Before the next wave of EU enlargement takes place, the union needs to grapple with thorny questions of how power is distributed among its members.
Europe · North America · Global politics
For twenty months, Russia’s 20th and 25th Combined Arms Armies ground toward Lyman, a small city in eastern Ukraine that sits on a critical road and railway juncture. By seizing […]
Europe · Defense · Cybersecurity
Denmark’s Greenland deal with Trump is a victory for diplomacy over bullying Expert comment jon.wallace 24 September 2026 Denmark used its soft power to rally support and took the dispute out of the limelight – addressing underlying US interests instead of President Trump’s unacceptable public position. This week, Denmark has extricated itself from a period of coercive US diplomacy over Greenland. The agreement announced on 22 September elegantly resolves the dispute over the territory, without forcing Denmark or the government of Greenland to give up very much. Even before the dispute, Denmark had indicated it would be content to increase the number of US bases in Greenland and enhance US access to them. These measures were already possible under an existing 1951 agreement. The new agreement adds an undertaking by Denmark and Greenland to refuse major investments from non-members of the EU or NATO that would grant them a foothold in strategic Arctic areas. Again, on this point, Washington was pushing on an open door. The only meaningful change concerns the mechanism to ensure that this arrangement will be permanent. The 1951 agreement, amended in 2004, also does not expire. But the new text adds that Greenland will remain part of NATO and continue to comply with the agreement, should it opt for independence. An independent Greenland might have been willing to retain the US bases and related agreements anyway. After all, it would need to rely on US defence support and a NATO security guarantee. But expressly making these points in an agreement co-signed by Greenland overcam
Europe · North America · Global politics
The European far right might fail to steer EU policy in the direction Russia wants, but they will create enough chaos inside Europe to benefit the Kremlin.
Europe · Global politics
The new U.S.–Denmark–Greenland agreement will help Washington exert political, economic, and financial dominance under the guise of security. Yet, it acknowledged Copenhagen’s and Nuuk’s sovereignty on the island.
Europe · North America · Defense · Global politics
The increasing use of drones on the modern battlefield has sparked a great debate about their impact on the ever-changing character of warfare. Whether framed as evolutionary drivers of that […]
Europe · West & Central Asia · East Asia · Defense
Houthi advances now threaten Saudi Arabia’s most viable oil-export route. Europeans should strengthen Riyadh’s maritime and air defences, and mobilise a wider diplomatic coalition to end the US-Iran war driving the escalation
Europe · West & Central Asia · Defense · Oil & energy
Minsk clearly expected the dialogue with Washington to yield more results, in particular the lifting of EU sanctions and permission to export potash.
Europe · North America · Global politics
A summer of escalation in the Black Sea has hurt Ukraine economically and is exacerbating world food security. A truce is needed—as is a broader reframing of Europe’s Ukraine strategy.
Europe · West & Central Asia · Defense · Global politics
Chatham House fellow gives evidence at UK parliament committee on global AI governance and risks News release thilton.drupal 21 September 2026 Senior Research Fellow Isabella Wilkinson spoke to the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee at a time when many are calling for greater regulation of AI in the light of emerging risks. Isabella Wilkinson, Senior Research Fellow with Chatham House’s Digital Society Programme, gave evidence on the global governance of AI to the UK House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee on 16 September. Wilkinson outlined the main types of risk from AI: malicious risks, loss-of-control risks and systemic risks. Addressing the governance challenge posed by these risks, she said: ‘We’re facing a governance challenge because all of these risks are interlinked, so we have to be very strategic about how we design governance at multiple different levels. This is a multilateral challenge.’ Wilkinson said that interlinked governance challenges, including a dearth of trusted information about AI and ‘the lack of a crisis toolbox’ to deploy in the event of a crisis, had led to ‘quite a severe state of gridlock in multilateral AI governance.’ The committee was meeting in a week in which debates over the risks associated with AI featured prominently in public debate, following calls by tech leaders to slow the pace of the technology’s development. ‘We are in a moment of intense crisis and turbulence in multilateral AI governance. But as we’ve learned [from other areas of governance] … these conditions create a window of
Europe · Cybersecurity · Global politics
This article is the result of a collaboration with The Sunday Times. You can find their corresponding piece here. Sign up here to receive Bellingcat’s biggest investigations by email as soon as they are published. Christy Kinahan, the Irish founder of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group who is being pursued by authorities around the world […] The post Christy Kinahan’s UAE Residence Visa Cancelled appeared first on bellingcat .
Europe · West & Central Asia
The Director's Annual Lecture 2027 12 January 2027 — 18:00 TO 19:00 GMT Anonymous (not verified) 18 September 2026 Chatham House and Online Join Chatham House Director and Chief Executive Bronwen Maddox for the 2027 Director’s Annual Lecture. Join Chatham House Director and Chief Executive Bronwen Maddox for the 2027 Director’s Annual Lecture. Bronwen Maddox, Director and Chief Executive at Chatham House, delivers her annual lecture.
Europe · Global politics
If the Russian-speaking community in Latvia cannot articulate their interests without being seen as disloyal, they could end up embracing a pro-Kremlin agenda.
Europe · Global politics
‘Coupling without fusion’: Canada and Europe test a new kind of alliance Expert comment jon.wallace 18 September 2026 The deeper relationship proposed by Carney and von der Leyen could send a powerful geopolitical message. But can agreement be reached without antagonizing EU candidate countries? There is something rather extraordinary about the geopolitical times we live in. They are making what seemed impossible yesterday possible today, and what once sounded laughable increasingly credible. This week’s proposals for closer integration between Canada and the EU undoubtedly belongs to that category. On 16 September, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the EU’s first ‘associate member’. The next day, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney used his address to the European Parliament to set out an unusually ambitious programme of economic and strategic integration. Canada and Europe, he argued , should cooperate across critical minerals, defence production, artificial intelligence and computing, energy, space and payments. They should move towards ‘seamless’ digital trade in non-agricultural goods and services. And they should expand opportunities for young Canadians and Europeans to live, work and study across the Atlantic. Canada also eyes access to the EU’s Horizon research programme. If the concept of associate membership is yet to be properly defined – starting with meaningful legal substance – Carney’s address gave it discernible geopolitical purpose. His argument rests on a lesson he has repeated since his Davos speech in January 2026:
Europe · North America · Defense · Oil & energy · Global politics
Canada’s enthusiasm for closer EU ties is real, and so is the EU’s need for allies beyond America. But as long as the EU’s offer of “associate membership” to Canada remains undefined, it risks ending up as empty symbolism
Europe · North America · Global politics
The potential move comes after the Pentagon sought to pull troops from the country earlier this year.
Europe · North America · Defense · Global politics
Are Germany’s economic, industrial, and political struggles becoming a liability for the EU’s ability to rise to the geopolitical moment?
Europe · Oil & energy · Global politics
