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FIFA’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams triggered predictable outrage from traditionalists. Ticket prices caused even greater anger, with some seats reportedly listed at more than US$11,000, prompting accusations of elitism and price gouging.

The Football World Cup Controversy Couldn’t Kill

Scandal and presidential interference haven’t stopped fans from turning 2026 into a festival

Russia, particularly, is a long-time adherent to the view that the world is on the brink of a major change, and hence it is doubtful of the value of investing in long-term arrangements. It is convinced that 500 years of Western hegemony is ending, that other powers are ascendant, and that major upheavals are coming before the dust settles and a new world order can emerge.

Why Europe Cannot Negotiate a New Yalta with Russia

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Tuesday, July 7, 2026

While Russia is not ready to sue for peace on Europe’s terms, it could still either seek a ceasefire in Ukraine or try escalation. Brussels needs to prepare for both and prioritize that preparation over normative discussions.

After years building his reputation as Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham has returned to Westminster and appears poised to become Prime Minister following Keir Starmer’s announcement on 22 June that he will step down.

Andy Burnham Isn’t Labour’s Messiah

By: Rajnish Singh | Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Britain’s next prime minister may have the political touch which Keir Starmer lacked, but no leader can escape the UK’s structural crises that have already brought down six occupants of Downing Street in little more than a decade.

Brussels has never mastered its image challenges. The Commission has always had a ‘good news’ approach to media relations, putting a positive gloss on detailed dossiers. Yet it is the wider sweep of the EU’s problems that would demonstrate its raison d’être and rebut the ‘unelected bureaucracy’ slur.

How the EU could shape a ’new global order’

By: Friends of Europe | Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Giles Merritt argues that Donald Trump’s destruction of global trust in the US is opening the way for the EU to fashion new international rules

An official party timetable is yet to be announced, but in his resignation speech Sir Keir said contenders to replace him would have between 9 and 16 July to garner the necessary support to stand.

Why did Keir Starmer resign and what could happen next?

By: BBC News | Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Sir Keir Starmer has announced his resignation as Labour leader, heralding the end of his time in 10 Downing Street. He has said he will stay on as UK prime minister until his successor is in place.

Europe is heading straight into the proverbial brick wall, with the prospect of severe bruising during the 2030s and serious injury by the 2040s. By mid-century, the EU risks becoming a socio-economic basket case, a far cry from its late 20th-century heyday.

Smouldering migrant issues key to make-or-break 2027 elections

By: Giles Merritt | Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Giles Merritt says populists must be challenged to detail their policies for tackling the EU’s rapidly deteriorating demographic outlook.

The EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum arrives at a consequential moment, yet reveals a framework built for the political pressures of 2015, not the climate realities of today. Not only does the pact repackage migration policies that have led to human rights abuses and suffering, but it is also not entirely fit for purpose.

The Climate Blind Spot in Europe’s New Migration Pact

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Tuesday, June 9, 2026

The EU’s new migration policy is not suited to today’s realities. With climate change increasingly becoming a driver of global refugee flows, Europe needs to rethink its deterrence-focused approach.

Labour’s base may want a closer relationship with Europe. But the voters who delivered its record breaking massive 166 seat majority, do not want the Brexit fight back on the table. They want competence, stability and delivery.

Labour’s Brexit Bind: Why Reopening the EU Question Will Not Help It Politically

By: Rajnish Singh | Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Labour has only been in power for two years, and already it’s flirting with the one issue guaranteed to blow holes in its electoral support: Europe.

European leaders’ slow progress on these key policies contrasts with the speed of economic decline. Research by McKinsey analysts points to a dramatic widening between US and EU living standards unless there’s a decisive shift to boost productivity. They calculate that the present per capita GDP gap between Germany and the United States of $29,000 could increase to $48,000 by 2033 if Europe continues to stagnate economically.

The EU lacks the ’Big Idea’ to end its own policy chaos

By: Friends of Europe | Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Giles Merritt looks at the economic headaches vying for EU policy backing and calls for a far more strategic approach.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, most have pursued a policy of isolation and sanctions, and not all agree on the wisdom of initiating even limited contacts.

Can EU find a Russia whisperer to mediate an end to war in Ukraine?

By: BBC News | Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Ukraine is urging the EU to help negotiate an end to the war with Russia, a topic that will be discussed in detail at an informal meeting of European foreign ministers in Cyprus.

Today, EU enlargement no longer benefits from the permissive consensus that accompanied post–Cold War integration. Instead, it is the go-to scapegoat for all the ills of member states. What’s more, enlargement takes place amid geopolitical insecurity, migration anxieties, democratic backsliding, economic uncertainty, and declining trust in institutions.

EU Enlargement Forgets Europeans

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Preparing candidate countries for EU membership is no longer enough. As the enlargement process becomes a reality, the union must also prepare its own societies.

Since his return to the White House, Trump has routinely derided NATO as an unfair organization. He has severely undermined the credibility of the alliance’s collective defense promise by stating countries shouldn’t own land they can’t defend, and, latterly, has threatened it outright, warning in an interview to the Financial Times that NATO faces a “very bad” future if U.S. allies fail to assist in opening up the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump Turns NATO into a Tool of Coercion

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Wednesday, May 20, 2026

The full list of humiliations Europe has endured since Donald Trump returned to the White House makes for grim reading. But Washington’s adversarial approach to its allies undermines its own power base.

European leaders have indicated that the UK would be welcome back in principle, yet only on standard terms, reflecting a desire to protect the integrity of the bloc. There is goodwill—but little appetite for reopening bespoke British exceptions.

Britain and Europe: The Long Road Back

By: EBR | Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Wes Streeting’s call for Britain to rejoin the European Union, and Andy Burnham’s more cautious but still sympathetic noises, signal something important: the question of EU membership is no longer taboo in mainstream politics.

What if Europe’s industrial heat came from sustainable energy on-site? This is the potential of replacing industrial gas boilers with clean solutions in heating processes, like thermal battery energy storage, which releases heat instead of electricity, large heat pumps, and electric boilers—as well as geothermal heat from the earth.

How the EU Can Become Energy Independent

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Tuesday, May 12, 2026

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered a global energy crisis, but Europe is stuck in reaction mode. Without more strategic foresight, the EU will remain dependent on fossil fuels and will never be truly secure.

The fact that so many saw in Zack Polanski the answer to Britain’s most pressing questions tells us dark things about the changing heart of this country of ours.

The Greens have shockingly proved that anti-Semitism is a vote-winner

By: The Telegraph | Monday, May 11, 2026

Polanski’s party has become a seedbed for the political ambitions of every jihadist, Islamist and progressive fanatic in Britain

Europe is still a long way from being able to truly claim strategic autonomy, both because it lacks the physical means to do so, and because many of its leaders still lack the political will to fully lean into the concept. Europeans bear a sizeable part of the responsibility for having refused to see the reality of what the United States has been turning into over the past decade.

Europeans Are Quiet Quitting the United States

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Wednesday, May 6, 2026

European leaders have now not only lost faith in Donald Trump’s U.S. presidency, but also in America’s hegemony as a whole. But short-term challenges make an immediate divorce unwise.

Over recent months the Prime Minister has taken an increasingly strident stance on Brexit in an apparent attempt to appeal to Labour MPs and members.

Starmer to lobby Macron for closer EU ties

By: The Telegraph | Monday, May 4, 2026

PM to use summit to gain access to £52bn of weapons contracts in exchange for helping cover interest on Ukraine loan scheme

The Iran shock is accelerating a reordering with a redistribution of hydrocarbon rents. The diffusion of EV’s is being forced via through price pain at the gas station. Trade and currency blocs may also be hardening.

Ten Inconvenient Truths About the Energy Implications of the Iran Crisis

By: The Globalist | Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Yes, the Iran crisis is a matter of global security. But it is also an event redistributing market shares in a declining hydrocarbon system.

The EU’s ambivalence on Turkey is a long-standing theme. For a long time, the main intellectual cleavage was about the country’s eventual union membership. Despite being a candidate country and having started formal accession negotiations in 2005, the prospect of Turkish membership remained a controversial issue.

The EU Equivocating on Turkey Is Bad Geopolitics

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Following Ursula von der Leyen’s gaffe equating Turkey to Russia and China, relations with Ankara risk deteriorating even further. Without better, more consistent diplomatic messaging, how can the EU pretend to be a geopolitical power?

The case for a more muscular posture in Lebanon is self-evident. This would neither be a mandate against Israel nor against the Shia Lebanese. It would be a mandate in favor of international law, and in support of an imperfect and flawed democracy that, in the region, most embodies European values of plurality, liberty, and freedom of speech.

France, Italy, and Spain Should Use Force in Lebanon

By: Carnegie - Strategic Europe | Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Europe has been standing by while its Southern neighborhood is being redrawn by force. To establish a path to peace between Israel and Lebanon, it’s time for Europeans to get involved with hard power.

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EU Actually

Despite chaos at airports, Commission President Von der Leyen sticks to new border controls

By: N. Peter Kramer

In his weekly column, N. Peter Kramer writes about the dramatically long queues for non-Schengen passengers at EU airports, caused by a disfunctioning new border control system invented by the European Commission. An end of this drama is not in sight.

Europe

France’s Marine Le Pen, fighting court conviction and running for presidency

Marine Le Pen has run for the French presidency three times before, but now that she has decided to attempt it a fourth time, she has taken a gamble.

Business

How Much Pressure Can European CEOs Take?

There was a time when the job of the CEO was difficult but relatively clear: grow the business, beat the competition, manage costs, satisfy shareholders, inspire employees and avoid major reputational mistakes. That world has disappeared.