International Relations Archives

De nieuwe race naar de maan - Shaping Europe

The new race to the moon

Posted on 7 November 2023
by Sabine Herder

The European Union's position in the battle for our galaxy. In late August, a special event took place in the world of space exploration; India became the fourth country ever, after the former Soviet Union in 1959, the United States in 1969, and China in…

Fossielen als roofkunst? - Shaping Europe

Fossils as looted art?

Posted on 5 October 2023
by Julia van de Boel

The position of fossils in the debate about looted art. Looted art is a subject that has received increasing attention over the past few decades. Often this involves art objects that were taken from colonies and have since resided in European museums. There also exists…

Burden-Sharing and Solidarity

Posted on 16 May 2023
by Ngan Ha Tran
with 0 Comments

Why the EU fails to solve the Migrant Crisis. In recent years, Europe has faced a significant migration crisis as millions of people have fled war, persecution, and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The crisis has placed a huge burden on countries…

What happened to the European Union’s ring of friends?

Posted on 10 March 2022
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In 2004, the European Union announced its desire to form what it called a “ring of friends” through its Neighbourhood Policy. However, eighteen years later, it seems that this dream has turned more into one enormous nightmare, with tensions threatening the Union’s eastern and…

Dictators and free markets, China and the EU

Posted on 2 December 2021
by H.J. Keilman
with 0 Comments

Opinion Piece Today our guest writer Henk Keilman provides his perspective on authoritarianism and capitalism in China and the West, arguing that despite China’s successes, in the long run only democratic countries will succeed in providing sustainable economic prosperity. The EU and its predecessors were…

How sustainable is the EU-Mercosur agreement?

Posted on 18 May 2021
by Diego Vallejo
with 0 Comments

On Europe's responsibility for responsible trade. The EU integrative process has served as an important model for other regional integration efforts, such as ASEAN in East Asia, the African Union in Africa and Mercosur in South America. The latter has been an important commercial partner…

EU-Africa relations part I: From colonisation to an equal dialogue?

Posted on 9 May 2021
by Anoek Zijderveld
with 0 Comments

The historical context of EU-Africa relations post-colonisation. This series will investigate various dimensions of the relations between the EU and Africa. This first part looks at the emerging relation after colonisation, it will form a historical context on which the following articles are built. Africa…

Sofagate is important but let’s not forget about EU-Turkey relations

Posted on 10 April 2021
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What is Sofagate? Sofagate has hit the news in a way European politics rarely does. The incident, now popularly dubbed ‘Sofagate’, occurred after a meeting of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan…

Europe’s optional control against foreign hostile takeovers

Posted on 30 March 2021
by Sandra Zwick
with 0 Comments

How should Europe protect critical infrastructure against foreign hostile investments? On October 11th, 2020, the "Foreign Direct Investments Screening Regulation” came into force. While such foreign direct investment (FDI) frameworks already exist in some member states, it has so far been missing at the EU…

The EU-China trade relationship: A story of continued imbalance? – Part II

Posted on 25 February 2021
by Marnix Vermeer
with 0 Comments

A deep dive into Europe-China trade relations – Part II. "The most ambitious agreement that China has ever concluded with a third country." This is how the European Commission chose to label its recently announced “Comprehensive Agreement on Investment” (CAI) with China. A big and…