snap elections on February 23, 2025. Scholz’s cabinet was deeply fragmented by internal disagreements, particularly over budget proposals. Havoc erupted after a […]
The EU’s New Leadership & The Middle East
When the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen took office in 2019, she vowed to make the European Union (EU) a leading actor in confronting global challenges. Now in its second iteration, von der Leyen’s “geopolitical Commission” faces even more pressing worries in an increasingly geopolitical world: the return of Great Power politics has left […]