flegoff@clubofthree.org – Club Of Three

Strategic thinking for a resilient and competitive Europe

The NATO Summit in Ankara – big pledges bingo and a bilateral deal

Stefanie Babst: I remember NATO Summit communiqués listing 100 or more paragraphs. In the run-up to a Summit, the NATO allies discussed and negotiated practically every aspect of global...

France’s forward deterrence: what role for allies?

Once operational, the new concept unveiled on 2 March will be a powerful signal of European cohesion, writes Étienne Marcuz. Since their inception over sixty years ago, France’s strategic...

Merz’s opportunity to bounce back

Like Mark Carney in Canada, the German chancellor could turn current difficulties into a political advantage, writes John Kampfner Friedrich Merz’s speech in Munich a few weeks ago was...

For a two-speed Europe

The unanimity rule is paralysing the EU’s ability to act. Instead, it should rely more on the “enhanced cooperation” mechanism, writes Bernard Spitz. Confronted with a series of crises...

EU left isolated globally by its failure to read Trump 2.0

Instead of dealing with its own vulnerabilities, Europe continues to use an old playbook ripped apart by the U.S President, writes Lanxin Xiang. The EU has found itself...

The UK’s SDR and its implications for ‘the Three’

The Strategic Defence Review provides clear and unambiguous support for closer cooperation between Britain, France and Germany, writes Peter Watkins. The much anticipated publication of the UK Government’s Strategic...

Why the West needs a multilateral defence bank

There is currently no institution that can deploy capital strategically, rapidly and across borders when markets cannot, writes Rebecca Harding. Credit markets are flashing red and capital is retreating...

Europe must move past reactive mode and set its own strategy

Left out in the cold by the U.S, Europeans need to decide on their own what end game they want for Ukraine, writes Stefanie Babst. “Trump is erratic and...

Remembering Hella Pick

By Michael Maclay. Hella Pick first appeared on the scene for me when the ever fertile mind of George Weidenfeld fixed on the crisis of foreign-language teaching in the...

At 75, NATO must have its own Zeitenwende

To keep the Americans on board the Europeanisation of NATO is imperative, writes Margarita Mathiopoulos. Lord Ismay famous said that the raison d’être of the North Atlantic Alliance was...