In this briefing note, Katinka Barsych examines the shifting relationship between Germany and the EU in the wake of the euro crisis and the ensuing financial aid package.

Mira Kamdar, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and an award-winning author, analyzes the rocky relationship between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Unlike "too big to fail" financial firms, hedge funds spot market bubbles and assume their own losses, says CFR's Sebastian Mallaby.

Richard N. Haass says, "Even before it began, Europe's moment as a major world power in the twenty-first century looks to be over."

Debt restructuring and longer-term eurozone reforms will be needed to contain Europe's sovereign debt problems and restore European stability and prosperity, says CFR's Marc Levinson.

The nearly $1 trillion EU bailout plan appears to have achieved immediate aims of restoring confidence in markets, but concerns persist about deeper reforms needed to tackle the region's sovereign debt crisis.

With the Lisbon Treaty now in effect, the European Union has more power to implement foreign policy decisions -- on paper, at least.

Walter Russell Mead comments that the recent Ukrainian election was a "setback" to the spread of democracy in the world.

President Obama's decision to skip an upcoming summit in Spain set off a European reaction that highlighted areas of conflicting interests between the EU and the U.S., says CFR Europe expert Charles Kupchan.

Listen to Philip H. Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, shed light on the status and future of the U.S.-European relationship under a new president's leadership, as well as the role of the transatlantic partnership in addressing international security challenges.

Timothy Garton Ash examines global politics twenty years since 1989 and questions whether today's Europe, ""mired in the narcissism of minor difference," can recapture the strategic boldness and historical imagination of 1989.

Bruce Anderson says David Cameron's Tories will have to eventually "renegotiate" Britain's relations with the European Union.

Moves toward the approval of the Lisbon Treaty could create a stronger European partner for Washington in global affairs, says CFR's Charles Kupchan. But he cites a competing trend toward stronger nation-states in Europe.

With Ireland passing the Lisbon treaty, Gideon Rachman contends that the European Union is staking a claim to be taken seriously as a global superpower, particularly with the Group of 20 where Europeans hold eight seats at the conference.

Listen to CFR experts Charles A. Kupchan and Jeffrey Mankoff discuss the April 3 NATO summit and its significance for the United States' relationship with Russia and the European Union.

As the U.S. Congress takes on President Obama's call for a cap-and-trade system, Kevin M. Dempsey, a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf, argues that it should look toward Europe's experience. In the second part of his Globalist Paper, he explains the benefits of carbon auctions--and the complications they may create under WTO law.

Listen to former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson as he offers his views on the 60th anniversary of the NATO alliance, as part of the Council on Foreign Relations "NATO at 60" Symposium.

Listen to experts provide their insights on topics such as EU and NATO political and military cooperation, France’s role in NATO, EU defense policy, and others as part of the Council on Foreign Relations "NATO at 60" Symposium.

Watch experts provide their insights on topics such as EU and NATO political and military cooperation, France's role in NATO, EU defense policy, and others as part of the Council on Foreign Relations "NATO at 60" Symposium.

In a meeting with the Council on Foreign Relations, the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband, shares his views on Western opportunity, and rising world powers.