Diplomacy and International Politics

The entanglement and feedback loops among the domestic and the geopolitical cycles of distrust have resulted in a cohesive threat to democracy: a downward political spiral that is pulling societies towards enmity. This spiral feeds on and generates destructive human emotions at massive scale, such as outrage and hatred, that lead to violence, war, and autocracy, so it can be better understood as a dangerous global maelstrom of distrust, which could sink democracy worldwide. As showcased by historical evidence, domestic and international forces do not act in isolation from each other. Democratic backsliding, the rise of authoritarianism and totalitarianism, and the politics of aggression generated feedback loops in the 1930s, that resulted in WWII. Similar forces are again working in the 2020s. If massive distrust can wreck democracy worldwide, it follows that the regeneration of trust is the path to democratic revitalization.

The following is an event write-up about the recent Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship (PETR) seminar on “France’s Global Role in a Changing World Order” co-moderated by Natalie Colbert, Executive Director of the Belfer Center, and Svenja Kirsch, Fellow with PETR, on April 19, 2023.

From Afghanistan to the AUKUS alliance, the brief honeymoon between the European Union and U.S. President Joe Biden’s America looks to be over. But it’s important to remember, after the overinflated optimism that followed the end of the Trump years, that transatlantic relations have always had their frictions and frustrations, their ups and their downs — and we’re ready for a rebound once again.

In the wake of the United States’ shambolic withdrawal from Afghanistan, European leaders have done little to conceal their frustration with the U.S. president’s foreign policy.

Please join the Future of Diplomacy Project's Fisher Family Fellow, Ambassador Peter Wittig, for a virtual study group that explores how and to what extent the first 100 days of the Biden presidency has reset the transatlantic partnership.

What will Angela Merkel and Joe Biden discuss during the Chancellor's visit to the USA? Listen in for more. [translated from German; interview in German]

Chancellor Merkel visits the White House in what is likely to be her last such meeting after 16 years in power. U.S.-German relations have improved since the Trump era, but there are differences.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany will meet President Biden for talks at the White House during what will most likely be her final trip to Washington before leaving office.

What is the significance of Angela Merkel’s upcoming White House for the future of U.S.-German relations? Cathryn Clüver and Jeff Rathke join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss the most important aspects of the July 15 meeting and how the U.S. and Germany can work together on a range of issues going forward.

This year marks the end of an era in German and European politics: Angela Merkel, the ever "reluctant leader of the West," will end her historic tenure as Chancellor. During the past 16 years, Chancellor Merkel has symbolised continuity, predictability, and stability for many European and international partners. But the world has become a less predictable and stable place during her tenure: Germany now faces a watershed moment for its European and international policy. Against this backdrop, Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook reflects on how changing transatlantic ties, a challenging economic and political relationship with China, the recovering economy in Europe and the Eurozone and the weakening of the democratic fabric across Europe will dictate foreign policy options for the next German Chancellor.