The world economy has become the central battleground for hegemonic rivalry between Washington and Beijing. Several factors have led to this development, first and foremost the economic rise of China.

The Council of the European Union adopted the long-striven “EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime” on December 7th, 2020. Lawyer Benan Molu from Turkey provides an overview of when, how, and against whom this sanction regime could be invoked, and then, discusses whether it would be realistic for the EU to pursue such an option against Turkey.  

"Build back better" has been Joe Biden’s campaign promise. Climate policy is central to this, both in domestic and foreign policy. Ultimately, it is also a question of whether the Biden government can succeed in regaining lost credibility on the international stage.

Aliyev’s popularity reached its peak during the war; the oppositional leaders stopped their criticism, while Aliyev’s actions were perceived as a just and victorious war. The active support of Turkey during the conflict inevitably led to the re-articulation and dynamic perception of Turkey as the “big brother”.

Climate campaigner Andy Gheorghiu takes stock of a 2020 full of climate activism in Europe and the World, and pencils the main climate policy milestones to look forward to in 2021.

The first American presidential candidate to put tackling climate change at the heart of his campaign, Joe Biden has boasted that his victory will return America to a position of global leadership. But first he needs to set an example to follow.

MEP Michael Bloss takes stock of the negotiations on the EU Climate Law, and on the performance of the German EU Council Presidency, in the wake of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

The new European Commission's Rule of Law Report cannot be expected to deter those deliberately seeking or already engaged in the systemic dismantlement of national checks and balances. Unless these shortcomings are remedied, the new yearly monitoring exercise will create more problems than it will solve.

Our EastMed dossier concludes with the article of Emre İşeri, where he suggests seeing the matter primarily from an environmental perspective.

Joint statement by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Goethe Institute, the European Cultural Foundation and the Mercator Foundation to members of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the German Bundestag.