United States

Contrary to all forecasts, Donald Trump was declared the winner of the US presidential elections in the early hours of November 9, 2016. This marks a turning point for the United States, for open liberal societies and democracies in general. What happened, and what happens next?

Hillary Clinton should be warned by the British referendum: Similar to the Brexit movement, Trump’s campaign benefits from anti-immigrant sentiment and anger over the “political elites” and “mainstream media”.

We cannot quarantine ourselves from the instability that reigns south and east of Europe. Europe must strike a new balance between idealistic foreign policy and realism. The opening address of the 17th Annual Foreign Policy Conference. 

In the US presidential primaries, foreign policy issues have yet to play much of a role – but this may soon change.

Syria and the fight against ISIS is the dominating foreign policy topic in the current U.S. presidential debates. The discourse on no-fly zones and efforts to topple Bashar al-Assad show that divisions run deep and beyond party lines. 

Engulfed in an environmental scandal about lead-contaminated drinking water, the city of Flint, Michigan, has come to epitomize the decrepit state of America’s infrastructure, environmental racism, and mismanagement at the hands of public authorities.

Without active U.S. participation in the global energy transformation, reaching the goals agreed upon in Paris will be almost impossible. If nothing else will convince the majority in the U.S. Congress, then the China factor should.

After the United States and the European Union have lifted economic sanctions on Iran, the country can expect major economic rewards and greater interaction with the international community. This is a success for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, under whose leadership Iran complied with its obligations under the international agreement to restrict its nuclear program.

The US coal industry is losing market share to gas and renewables. The nation’s dirtiest fuel is giving way to cleaner alternatives. A chapter from the Coal Atlas.

Prominent voices, such as former White House Coordinator for the Middle East Phil Gordon, have advocated for striving for a negotiated interim solution in Syria that defers the question of Assad’s fate. Bente Scheller, director of our office in Lebanon, addresses some of the underlying myths and arguments shaping the current debate.