Despite concerns about growing Chinese and Indian influence in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), the footprint of the two Asian powers in the region remains limited. The EU has a deep and multifaceted relationship with the three Maghreb nations, while China’s and India’s dealings with ...
European defence cooperation is about NATO and the EU, but also the EU and its partners; and the array of multilateral and bilateral defence cooperation agreements among EU Member States and beyond. But is this intricate architecture a mishmash of duplications and inefficiencies, or a web of ste...
The effective countering of hybrid threats is a common concern for the EU and NATO, including in the Western Balkans. While the EU’s and NATO’s mandates and toolkits differ, their presence and intervention in the region is complementary and rooted in close cooperation. The Western Balkans are in...
As a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ankara now perceives the Black Sea region as a much less stable and predictable environment. Türkiye has voted alongside the West in the UN resolutions condemning Russia’s actions, and provided Ukraine with arms, but refrained from joining ...
The EU sanctions package imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 combines two different rationales: the traditional logic of sapping economic vitality and putting pressure on state coffers, and a more selective logic targeting the country’s elites. In terms of the ec...
Lying at the crossroads of central and south Asia, Afghanistan constitutes a key transit hub. This brief explores how tapping into regional trade, energy and transport connectivity around the country can yield significant benefits for the broader region....
In the wake of the Arab League summit that took place in early November in Algiers – providing an opportunity for an energy-emboldened Algeria to assert its regional influence – this Brief examines why the organisation has often been criticised for its ineffectiveness, and how the EU and the Lea...
This brief examines how the rise to power of Narendra Modi as the head of the nationalist BJP has changed India’s politics and diplomacy, and analyses the implications for the EU’s efforts to pursue closer engagement with the country....
Despite the fact that Africa is well-positioned to become the world’s breadbasket, many African countries are plagued by food shortages. The final brief in the Imagine Africa series focuses on the issue of food security in Africa and examines what approaches and policies could be pursued to achi...
Two key factors can be identified as having shaped the EU’s positioning within the broader international engagement in Afghanistan. Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the first ever invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, European engagement in Afghanistan was characterise...