German Marshall Fund

🇵🇱 Is the US losing its closest ally in Europe? The Trump administration continuously hails Poland as a model ally, but US actions are slowly pushing Poland away. GMF expert @PBednarczyk explains what it would take for Poland to fully turn away from Washington. 🔗 Read here: bit.ly/4nNj0Bx

GMF expert @PBednarczyk featured in @nytimes on US President Trump's troop reversal: “We can celebrate this win, if it comes to that, but we have to be wary of the broader trend lines. The nature of the alliance has changed, and even in polls, trust in the US has plummeted." ⤵️ Read the full article by @jeannasmialek here: nyti.ms/4uWCnKG

⛽ The crisis around the Strait of Hormuz has exposed a strategic miscalculation in the EU’s planning to replace Russian energy imports. Africa’s reserves, proximity, and developing infrastructure corridors offer the EU much-needed supply depth, but GMF’s Chris Ogunmodede and Hermine Sam warn that swapping one dependency for another is not a strategy. 🔗 Read why: bit.ly/3PDtbf3

The fourth documentary in the Local Democracy in Action series follows the work of the Lexington nonprofit CivicLex. CivicLex has pioneered a comprehensive approach to engagement to strengthen democratic resilience and performance in the city which offers a blueprint for other cities to revitalize their civic education. Produced by the Bertelsmann Foundation in partnership with GMF Cities, Local Democracy in Action is a six-part series of short documentaries showcasing the responses of local civic organizations and residents in Europe and the US to crisis, and their actions to foster social participation and reimagine public spaces in their cities. 🔗 Explore the rest of the stories on the GMF website. gmfus.org/local-democrac…

Beijing slipped a single phrase into the White House readout of the Trump-Xi summit. It sounded like boilerplate, but in Chinese political language, it was a binding commitment. GMF's @MareikeOhlberg explains how Washington accepted China's script without realizing it. Read more: bit.ly/4wJmyIV

🇺🇸 🇪🇺 The US announcement of a troop withdrawal from Germany and the cancellation of missile deployments to Poland may be grabbing the headlines, but the deeper damage is to American credibility, writes GMF’s @LeoSchuette. He argues that the decision has systematically undermined deterrence in Europe, and Europeans must now plan for a future in which US reinforcements are not guaranteed. Read more: bit.ly/4uHuEAB

GMF expert @pennynaas featured in @elpaisinenglish on the growing EU–US competition over Greenland: “More than Ukraine, the island could be the biggest short-term challenge to Europe’s newly acquired determination to build a European military power capable of deterring military aggression.” ⤵️ Read more: bit.ly/4dJ2j5E

GMF expert @BonnieGlaser in @WSJ: "If no arms sales are announced in the coming months, it would have a serious impact on Taiwan, certainly on morale, on confidence that Taiwan has in the United States." ⤵️ Read here: on.wsj.com/4nL9gru

The European Union is mainly seen as an economic partner in the Indo-Pacific while seeking to project itself in the region as a security actor. — @tara_varma, Managing Director of Strategic Foresight and Director of the @gmfus Paris Office #LennartMeriConference

Call me lucky! Thrilled to announce that the wonderful @SophiaBesch will join GMF's transatlantic security team as research director + managing director European+transatlantic defence. Sophia will be a key pillar in my team - together we will shape GMFs security & defense work!

Had the pleasure to award the @MFAestonia’s Cross of Merit II Class to Philip Bednarczyk for his sustained and productive work in the US Congress to ensure political and defence support for the #BalticStates. Thank you for your support and hard work!

📣 GMF is pleased to welcome @SophiaBesch as research director and managing director for transatlantic security, based in our Berlin office. Besch is a leading expert in transatlantic and European security, defense, and policy. She joins GMF from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and brings extensive experience from the Centre for European Reform, the Atlantic Council, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and the American-German Institute. At GMF, she will oversee our research agenda and lead work on transatlantic and European defense industrial issues. 🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/495sFgz

“This does reflect a certain cultural alignment with the European project.” In @nytimes, GMF’s Dimitar Keranov describes Bulgaria’s Eurovision moment as a “symbolic closure” of its long path toward deeper European integration, while noting it also presents a test of the country’s ability to deliver on a global stage. ➡️ Read the article here: nyti.ms/4umA0Rx

🇵🇱 It’s not just about Poland. Even limited changes to US troop deployments are shaping how allies assess American reliability in Europe. GMF expert @PBednarczyk breaks down the implications: bit.ly/4fz9EXE

A valuable opportunity to host U.S. Under Secretary of War @ElbridgeColby at the @gmfus this week, alongside a select group of senior European and NATO officials, for a candid conversation on the future of European defense and the Atlantic Alliance. Grateful to Under Secretary Colby and our European colleagues for the depth and strategic focus of the exchange—and to my colleague @ClaudMajor for leading GMF's European Defense Roadmap initiative, facilitating the discussion, and steering transatlantic partners toward concrete next steps. Following this Washington kick-off, GMF will convene a series of consultations and roundtables across its pan-European network—London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Rome, The Hague, Warsaw, Bucharest, and Ankara—to gather input from political and military decisionmakers, industry and tech leaders, financial institutions, and experts, test assumptions, and sharpen recommendations and timelines. The goal is to build the European Defense Roadmap in real time, ahead of and beyond NATO's Ankara Summit. This initiative will help governments on both sides of the Atlantic to prepare for a shifting strategic reality. The transition from a U.S.-led security order in Europe toward a European-led framework supported, but no longer directed, by the United States, has now become more urgent. For European allies, adapting to a reduced and more conditional U.S. security role will require fundamentally different planning, coordinated investments, and a shared framework for collective deterrence and defense. Decisionmakers will greatly benefit from a shared European vision for assuming primary security responsibility, an improved coordination between NATO and EU defense structures, clearer expectations for long-term U.S. contributions and a better understanding of Europe’s industrial landscape. In the months ahead, GMF will lead and shape the necessary trusted platforms, tailored analysis, and structured timeline that will define the parameters of a more cohesive, capable European security framework. More to come as we carry this work forward. For more on GMF's European Defense Roadmap: gmfus.org/news/german-ma…

What are the implications of the Trump-Xi summit for the war with Iran? GMF expert @BonnieGlaser gave her analysis. Watch here: bit.ly/4f8gX8T

"I was surprised at the inclusion of Secretary of Defense Hegseth. I believe no Secretary of Defense has ever accompanied a US president to a summit with China's leader." GMF expert @BonnieGlaser on the Trump-Xi summit that took place in Beijing earlier this week and its implications. 🔗 Watch here: bit.ly/49Oh85q

🇨🇳 🇺🇸 GMF expert @BonnieGlaser gave her take on the Trump-Xi summit that took place in Beijing earlier this week and its implications. 🔗 Watch here: youtu.be/nyLs40TBJKM?si…

National security solutions cannot be created in silos. In an era where geopolitical shocks, emerging technologies, information threats, and alliance politics are increasingly connected, strategic dialogue matters more than ever. GMF hosted a delegation of military leaders from the @us_awc to discuss the complexity of transatlantic security challenges and the role GMF plays in bridging policy, defense, and international cooperation. @AdeHoopScheffer @lorenmvoss @CarrieALee1

🇬🇧 Last week's local election results have fragmented the UK electorate into five principal parties. GMF's @sophgaston writes that with no compelling vision and mounting pressure from within his own party, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a moment of peril—and a weary Britain faces the prospect of its seventh leader in a decade. 🔗 Read here: bit.ly/437KnfQ