Peace and security

At The Hague Summit, NATO allies pledged more for defense, but uncertainty over US reliability leaves Europe facing urgent questions on security and Ukraine.

Amid escalating financial turmoil, meaningful UN reform remains out of reach without first stabilizing core functions and restructuring the system’s fragmented mandates, funding flows, and decision-making architecture.

Trump’s rushed-deal diplomacy enables Russian aggression, exposing its limits at Ukraine’s expense and highlighting Europe’s urgent need for credible deterrence and leadership to ensure continental security.

The potential normalization of Russia during a Trump presidency could undermine global security and U.S. strategic interests. This approach risks ignoring Russia’s history of aggression and its strengthening ties with adversarial nations like China, Iran, and North Korea. Sustained U.S. military support for Ukraine is vital for countering Russian threats, fostering defense innovation, and reinforcing American readiness. Prioritizing transatlantic cooperation and Ukraine’s defense capabilities is crucial for ensuring long-term stability.

The current rivalry between NATO and Russia, most concretely expressed in the current Russo-Ukraine War, may need to be stabilized in part by a continental-wide, post-war conventional arms control (CAC) agreement. Whilst the duration and eventual outcome of the current war is of course far from predictable, such a future CAC agreement should improve diplomatic relations, reduce tensions, arms races, and the likelihood of conflict – as such agreements have done throughout Europe in the past 100 years.