The US-EU relationship has been damaged during the Donald Trump administration. The Transatlantic alliance can only be rebuilt if it is redefined. Trust has been broken on several US commitments and Europe will no longer accept being treated as obsolete.

The Geopolitical Scene

Whether intentional or not, the geopolitical scene is different since Trump, yet increasingly confrontational.

Russia and China present a united front to the West — but there’s plenty of potential for friction. …

“Can the peoples of Europe rise to the heights of the soul and of the instinct and spirit of man”?

Winston Churchill, September 19, 1946. University of Zurich

Politicians Must Exit the Scene

They have done enough damage and created division. The first three months of the application of the Brexit Trade Agreement have been a repetition of the conflictual narrative of the past four years, where politicians have taken an aggressive course and dominated the Brexit process.

Today, we are far from the good intentions of the signature of the Trade Agreement. From the downgrading of the EU representation to the UK to the Astra Zeneca vaccine distribution, there have been many instances that have been confrontational.

In this…

This has been a pressing topic in the past weeks when the U.S. government took several actions to intensify its grip over U.S.-listed Chinese companies. Yesterday I discussed this topic as a panelist, together with Harvey L. Pitt, former SEC Chairman; Edward Greene, Partner at Cleary Gottlieb; Lorna Xin Chen, Asia Regional Managing Partner, Head of Greater China at Shearman & Sterling. Columbia Law Professor Benjamin L. Liebman moderated the panel.

We discussed the impact of the two recent actions by the U.S. That is, first, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA) that seeks to address (indirectly) the long-standing…

“The clock stopped ticking. Today is a day of relief,” E.U. negotiator Michel Barnier said at a news conference in Brussels. “But tinted by some sadness, as we compare what came before with what lies ahead.”

First of all, let’s salute the achievement and its authors.

The dramatic breakthrough of the Brexit Trade Agreement is avoiding complete chaos of the export and imports of goods across the North Sea. It resolves the complexity of the Irish situation. It does, at last, gives businesses the opportunity to make the necessary changes within a framework that has been too long to obtain.

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As Joe Biden puts together a team of high quality and experienced people, it might be helpful to look at the task ahead. Many Biden Administration appointees were also in the Obama Administration. This could be misconstrued as “more of the same”, which also harmed Hillary Clinton.

I just came back from a two-week trip to Brussels, London, and Paris. As many are focused on Brexit, I was struck by the fear for Donald Trump, combined with hopes that Joe Biden can turn this ugly page in the history of U.S. international relations.

Donald Trump has damaged international trust in…

The U.S. intends to exit the Open Skies treaty. It is a 34-nation agreement allowing the U.S., Russia, and other countries to fly their aircraft over each other’s territory — increasing transparency and reducing the chances for perilous miscalculations.

Transatlantic relations are an important factor to world peace, founded on history, values, trade, culture, and personal relationships. As Joe Biden takes the reins of the new administration, he will make a point to assess the damage that his predecessor caused created over the past four years: insults to European leaders, withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change and other…

Sometimes, in a presidential debate, the most important part is what is not addressed. One of them is the fragile state of our public finance, fueled by failed war efforts, favorable taxes for large corporations and wealthy individuals, aberrant defense spending, and absurd investments like the “Mexican Wall”.

A quick look at the past

Ever since Bill Clinton managed to balance the federal budget, both Republican and Democrat administrations have largely deployed expenses that could only be funded by debt. The Trump administration is no exception to this rule, even though it was not facing a need to increase the budget deficit until the pandemic coronavirus.

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