Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

Negotiations of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) are underway in Glasgow. This week, host Mark Leonard speaks with Lykke Friis, ECFR board member and director of the Danish Think Tank Europa and former minister for climate and energy of Denmark; Susi Dennison, head of ECFR’s European power programme; and Alex Clark, researcher at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford and ECFR visiting fellow. Together, they analyse the prospects of success at COP26 and particularly what role the European Union can and should play. Is the EU in a position to deliver a green grand bargain, or is its role as peripheral now as it was at COP15? This podcast was recorded on 3 November 2021.Further reading;Climate of cooperation: How the EU can help deliver a green grand bargain by Alex Clark, Susi Dennison, and Mats Engström: https://buff.ly/3BrI9HPLast chance for Global Climate Leadership in Glasgow? Event with Lykke Friis, Susi Dennison, Dan Joergensen, and Lars Aagaard: https://buff.ly/3bOmRd5 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Mark Leonard answers your most burning questions about his newly released book, “The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity causes Conflict”. Hosted by ECFR’s head of communications, Ana Ramic, the special Ask Me Anything episode features Mark responding to loyal podcast listeners Zebulon Carlander, Robert Cooper, Teresa Gouveia, Antonio Notario, Jonas Parello-Plesner, Timi Okoya, and Patrycja Sasnal. This episode was recorded on 22 October 2021 **and contains spoilers**! Thanks to everybody who submitted questions! Listen to a sneak-peak: https://soundcloud.com/ecfr/sneak-peek-age-of-unpeace-mark-leonard Learn more about “The Age of Unpeace”: • Podcast with Mark Leonard & Janka Oertel: https://soundcloud.com/ecfr/age-of-unpeace• "Welcome to the age of unpeace" by Mark Leonard in Politico https://www.politico.eu/article/welcome-to-the-age-of-unpeace-geopolitics-conflict/ Get the book here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/144/1443237/the-age-of-unpeace/9781787634657.html#:~:text=The%20%22age%20of%20unpeace%22%20%5B,his%20own%20beliefs%20have%20evolved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, French president Emmanuel Marcon presented a massive investment plan – “France 2030”. The roadmap sketches out France’s digital and green transformation and is meant to set up the country – as well as Europe – for growth and success ahead of the French EU Council presidency. But is this strategy only part of electoral campaigning, as critics say? Or does “France 2030” echo bigger plans which the EU has already set out for the bloc? Host Mark Leonard is in our Paris office talking to office head and ECFR policy fellow Tara Varma: What are Macron’s plans for the EU Council presidency in 2022 and beyond? Can France fill the void that Germany leaves post-Merkel while forming a new government, and how?This podcast was recorded on 19 October 2021.Further reading:- The lonely leader: The origins of France’s strategy for EU foreign policy” by Tara Varma and Mathilde Ciulla: https://ecfr.eu/article/the-lonely-leader-the-origins-of-frances-strategy-for-eu-foreign-policy/ Bookshelf:- Peut-on changer de logique?, Philosophe Magazine No. 153 - October 2021 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A major ruling of Poland’s Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of EU law has escalated Warsaw’s legal and political dispute with Brussels and unleashed serious concerns of a ‘Polexit.’ In this week’s episode, host Mark Leonard speaks with Piotr Buras, head of ECFR’s Warsaw office, and Jana Puglierin, head of ECFR’s Berlin office, about the implications of the ruling for Poland as well as for the European Union. Should the EU fear ‘Polexit’? What steps can the EU take to defend its legal order and protect the authority of the Court of Justice of the European Union?This podcast was recorded on 14 October 2021.Further reading:Forget Polexit – the EU must defend the CJEU by Piotr Buras on Balkan Insight: https://buff.ly/3FA2Ftj Bookshelf: - Aftershocks: Pandemic politics and the end of the old international order by Colin Kahl and Thomas Wright- Angela Merkel: Die Kanzlerin und ihre Zeit by Ralph Bollmann- The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity causes Conflict by Mark Leonard Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the US looks to disentangle itself from various conflicts globally, it leaves behind power vacuums. In the MENA region, various regional – and global - powers are vying to fill the void. In this week’s episode, host Mark Leonard is joined by three guests directly from ECFR’s MENA Forum in Rome: Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, professor of political science in the UAE; Alia Moubayed, MENA chief economist for Jefferies; and Julien Barnes-Dacey, head of ECFR’s MENA programme. Together, they analyse the changing geopolitical and regional dynamics in the MENA region: Who is filling the vacuum which the US is increasingly leaving behind? How are regional actors reacting to US disengagement? And what does this mean for Europe’s future role in the region? This podcast was recorded on 5 October 2021.Further reading: - Iraq’s parliamentary election will produce more of the same by Nussaibah Younis: https://buff.ly/3A5xORd - Europe’s post-Afghanistan to-do list by Arancha Gonzalez Laya: https://buff.ly/3AHJyuC- Autonomous in Afghanistan: How the Europeans could have stayed after US withdrawal by Mary Kaldor: https://buff.ly/3CaB0wiBookshelf: Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazaareesingh After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies by Christopher Davidson Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

German election results are in, and they mark a new era for Germany. On 26 September, Germans headed to the polls to vote in one of the most unpredictable elections since Angela Merkel took office over a decade and a half ago. Now, Germany will have to endure weeks – or possibly months – of fraught coalition talks before a new government can be formed. In this week’s World in 30 Minutes episode, host Mark Leonard talks with Jeremy Cliffe, international editor of the New Statesman, Jana Puglierin, head of ECFR’s Berlin Office, Lykke Friis, ECFR co-chair and Director of the Danish Think Tank Europa, and Sylvie Kauffmann, editorial director of Le Monde, about the fragmented election result and its implications for Europe. What coalition – the ‘traffic light’, ‘Jamaica’ or ‘grand’ – is most likely? How are the results being perceived throughout Europe? And what do they mean for the future of our continent? This podcast was recorded on 29 September 2021.Bookshelf: -How Olaf Scholz and the SPD could lead Germany’s next government by Jeremy Cliffe -The Fateful Chancellor: What the end of the Merkel era means for the world by Jeremy Cliffe - Speak, Silence: In Search of WG Sebald by Caroline Angier - Pandemonium: Europe’s COVID Crisis by Luuk van Middelaar - Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity causes Conflict by Mark Leonard - The Vaccine by Joe Miller with Dr. Özlem Türeci and Dr. Ugur Sahin - Le Premier XXIe siècle by Jean-Marie Guehenno - Crime and persuade by Peter Baldwin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The announcement of the new Indo-Pacific security alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States - dubbed ‘AUKUS’ - has led to the biggest crisis in transatlantic relations since the Iraq war in 2003. In this week’s podcast, host Mark Leonard talks with Janka Oertel, head of ECFR’ Asia programme, Jeremy Shapiro, ECFR’s research director, and Tara Varma, head of ECFR’s Paris office, about the new security pact and its implications for Europe. What does it mean for the future of transatlantic relations? And what lessons can be drawn for European strategic autonomy and European sovereignty? This podcast was recorded on 20 September 2021.Further reading:- What Europeans think about the US-China cold war by Ivan Krastev & Mark Leonard: https://buff.ly/3hT6Iqa- After AUKUS: The uncertain future of American and European cooperation in the Indo-Pacific by Tara Varma: https://buff.ly/3CC3I9S- AUKUS: After the sugar rush by Nick Witney: https://buff.ly/3zyho3zBookshelf: - NüVoices - Podcast- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah: - Stalin an Appraisal of the Man His Influence by Leon Trotsky Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get a sneak peek into Mark Leonard's latest book "The Age of Unpeace - How Connectivity Causes Conflict", read by the author himself.Additionally, in October we will have a special “ask me anything” episode with Mark Leonard and ask all of you to send in your burning questions about the book to mark.leonard@ecfr.eu which will then be answered in the forthcoming episode.All those who submit questions will be eligible to win a free signed book from Mark, so start emailing! We are happy to receive your questions in written or audio (voice-memo) form. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his newly released book “The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity causes Conflict” ECFR director Mark Leonard explains how many of the forces that we thought would bring us together have ended up driving us apart. Trade, technology, the internet, and travel were once promised to create a global village but have instead created an era of “unpeace”, where the distinctions between war and peace are breaking down.In this week’s episode, Mark Leonard becomes the guest of his own podcast to talk with ECFR’s Asia programme director Janka Oertel about the main themes of his book and particularly how China’s growing role in this interconnected world poses threats for Europe.This podcast was recorded on 16 September 2021.Further reading:Age of Unpeace by Mark Leonard“The Afghan tragedy and the age of unpeace” by Mark LeonardBookshelf:“Doom” by Neil Ferguson“Shutdown. How Covid Shook the World’s Economy” by Adam ToozeMove by Parag Khanna“Renewal: From crisis to transformation in our lives, work, and politics” by Anne Marie Slaughter“China unbound: a new world disorder” by Joanna Chiu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The collapse of Afghan government forces and the rapid seizure of power by the Taliban has unleashed a series of intense debates about the implications for Europe. How will the Western withdrawal impact on the state of European defence and military capabilities? Are we likely to see a shift in Europe’s relationship with other powers - such as Turkey, China, and the United States? In this week’s podcast, host Mark Leonard talks with Jeremy Shapiro, ECFR’s research director, and senior policy fellows Asli Aydintaşbaş and Andrew Small about what the withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan means for Europe and the future of transatlantic relations.This podcast was recorded on 8 September 2021.Further Reading:- “The fall of the Afghan government and what it means for Europe” by ECFR policy experts: https://buff.ly/3kqkOjh - “The Afghan tragedy and the age of unpeace” by Mark Leonard: https://buff.ly/3gXZTmSBookshelf:"Age of Unpeace" by Mark Leonardhttps://www.penguin.co.uk/books/144/1443237/the-age-of-unpeace/9781787634657.html- "Faust’s Metropolis - A History of Berlin" by Alexandra Richie- “Mr. Five Per Cent” by Jonathan Conlin - “Red Roulette" by Desmond Shum Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.