Annual Foreign Policy Conference

A potential U.S. force posture reduction in Europe will leave the continent vulnerable to further Russian aggression. Europe needs a bold action plan to mitigate capability gaps and ensure deterrence of Russia with limited U.S. involvement.

Populist authoritarians have recast themselves as champions of peace. Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán, Robert Fico, and others argue that standing up to aggressors only prolongs conflict – they’re wrong. 

The fall of Assad opened a new chapter in Syria, but rushed dialogue, stalled talks, and elite-led politics risk keeping peace out of reach. Lasting stability depends on a national dialogue that gives Syrians real ownership of their future.

Is Europe ready for the era of hybrid warfare? To defend against hybrid attacks, we must urgently build civil preparedness and societal resilience. When updating security assets, we must not only invest in hardware and software but also in 'wetware'.

Hybrid threats, rooted in authoritarian uses of technology, cause everyday harm. Collective resilience requires dismantling their ecosystems through reconceptualising these threats, comprehensive countermeasures, and cross-regional cooperation.

Germany is debating Russia's war of aggression and the war in Gaza: While there is much talk about war, there is little discussion about peace. International law is now up for debate, but it is not a disruptive factor – it is an indispensable guide.

Today's preference for ceasefires over settlements reflects a loss of confidence in achieving lasting peace. However, inclusive mediation, backed by political will, can transform even intractable conflicts. The Horn of Africa is a key front in this struggle.

The full and strategic alignment of policies and strategies between the United States and the EU regarding the Western Balkans region needs to be prioritized in the current challenging security context. It has worked before and will work again.

In view of the upcoming US elections and the difficult situation on the battlefield, there is a need for urgency and clarity about Western support for Ukraine in the coming months.

The United Kingdom has developed its contribution to European security in the context of its withdrawal from the EU. However, a more formal relationship between the two in the areas of foreign, security and defence policy remains to be desired.

The geopolitical centre of gravity is shifting towards the Indo-Pacific. What are the implications for the transatlantic relationship?

Whether hard power projection or diplomacy, Europe’s role on the world stage might already have evaporated. This article analyses three aspects of a dwindling Europe in the global security realm.

Ever since its first proposal in the 1950s, the European army has been a ghost in the system of European Defence debates. But it is an unhelpful and distracting concept for the challenges that the EU and Europe more broadly are currently facing.

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s Foreign Policy Conference in February gave a snapshot of the German Green Party’s foreign policy priorities vis-à-vis Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

The ‘Global South’ and ‘Global North’ diverge in how they view and relate to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Differences in means, risks and perceptions explain the gap but do not have to be an unsurmountable obstacle.

Russia's war in Ukraine is changing the balance of power in Eastern Europe. This has implications for the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and provides new options for mediation for the EU and the West.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine weakens Russia's hegemony in the post-Soviet space. Countries such as Turkey and China are becoming important players in the reorganization of the regional order. The EU must improve its policy towards the eastern neighborhood in order to remain a relevant stakeholder.

How will the world’s biggest developing country bring down the world’s highest greenhouse gases emissions to net-zero in the shortest period of time? (How) is China’s decarbonisation different from the rest of the world?

At the third session of the 22nd Heinrich Boell Foundation Foreign Policy Conference, the penultimate panel will focus on the German-Indian relationship - and the blurred lines between environmental and climate issues.

A different policy mix of climate protection in the U.S. and EU creates tensions that make a close alliance very difficult. The deep political divide in the U.S. also raises doubts about the durability of climate policy cooperation.