Europe in Ten Years
In the last 10 years, European integration has suffered several shocks. These shocks have challenged the historical narrative of the European Union, and have profoundly affected policies, as well as support by the peoples of Europe for the EU project. The real risk of disintegration can only be avoided if Member States accept to overhaul European integration, based on the idea of “civilizing globalization” and adopting corresponding policies grounded in solidarity.
French-German future combat aircraft project on the brink of collapse
Eight years after Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel launched the SCAF, this symbol of European sovereignty in defense is on the verge of collapse. At issue are the demands of the project's main contractor, Dassault Aviation, which Berlin considers excessive, as well as political and strategic differences between France and Germany.
A Vibrant and Flexible Alliance
NATO has proved its renewed usefulness and is today fully engaged, well beyond its former frontiers, wherever its interests and those of its members are threatened.
NATO: A View from Central Europe
Poland is not just concerned with the usefulness of the Alliance, but also with what can be done to make it more effective, and to maintain its relevance and good health in the decades ahead.
NATO and ESDP: Institutional Complexities and Political Realities
With 50 years’ seniority over the ESDP, and despite its austere origins, NATO transformed itself during the 20th century into a political-bureaucratic machine in search of a more appropriate international role.
NATO-Russia: Is the ‘Russian Question’ European?
The proliferation of theaters (in Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Far East, the Middle East and the Arctic) and cross-cutting issues (proliferation, disarmament, energy, arms sales) demonstrate the overall importance of the NATO/Russia relationship.
Securing critical raw material (CRM) value chains – a prerequisite for Europe’s technological resilience
At the heart of economic security, technological resilience is a backbone of the European Union’s (EU) competitiveness. The EU’s energy and digital transitions depend on critical raw materials (CRM).
Reconciling competitiveness and demographic change: a Franco-German imperative
France and Germany are facing parallel demographic shifts that could reshape the future of their economies and their social models. These shifts reflect broader European patterns but are magnified by the central role both nations play in EU governance and competitiveness.
The Strategic Dimension of Skills in the Clean Industrial Deal
In the competitiveness and energy transition battles, the European Union (EU) must master a determinant factor: skills.
The Energy Transition Faces Geopolitical Challenges. How Can Ideological Divides Be Overcome?
President Trump’s positions and policies, combined with record coal consumption and booming global electricity demand, geo-economic confrontation, and widespread concerns about energy security, are changing the game when it comes to understanding realistic decarbonization trajectories. The war in Europe is intensifying competition between defense and transition budgets. This is also the case elsewhere in the world.
Europe in Ten Years
In the last 10 years, European integration has suffered several shocks. These shocks have challenged the historical narrative of the European Union, and have profoundly affected policies, as well as support by the peoples of Europe for the EU project. The real risk of disintegration can only be avoided if Member States accept to overhaul European integration, based on the idea of “civilizing globalization” and adopting corresponding policies grounded in solidarity.
A Vibrant and Flexible Alliance
NATO has proved its renewed usefulness and is today fully engaged, well beyond its former frontiers, wherever its interests and those of its members are threatened.
NATO: A View from Central Europe
Poland is not just concerned with the usefulness of the Alliance, but also with what can be done to make it more effective, and to maintain its relevance and good health in the decades ahead.
NATO and ESDP: Institutional Complexities and Political Realities
With 50 years’ seniority over the ESDP, and despite its austere origins, NATO transformed itself during the 20th century into a political-bureaucratic machine in search of a more appropriate international role.
NATO-Russia: Is the ‘Russian Question’ European?
The proliferation of theaters (in Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Far East, the Middle East and the Arctic) and cross-cutting issues (proliferation, disarmament, energy, arms sales) demonstrate the overall importance of the NATO/Russia relationship.
Securing critical raw material (CRM) value chains – a prerequisite for Europe’s technological resilience
At the heart of economic security, technological resilience is a backbone of the European Union’s (EU) competitiveness. The EU’s energy and digital transitions depend on critical raw materials (CRM).
Reconciling competitiveness and demographic change: a Franco-German imperative
France and Germany are facing parallel demographic shifts that could reshape the future of their economies and their social models. These shifts reflect broader European patterns but are magnified by the central role both nations play in EU governance and competitiveness.
The Strategic Dimension of Skills in the Clean Industrial Deal
In the competitiveness and energy transition battles, the European Union (EU) must master a determinant factor: skills.
The Energy Transition Faces Geopolitical Challenges. How Can Ideological Divides Be Overcome?
President Trump’s positions and policies, combined with record coal consumption and booming global electricity demand, geo-economic confrontation, and widespread concerns about energy security, are changing the game when it comes to understanding realistic decarbonization trajectories. The war in Europe is intensifying competition between defense and transition budgets. This is also the case elsewhere in the world.
Reconnecting With Europe's Nuclear DNA: a Political Question
As Europe's main source of low-carbon electricity, nuclear power is a strategic asset for tackling climate and geopolitical challenges.
French-German future combat aircraft project on the brink of collapse
Eight years after Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel launched the SCAF, this symbol of European sovereignty in defense is on the verge of collapse. At issue are the demands of the project's main contractor, Dassault Aviation, which Berlin considers excessive, as well as political and strategic differences between France and Germany.
Energy sector: outlook and opportunities
The recent energy crisis has highlighted our economies' dependence on energy resources. With fossil fuels becoming less available, and a necessary transition to more decarbonised alternatives, could tomorrow's energy not become more expensive and less certain in availability?
The E.U. Offered to Embrace Ukraine, but Now What?
The European Union and NATO have promised a path to membership for the embattled country. But real partnership will hold risks and benefits for both sides.
EU Winds Down Military Training Operations in Mali
The European bloc is involved in two training missions in Mali – the EUTM and the EUCAP – to coach soldiers and police.
Replay - Europe in turbulence: navigating a new world order without the United States?
A webinar organized by the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ) and the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), on June 25, 2025. The foundations of the post-1945 international order, long anchored by U.S. leadership, are shifting. Amid intensifying geopolitical rivalry, democratic backsliding, and strategic fatigue in Washington, the question arises: what if the United States no longer plays its pivotal role in international security? Simultaneously, the Global South is asserting new political and economic agency, complicating the old binaries of West vs. Rest. For Europe, this landscape is both a challenge and an inflection point.
Better know a nuke: France
In this episode of The Arms Control Poseur, host Dr Alexander Bollfrass is joined by nuclear policy experts Héloïse Fayet, Emmanuelle Maitre and Dr Liviu Horovitz to discuss the history and the current trajectory of France's nuclear arsenal.
Gabrielius Landsbergis: "The Ukrainians have shown that they have the capacity to win this war"
On 8 June, Ifri welcomed the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis. Isabelle Lasserre, diplomatic correspondent at Le Figaro, conducted a video interview with the minister.
European Strategic Autonomy and the Green Transition: What Industrial and Technological Strategies? (Replay)
The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and consequent supply chain disruptions in the energy sector have exposed critical vulnerabilities in the European Union’s broader strategic autonomy agenda and bolstered efforts at lessening strategic dependency on third states in a variety of areas , from raw materials, batteries and active pharmaceutical ingredients to hydrogen, semiconductors, and cloud and edge technologies.
The EU’s Power System by 2030: Navigating the Crisis and Keeping the Decarbonization Cap (video)
Replay from Ifri's conference at the European Parliament in Brussels (October 11, 2022). The combination of the climate crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine makes the case for a much faster transition to a fully decarbonized power system.
Video replay - Space and Quantum Technologies: What Strategies and Industrial Models for Europe?
Watch the video replay of the conference organized by Ifri's Geopolitics of Technology program on November 18, 2021.
Does a European diplomacy exist?
An interview with Thierry de Montbrial, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Ifri, on the occasion of his participation in the Trilateral Commission.
ENTSO-E's views on the Clean Energy Package - An Interview with Laurent SCHMITT
Laurent Schmitt, Secretary General, ENTSO-E, explains how to improve cooperation between transmission system operators and strengthen security of electricity supply, and how the Clean Energy Package will enhance the design of electricity market as a continuation of the network codes.
Reforming the EU electricity markets - Florian ERMACORA
Florian Ermacora, Head of the Internal Energy Market Unit in DG Energy, explains how the Clean Energy Package will improve the functioning of the internal electricity market, and how the new market design will help integrating larger shares of renewables.
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I see some degree of — I don’t want to say panic — but really alarmed Europeans who realize they need to stick together as much as possible.
If the Europeans want to step up and make up for the loss of American aid to Ukraine, it needs to happen now, they need to put the money on the table; they need to pass on the orders to the defense industry.
Europe is lacking ammunition, we’re lacking replacement parts, we’re lacking readiness.
quoted by Lisa Bryant for Voice of America.
Merz's statement now needs to be followed up in the long term at political level, on both the French and German sides. It's been on the table for five years, and if we don't talk about it now, when Europe is in danger, we'll never talk about it.
cited by Politico.