As the year draws to a close, experts reflect on the positives of 2024 and share their concerns for 2025.*

The incoming Trump administration plans to focus on China while letting Europe fend for itself. Yet deprioritizing the transatlantic relationship could backfire, pushing Europe closer to Beijing and undermining U.S. interests in the long term.

Europe’s digital future cannot hinge on Washington’s whims or the outcome of elections every four years. To achieve a level of technological autonomy, Europe needs targeted investments and responsible innovation in key sectors.

Through diplomatic skill and strategy, French President Macron is making a recovery after a series of domestic and international setbacks. He now has a unique opportunity to expand Europe’s margins of maneuver on the global stage.

Moscow has been dialing up its hybrid attacks on European democracies. Are information operations the most effective tool in Russia’s arsenal—and how can European governments and societies fight back?

The EU has vowed to be more receptive of its partners’ needs and concerns. To ensure the “listening to others” mantra does not become a performative quick fix, the union must clarify how this commitment fits with its desire to exert geopolitical power.

Donald Trump’s victory underscores the need for the EU to rethink its political economic model. As it adapts its policies, the union must recognize the trade-offs between its quest for economic security and its global identity as a champion of the rules-based order.

Richard Grenell’s return to U.S. diplomacy would present both risks and opportunities for the Western Balkans. Regardless of any flashy deals the new administration may offer, countries in the region must remain steadfast in their pursuit of democratization and European integration.

Support for negotiations toward a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has been growing in the West. Should Kyiv accept a freezing of the contact line and its NATO membership process, and what are the alternate paths to peace?

Faced with Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his threat to transatlantic relations, the EU is woefully ill-equipped to act swiftly on foreign policy and security issues. An EU Security Council would go a long way in empowering it to respond more effectively.