In this book Michael Lloyd discusses the relations between populism, nationalism, democracy, and federalism. The book analyses the nature of populism, its characteristics, and its attractions to wide swathes of national populations. Nationalism is linked to the innate tribalism of human societies. The emergence of the nation-state is discussed in the context of humankind having...Read More

The coronavirus outbreak has proven to be a global phenomenom.  From its centre point in the city of Wuhan, China, where it was identified only a month ago, the COVID-19 pathogen has spread across borders into all five continents. The horrific and tragic health and mortality-related consequences of this virus are all too obvious as...Read More

The latest Munich Security Conference hosted a great deal of talk about Europe as a greater strategic player. But for now, as it embarks on a new decade, most of this remains just talk. At the recently concluded Munich Security Conference, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his demands for a renewed discussion regarding a possible ‘reset’ in...Read More

The focus of this article is to explore ongoing developments in European perceptions of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and how BRI has been gradually influencing Europe in thinking more strategically about its own continental scale and common interests across Eurasia. The New Silk Roads are neither a formal policy nor a clearly defined...Read More

Liberalism has been an unprecedented success story in the western world over the last five centuries, and liberal democracy over the last few decades. The collapse of Soviet socialism owed much to the paradigm shift from collectivism to individualism. However, the global process of opening borders following the collapse of the Iron Curtain has shuffled the...Read More

Despite examples of continued cooperation and resilience in the international order, there remains a growing consensus that we are witnessing the return of great power rivalry. This renewed period of contestation has produced two paradoxes that go well beyond the mounting liberal-populist divide. Confronting them will require the European Union to pose fundamental questions about...Read More

Open Letter to Christine Lagarde (President-Elect ECB), Ursula von der Leyen (President-Elect EU Commission), Roberto Gualtieri (Chair of EP Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee), Christoph Schmidt (Chair of the German Council of Economic Experts).   Dear President-Elect Madame Lagarde, You will soon be taking up your new post as President of the ECB. At the...Read More

At a lively conference on relations between the EU and Russia in London on 17th September a number of speakers took as their starting-point the fact that the new Commission was reviewing the state of these relations. It was uncertain what the outcome of this review would be. Two contrasting analyses were offered by the panel....Read More

In moves that signify their strong desire to strengthen bilateral cooperation, the European Union and Vietnam have reached milestone agreements in recent months. On 30 June 2019, they signed a free trade agreement (FTA) and an investment protection agreement (IPA). Over a month later, on August 5, they inked a new defence agreement. In many...Read More

Both the EU and India are viewed very favorably in Central Asia. As the region is now stabilizing, integrating and slowly opening to the outside world, it provides tremendous opportunities for the EU and India to increase their engagement further, both individually and possibly also jointly. This paper highlights the respective European and Indian strategies...Read More