To the casual observer, Kazakhstan can be a tricky country to get to grips with. In 2010 they scored a major diplomatic coup by becoming the first post-Soviet country to chair the OSCE, where they hosted the stagnant organisation’s first summit in 11 years. While its neighbour Kyrgyzstan descended in chaos, Kazakhstan seemeed an oasis [...]

(The following contribution was written by Laura Stoicescu, alumni of the College of Europe in Bruges (2009-2010). The views given are her own.) The outbreak of the”Club Med’ debt crisis in January 2010 took the financial world by surprise, as it was stemming from one of the most unlikely places: Europe. The same Europe which, [...]

The Chinese economic boom has been one of the world’s great stories for the past two decades. Fuelled by  the emergence of coastal industrial powerhouses such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, China has succeeded in taking over 400 million people out of poverty. While some European companies have rsuccessfuly ridden the economic wave, a multitude of others have left [...]

NATO’s Lisbon summit led to calls from Turkey for a right to consultations on the EU’s CSDP, while EU officials retorted that it is impossible for Ankara to have any say in the planning of EU military missions (EUObserver, November 21). Although there are some channels of influence for third countries participating in the CSDP, [...]

EU leaders have long emphasized the need for Brussels to get more “strategic” in its partnership with China. Launched in 2003, the strategic partnership between the two sides has been the subject of a voluminous (and often excruciatingly tedious) academic debate, a plethora of grand sounding political statements and ultimately much disappointment. The topic gained [...]

The Council has decided to establish a European External Action Service (EEAS) for the EU, with an aim of creating a modern and effective EU foreign service. In this contribution, Špela Majcen argues that to know the future of the EEAS, we should now where it comes from. In her post, Špela provides us with [...]

The following was written by Paddy Cassidy, alumnus of the College of Europe in Bruges. In his contribution, Paddy argues that the peoples of Europe are not hungry for a meny of “ever closer union”. The following views are his own. Federal Europe, where and who art thou? While it is a truism that there [...]

(The following post was contributed by Jan Weisensee. Jan holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe. The following views are his own) After five days of war between the Georgian army, Russian troops and South Ossetian and Abkhaz para-military forces in August 2008, French president Nicholas Sarkozy [...]

The following post was contributed by Tobias Felix Franke. Tobias holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from the University of Maastricht and Masters’ degrees in Contemporary European Studies: Politics, Polity and Society from the University of Bath and in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe, Bruges. He currently works [...]

(The following post was contributed by Damyana Stoynova. Damyana has an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe and will soon begin a traineeship at DG Climate Change in the European Commission. The views given are her own.)                   In 2005 China and the EU established a climate change [...]