Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

Ursula von der Leyen’s first State of the European Union speech was as long as it was broad in topics and calls for action. Host Mark Leonard is joined by Alexander Stubb, ECFR Board Member, Director of the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance and Former Prime Minister of Finland and Carlos Moedas Trustee at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and former European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. Together they break down the speech and analyse its various parts, from climate to health policy, from digital sovereignty to Europe’s place in the world. What did the Commission President promise and envision? And did she point out some black sheep?This podcast was recorded on 16 September 2020.Bookshelf:• “Governance in the new global disorder: Politics for a post-sovereign society” by Daniel Innerarity • “The virus in the age of madness" by Bernard-Henri Lévy • “Has China won? The Chinese challenge to American primacy” by Kishore Mahbubani • "Negotiating flexibility in the European Union" by Alexander Stubb • "Taming Sino-American rivalry" by Feng Zhang & Richard Ned Lebow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Although US President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine the election are shameless, they are still more subtle than the outright election rigging that one finds in places like Belarus. Like other authoritarian leaders, Trump is deploying a new anti-democratic politics that has yet to be fully comprehended. Together with Asli Aydintasbas, Jeremy Shapiro and Andrew Wilson, Mark Leonard depicts seven dirty tricks that Trump seems to be borrowing from e.g. Russian President Vladimir Putin or Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Further reading: "Trump's dirty trick" by Mark Leonard: https://buff.ly/2EYW4xG This podcast was recorded on 9 September 2020.Bookshelf:- “Circe” and “The song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller - “The eternal city: A history of Rome” by Ferdinand Addis - “Democracy for sale” by Peter GeogheganPicture (c) Gage Skidmore Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, we feature one of the focus sessions from our Annual Council Meeting this June. Policy Fellow Ulrike Franke moderated this online panel discussion featuring Marietje Schaake, International Director of Policy at Stanford University's Cyber Policy Centre and former Member of the European Parliament, and Carlos Moedas Trustee at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and former European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, European Commission. Is the European Union indeed a “regulatory superpower” for digitalisation and the tech market? Does the EU draw on its AI potential to the fullest? Where should Europe position itself in the US-China rivalry? The session was recorded on 29 June 2020.Further reading: -Europe’s digital sovereignty: From rulemaker to superpower in the age of US-China rivalry by Carla Hobbs (ed.): https://buff.ly/30eSI1P-Not smart enough: The poverty of European military thinking on artificial intelligence by Ulrike Franke: https://buff.ly/2Es0QApBookshelf:ECFR’s August Reading List:https://buff.ly/30aJOSM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, Jeremy Shapiro stepped in as host and welcomes senior policy fellows Kadri Liik and Andrew Wilson as well as political scientist and editor of “Belarus-Analysen” Olga Dryndova to the podcast. Together, they shed light on the situation on the ground in Belarus: what are the goals do of the opposition in Belarus and what kind, if any, of strategy does it have for achieving them? How does long-time president Lukashenko see the situation and what is the state’s strategy to try to remain in power? And finally, what roles should the EU and Russia play in a mediation process?Further reading: Why the EU now needs a deliberate Belarus policy, by Andrew Wilson: https://buff.ly/3gomwOl This podcast was recorded on 26 August 2020.Bookshelf:- “Berlin 1936: 16 days in August” by Oliver Hilmes - Follow Tadeusz Giczan for analyses on Belarus - “Lie Machines: How to save democracy from troll armies, deceitful robots, junk news operations, and political operatives” by Philip N. Howard- Collections of essays by Haljand Udam - “Einstein’s dream“ by Alan LightmanPicture: (c) picture alliance / AA | Marina Serebryakova Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Defending the WHO is necessary but not sufficient to address the weaknesses that the corvid-19 crisis has revealed. Fundamentally, those weaknesses revolve around the interplay between, first, underfunded national and local health systems and second, international coordination which relies on goodwill and is too weak in a world of great power rivalry,” write Jonas Gahr Store, Leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and former Health and Foreign Minister as well as David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee and former UK Foreign Secretary in their recent op-ed. Mark Leonard invited the two author to his podcast talking about how the global health system could be reformed: what role should Europe play? And is it likely that the US position to global health changes with a potential Biden win? And can China also to play a positive role in global health security?Further reading: “Global Health Security Needs New Thinking” by David Miliband and Jonas Gahr: https://www.newsweek.com/new-world-health-mechanisms-covid-bold-thinking-1521096“Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics” by Jonathan Hackenbroich, Jeremy Shapiro, and Tara Varma: https://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/health_sovereignty_how_to_build_a_resilient_european_response_to_pandemicsThis podcast was recorded on 31 July 2020.Bookshelf:•“The United States Needs a New Foreign Policy” by William J Burns in The Atlantic •“Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mante•“Dinner at the Center of the Earth” by Nathan Englander • “The years” by Annie Ernaux •“The Burden of Responsibility: Blum, Camus, Aron, and the French Twentieth Century” by Tony Judt •“Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” by Jon MeachamPicture: © Yann Forget / Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, Mark Leonard presents the new and third edition of ECFR´s Coalition explorer, which also included special questions regarding the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Together with policy fellows Ulrike Franke and Pawel Zerka, he analyses the collected data in depth, answering the question of France’s and Germany´s role within the EU: How are the two countries perceived by their European partners? How can this power tandem influence EU policy-making? And what kind of new coalition patterns did emerge during the covid-19 crisis?EU Coalition Explorer: https://www.ecfr.eu/eucoalitionexplorer The big engine that might: How France and Germany can build a geopolitical Europe by Ulrike Franke and Jana Puglierin https://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/the_big_engine_that_might_how_france_and_germany_can_build_a_geopolitical_e The EU Coalition Explorer was developed within ECFR’s Rethink: Europe” project supported by Stiftung Mercator.This podcast was recorded on 31 July 2020.Bookshelf:•“In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy” by Katrina Forrester • “Recursion” by Blake Crouch • “Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist” by Niall Ferguson • “Normal People” and “Conversation with friends” by Sally Rooney Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After last week’s discussion with Matt Duss and Jeremy Shapiro, Mark Leonard follows up by gathering the European views on a possible Biden win and its effect on US foreign policy. Vessela Tcherneva, deputy director of ECFR and head of our Sofia office, Jana Puglierin, head of ECFRs Berlin office, Tara Varma, head of ECFRs Paris office and Jeremy Shapiro, ECFR´s research director and in-house US expert analyse what a potential Biden administration would mean for European sovereignty and EU foreign policies. How do expectations differ in France, Germany and Central and Eastern Europe? What would another Trump or Biden administration mean for European security? And could Biden also restore the public image of the US which has worsened during the coronavirus crisis significantly in Europe? This podcast was recorded on 29 July 2020.Bookshelf:-" Falken im Sturm“ by Constanze Stelzenmüller in Internationale Politik - "Counterpart“ -“Twilight of Democracy: The seductive lure of authoritarianism” by Anne Applebaum -“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller -“Quest for Status: Chinese and Russian Foreign Policy” by Alexei Shevchenko and Deborah Welch Larson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States presidential election is approaching and there is no doubt that its result will have a significant and large-scale impact on global politics. Across the Atlantic, European analysts already started to discuss the possible outcomes and what they would mean for Europe and the transatlantic partnership. What changes would a Biden win bring? How could US foreign policy look like under him as President? How would it affect the US-Europe relations? In this week’s podcast, Mark Leonard is joined by Matt Duss, foreign policy advisor to the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign and Jeremy Shapiro, ECFR´s research director and in-house US expert to discuss what Biden will bring to the table. This podcast was recorded on 29 July 2020Bookshelf: - “Blowback” by Brendan James and Noah Kulwin - “Miles: The Autobiography” by Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe - “Circe” by Madeline Miller - “Why We're Polarized” by Ezra Klein Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The over 90-hour European Council summit in Brussels ended with a deal on a €1.82 trillion financial package. What does this deal mean for the future of Europe? Will the EU recovery fund, made up of €390 billion in grants and €360 billion in loans, be a historic change of our Europe and the eurozone, as Macron said? In this week’s podcast, Mark Leonard is joined by Guntram Wolff, Director of Bruegel, Piotr Buras, head of ECFR's Warsaw office and José Ignacio Torreblanca, head of ECFR's Madrid office to discuss the EU deal on the bloc's budget and economic recovery fund. This podcast was recorded on 22 July 2020 Bookshelf: The Balkans: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers 1804 – 1999 by Misha Glenny https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311471/the-balkans-by-misha-glenny/ How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship by Ece Temelkuran http://www.4thestate.co.uk/2018/11/cover-reveal-how-to-lose-a-country-by-ece-temelkuran/ AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee https://www.aisuperpowers.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can Europe compete in today’s new geopolitical realities? Does the Union find itself in a technology war with China? And are at least cooperative solutions with China on climate policies possible? In this week’s podcast, Mark Leonard is joined by Agatha Kratz, Associate Director at Rhodium Group and expert on EU-China relations, Janka Oertel head of ECFR´s Asia programme as well as ECFR co-chair Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden. Together, they answer these questions and discuss if and how Germany – as current EU Council Presidency holder – can find ways to recalibrate the EU’s handling and approach to China. A Europe Ready to Compete? EU-China relations and new geopolitical realities: https://youtu.be/DaoiVm9zHzE “Europe, China, and Hong Kong: Why new red lines will be worth the cost” by Janka Oertel https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_europe_china_and_hong_kong_why_new_red_lines_will_be_worth_the_c “Booster or Brake? COVID and the Belt and Road Initiative” by Agatha Kratz et al: https://rhg.com/research/booster-or-brake-covid-and-the-belt-and-road-initiative/ “In times of strategic confusion, deeper dialogue is a must” by Carl Bildt: https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_eu_india_relations This podcast was recorded on 13 July 2020.Bookshelf:• “The Paladin: A Spy Novel” by David Ignatius• “Counting the Infected” “The Daily” Podcast by The New York Times • “The Adriatic Sea” by Harry Hodgkinson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.