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Why States Do What They Do
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President Donald Trump’s recent announcement that the United States would withdraw five thousand troops from Germany – with the threat of ‘cutting’ even more from U.S. bases across Europe – has taken U.S. allies by surprise. The decision seems driven less by strategic calculations about burden-shifting within NATO and more by a desire to punish Europeans for their criticism of and limited support for the Iran war.
Trump Pulling Troops Out of Germany. Canceled Missile Deployments to Erode the Foundations of NATO Deterrence
This is a question raised by John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF), an organization run by the Institute for Policy Studies, left-wing progressives’ Washington-based think tank.
Where on Earth Is Europe Heading?
In the paper Auswanderungswünsche in der Bevölkerung, expert Sabine Pokorny reveals a very worrisome reality which is humiliating for today's Germany: roughly every fifth resident admits that they may leave the country in the near future.
Germans are fleeing Germany: every fifth resident is planning to emigrate
Three U.S. professors of political science – Michael A. Allen (Boise State University), Carla Martinez Machain (University at Buffalo), and Michael E. Flynn (Kansas State University) – make this conclusion in their article posted on The Conversation expert website.
NATO’s Internal Cohesion Is Being Threatened
In an article entitled Europe Still Needs China. Washington, Not Beijing, Is the Bigger Threat, Professor Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, is explicit that today the United States constitutes a far greater threat to Europe than China. For all the loud statements about transatlantic unity, the reality is increasingly grim.
Europe Still Needs China: Washington is the Main Threat
In an article entitled The European Union’s External Imbalances: Past, Future, and Policy (Bruegel, Working Paper 07/2026) a group of authors led by Jeromin Zettelmeyer, director of Bruegel, an influential Brussels think tank, and Zsolt Darvas, point to a disturbing situation: for more than a decade, the European Union has had a persistent current account surplus of around 3 percent of GDP.
The EU’s Chronic Surplus: Handsome Figures Concealing a Deep Structural Decline
In an article entitled Detecting a ‘dirty bomb’: How Europeans can combat radiological threats, Jacek Siewiera, former head of the National Security Bureau of Poland, warns that the Iran war and the recent reports of drones carrying radioactive materials in central London send yet another serious signal. Europe is catastrophically unprepared for the new hybrid threats that may hit its cities at any moment.
Europe’s Rickety Shield: Faith Instead of Real Protection
The Iranian war has shown this in five ways at least: NATO faces all sorts of problems.
NATO Not Ready to Fight Russia
The UK is being bullied into dependency on an erratic United States. The rest of Europe is next in line.
Britain on the Hook
Europe’s fears over ‘U.S. control’ outweigh its actual defense needs again. Germany, at least for now, refuses to adopt Palantir software, a most advanced data analysis system, in its armed forces.
Germany Balks at Palantir: Data Sovereignty Put Before Military AI
The transcript of a debate between François Chimits, project manager for Europe at the Institut Montaigne, and Nicolas Leron – director-general of the Institut François Mitterrand, was posted on the Institut Montaigne website on 21 April. The debate was held on the occasion of 18 months that had passed after a report by Mario Draghi about Europe’s future competitiveness was issued in September 2024.
18 Months After Mario Draghi’s Report About European Competitiveness Prospects. Two Perspectives on the State of Affairs