French President Emmanuel Macron hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on August 29 for the Franco-German Council of Ministers. They discussed Europe’s economy, support for Ukraine, and defense, with Merz pushing for German leadership on security. But political tensions in France and Germany are straining the partnership amid broader concerns over NATO, nuclear deterrence, and Europe’s reliance on US protection. Marie Krpata, Research Fellow at the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations at IFRI, has more on this issue.

Leo Litra and Lesia Ogryzko are joined by Élie Tenenbaum and Oleksandr Sushko to discuss June’s NATO summit—and what Europe’s security step up means for Ukraine.

By bombing Iran alongside Israel, Donald Trump has performed a show of force aimed at China and Russia, explains the director of the French Institute of International Relations in an interview.

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.

NATO Public Forum 2025 LIVE | Day 1, 24 June 2025. Terrorism, instability and regional fragility continue to pose urgent challenges across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahel with direct implications for Allied security. How can NATO partnerships in its southern neighbourhood address the intertwined security, demographic and economic drivers behind this challenge? How to respond to the growing relevance of cyber terrorism and hybrid conflict?

The interview explores France’s withdrawal from Africa, its strategic pivot to NATO’s eastern flank, and the complex dynamics with Turkey. It also touches on Europe’s military dilemmas, the growing strength of Turkey’s defense industry, and the limits of French influence in the Middle East. A clear-eyed look at where Europe stands—and where it may be heading.

Emmanuel Macron wants to strengthen military as US pulls back from Europe but must tackle steep borrowing costs.

Germany’s Merz says Britain and France may need to “share” their nuclear weapons as America can’t be relied on to defend NATO. Europe's politicians are openly discussing how they could tackle the threat of nuclear attack without American help, in a dramatic sign of the deep crisis engulfing the transatlantic alliance under Donald Trump. Friedrich Merz, whom polls suggest is on course to become chancellor after Sunday’s German elections, said his country would need to look beyond the U.S. to Britain and France for nuclear safeguards. Under Trump, he said, America could no longer be relied on.