Global Insights

Visit us at Network2020.org. The world has changed dramatically in the 250 years since Benjamin Franklin’s mission to France in 1776. It is changing again now, with new powers rising, new technologies reshaping how nations engage with one another both diplomatically and confrontationally, and new questions about what diplomatic leadership looks like in the 21st century. Centralized and personalist diplomacy, technological capabilities, and economic statecraft may be as central to modern diplo...

Visit us at Network2020.org. A major shift is underway in the defense posture of Northern Europe. Finland and Sweden joined NATO, ending long periods of non-alignment. Together, the “Nordic-Baltic Eight” (NB8) give more military aid to Ukraine as a percentage of GDP. Strong balance sheets, driven by innovation and digital transformation, have enabled the region to become leaders in European security. What does this shift in power mean within the European Union and for transatlantic relations...

Visit us at Network2020.org. The United Arab Emirates’ recent decision to leave OPEC after nearly six decades is about far more than oil—it is the latest sign of a growing rift with Saudi Arabia and a marker of Abu Dhabi’s willingness to challenge a regional order long dominated by Riyadh. From normalizing relations with Israel to pursuing strategic autonomy between the United States and China, the UAE has repeatedly shown that it is prepared to break with old frameworks when they no longer s...

Visit us at Network2020.org. The Philippines sits at the center of an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific, caught between its traditional ally in Washington, and rising interference from Beijing. The country’s strategic location including control of the Luzon Strait, which sees over one trillion dollars in passing goods annually, makes it an important player in the jockeying for economic position in the South China Sea. And the disputed Scarborough Shoal is the last link in the Chinese artifi...

Visit us at Network2020.org. For nearly eighty years, Europe's security has rested on a single assumption: that the Americans would be there. In early March, days into the war with Iran, and weeks after Washington threatened to take Greenland from a NATO ally, we sat down with Jeremy Shapiro to ask whether that assumption still holds, and what Europe does if it doesn't. Since this conversation was recorded, the Pentagon has ordered thousands of American troops out of Germany, canceled an armo...