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The Decentralization of the Electricity Grid – Mitigating Risk in the Energy Sector

Introduction Natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. in 2005 and the earthquake off the coast of Japan in 2011 (which resulted in a devastating tsunami and the nuclear …

The Arab Awakening One Year On: A European Perspective

In early 2011, the debate in the European Union about the repercussions of the Arab awakening that started in late 2010 and continues to this day was largely framed in …

Energy Security Risk Assessment: A Transatlantic Comparison

The U.S. and West Germany once shared similar energy profiles and similar global energy challenges. Through the 1960s and in the beginning of the 1970s, with largely comparable energy mixes, …

Climate 2.0 – Can Geoengineering Make the World a Safer Place?

Wizardry to some, anathema to others, geoengineering—or climate engineering—is slowly encroaching on the territory of traditional climate policy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) next Assessment Report, due in …

The €20 Billion Problem in Germany’s Statutory Health Insurance

Health care policy experts in Germany are discussing a bizarre problem: What to do with €20 billion of accumulated reserves in the Statutory Health Insurance System? Of course, the availability …

Assessing Transatlantic Risks: The Erosion of Allied Solidarity

Approaching its summit in Chicago in May, NATO is desperately looking for a positive message to spread. But there’s little good news to be found on all major fronts. Intentions …

White, Grey, and Black (Euro) Swans: Dealing with Transatlantic Financial Risk in 2012

The idea that the euro crisis is over is hopeful at best, naïve at worst. It is far from over. We are actually at the beginning of a dangerous new …

New Ground for Cooperation: The Arab Spring as a Turning Point for EU-Turkey Relations

Though politicians use the word “historic” in a fairly inflationary way, there is no better terminology for describing what the international community is witnessing in the Middle East and North …

The Question of Military Action Against Iran – Of Busted Bunker Hopes and Short Fuses

Iran’s nuclear ambitions – and the West’s response – are analyzed by Non-Resident Fellow Dorle Hellmuth.

Invisible Redistribution to Weaker Economies? The Case for EU Automatic Stabilizers

The Greek financial crisis seems finally to have been overcome, thanks to emergency European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) lending to the Greek government.  Bondholders will have been …

Germany in Europe – From Vanguard to Laggard and Back Again?

Commenting on German foreign policy is hampered by the fact that this is a moving target,[1] today more so than ever,  To complicate things further, the target not only moves …

European Energy Security: A New Pattern of External Stability and Internal Risks

Introduction The fundamental dilemma of energy policy is its irreconcilable aims. Energy should be cheap, secure, and clean. While it is comparatively easy to achieve two of these objectives, it …