European Council on Foreign Relations

Commentary 28 September 2026 3 minute read Cargo ships wait to transit the Panama Canal after authorities announced a reduction to daily transits due to forecasts of El Niño conditions in Panama City, 24 July 2026 Image by picture alliance / AP Photo/Matias Delacroix As world leaders descend on New York City for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, the international order they have ostensibly come to defend is in worse shape than at any point since 1945.

Policy Brief 24 September 2026 British prime minister Andy Burnham, right, meets with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, England on September 16th, 2026 Image by picture alliance / Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP Britain’s foreign policy is stuck in the past. It remains shaped to the post-cold-war order, unable to adequately address the challenges and conflicts which are shaping a new geopolitical reality.

Policy Alert 22 September 2026 2 minute read Yemenis who support the Houthi group shout slogans during a night rally, showing support for control of the Mocha port region, at Al-Saben Square in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sep. 11, 2026 Image by picture alliance / Xinhua News Agency | Mohammed Mohammed The Houthis, Yemen’s Iran-backed rebel movement, have tightened their grip on the country’s Red Sea coast.

6 October 2026, 11:30 – 12:30 , Berlin time (CEST, UTC+2) Venue: SDA Bocconi School of Management, Via Antonio Nibby 20, ROMA SPEAKERS Mark Leonard, Co-founder and Director, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) Nathalie Tocci, Senior Fellow, IEP Bocconi; ECFR Council Member CHAIR Stefano Feltri, Communication Advisor, IEP Bocconi What happens when powers no longer agree on the rules, or even on what international order should look like?

Policy Brief 21 September 2026 Skyline with Etihad Towers skyscrapers at night in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 19 February 2026 Image by picture alliance / Markus Mainka The UAE has built outsized influence through a strategy of connectivity, turning itself into a hub that binds it to every great power. The American and Israeli war against Iran was the sharpest test of that model.

Policy Alert 18 September 2026 2 minute read Mark Carney waves as he arrives to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, to attend the State of the European Union address by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, back right; Image by picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com | Justin Tang European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s offer this week of “associate membership” for Canada was received in the European Parliament.

Press release 16 September 2026 Berlin – The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) have launched CEIPE – Community and Expertise on India and the Indo-Pacific in Europe, a two-year initiative to strengthen and connect Europe’s expertise on India and bring it closer to policymaking. As part of the initiative, ECFR is recruiting up to six leading European think tanks to form the core of the CEIPE network.

Policy Brief 16 September 2026 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the press conference at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkiye on 8 July 2026 Image by picture alliance / NurPhoto | Jakub Porzycki Europe still expects Turkey to pick a side. It has refused, and a post-Erdogan government would refuse too. Turkey has become an embedded outsider: a middle power that builds strategic autonomy from inside the Western system—because that is where its leverage comes from.

Policy Alert 15 September 2026 2 minute read New Delhi, India: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, on arrival for the BRICS summit at Bharat Mandapam, September 12, 2026 in New Delhi, India Image by picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com | Pib Handout/Press Information The BRICS summit concluded in New Delhi on Sunday, with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi having hosted the two-day gathering as chair.

Policy Brief 15 September 2026 Illustrations by Chris Eichberger The Democrats could win big in the US midterm elections. This won’t matter much for constraining Trump, but it will start to establish what politics comes after him.