Rym Momtaz is the editor in chief of Carnegie Europe’s blog Strategic Europe. A multiple Emmy award-winning journalist-turned-analyst, she specializes in Europe and the Middle East and the interplay between those two spaces. She has particular expertise on French foreign and defense policy, European geopolitics, and the transatlantic relationship. Among her publications is an analysis of French President Emmanuel Macron’s conception of the European security order.
Most recently Rym was a consultant research fellow for European security and foreign policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. There, she co-led a two-year study on strategic competition in the Eastern Mediterranean, drawing on her cross-sectional expertise in Europe and the Levant, including the conflicts between Israel, the Palestinians, Lebanon, and Iran.
Prior to that, Rym was a senior correspondent in France for POLITICO Europe where, between 2019 and 2022, she covered Emmanuel Macron's foreign and European policy, with unrivalled access. She wrote agenda-setting articles like “The Macron Method,” “Emmanuel Macron's Russian Roulette,” and “Emmanuel Macron, Think Tanker-In-Chief.” She was also co-host of POLITICO Europe's weekly EU Confidential podcast on European politics and is a regular foreign affairs analyst on French television.
Between 2011 and 2019, she spent nearly eight years as a producer at ABC News, based in New York and London, focusing on investigative journalism, and covering Islamist terrorism in Europe, ISIS, and the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
Rym also has government experience at the United Nations Security Council. In 2010 and 2011, during Lebanon's tenure as a non-permanent member, she served as special assistant to the Lebanese permanent representative and took part in high-level negotiations, including over the international armed intervention in Libya.
U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk has publicly backed European far-right parties, claiming to champion free speech. But what does his agenda mean for Europe’s democracy and regulatory power, and can the EU hold digital platforms accountable?
Europe’s security is Poland’s top priority as it assumes the rotating EU Council presidency. But can Warsaw display credible leadership without deploying troops to Ukraine?
Europe and the United States face many external threats, yet the biggest one may lie within. Strategic Europe’s editor in chief reflects on the lessons of 2024 and examines how transatlantic partners can secure their future.
As the year draws to a close, experts reflect on the positives of 2024 and share their concerns for 2025.*
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?
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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?
Rym Momtaz, Sophia Besch, and Christopher Shell discuss how Donald Trump’s victory might reshape transatlantic relations.
European officials have long stressed the need for the continent to take charge of its own security and end geopolitical outsourcing to the United States. But does Europe have the means—and the will—to finally reduce its dependence on Washington?
Despite lofty declarations of support, Ukraine’s main backers are increasingly focused on laying the groundwork for Kyiv’s negotiations with Moscow. Instead of ensuring sustainable security in Europe, the compromises under discussion would embolden Russia and China.
