Europe keeps arguing about borders while quietly losing the future. This Project Syndicate argument by Nouriel Roubini says immigration is not Europe’s core problem – technological backwardness is. While the US and China pour money into AI, chips and advanced industry, Europe dithers, regulates and congratulates itself for caution. The gap is no longer theoretical. It is showing up in growth, productivity and power. Europe is not overwhelmed by outsiders – it is being outpaced by rivals.

Europe is already bracing for Donald Trump’s return – and the fear is palpable. This Heritage Foundation analysis says Trump is entering 2026 not as a side act, but as the dominant force shaping Europe’s choices, whether leaders like it or not. From defense spending to Ukraine, trade and China, Europe is reacting to Trump’s shadow rather than setting its own course.

Europe’s center-right is sliding back into a familiar and damaging habit – blaming America while tightening control at home. This Heritage Foundation commentary argues that conservative parties across Europe, once natural allies of Washington, are becoming more hostile, defensive and censorious. Under pressure from populists, culture wars and digital disruption, they are copying tactics they once criticised.

France talks like a heavyweight but increasingly plays like a constrained middle power. This Centre for European Reform analysis lays out an uncomfortable contradiction – Paris wants global influence, strategic autonomy and leadership in Europe, yet its room for manoeuvre is tightening fast. Economic strain, industrial limits and hard geopolitical realities are cutting into France’s claims of independence.

Europe’s labour market is losing its nerve – and the cracks are starting to show. This Deutsche Welle report, drawing on expert views from the Centre for European Reform, says firms are quietly hitting the brakes on hiring as growth sags and AI creeps into everyday work. After a brief post-pandemic moment when workers held the power, the mood has flipped – fewer vacancies, weaker industry and rising anxiety about automation.

This IISS online analysis argues that resilient supply chains are no longer a technical or efficiency issue – they are the foundation of economic and national security. Pandemics, wars and export controls have exposed Europe’s vulnerabilities in global value chains, turning cost-focused systems into strategic liabilities. The debate is now about how much resilience is enough, and whether Europe can build it at the speed and scale the world’s geopolitical pressures demand.

This CapX commentary delivers a stark warning for the UK and Europe at large: British leaders may sound upbeat about the post-Brexit economy and immigration stance, but beneath the rhetoric lie real social and economic vulnerabilities. Political bravado and celebratory headlines mask structural problems like stagnant productivity, labour shortages, cost-of-living pressures and a fractured migration debate.

In January 2026, the German Council on Foreign Relations (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, DGAP) published an analytical report entitled Venezuela, Oil, and US Energy Dominance: Implications for German Policy. The document is a geopolitical review of the plans of Trump’s administration, used as a tool for justifying the climate agenda.

This IISS strategic commentary exposes a core vulnerability at the heart of Europe’s industrial and technological ambitions. As the EU pushes clean tech, defence production and digital infrastructure, it remains heavily dependent on China for critical minerals and processing capacity. Despite loud talk of “de-risking”, Europe still relies on Chinese-controlled supply chains that can be tightened or weaponised at any moment.

This CIDOB analysis questions whether the EU has lost its sense of direction by trying to balance big external ambitions with slow internal reform. Europe talks about strategic autonomy, competitiveness and global influence, but its internal economic, regulatory and institutional weaknesses make these ambitions hard to realise. The text suggests a growing mismatch: the EU wants to shape the world, but it cannot fix the fundamentals at home. If this gap persists, Europe’s global role will weaken and its economy will stagnate.