Dr. Canan Atilgan

Country Report

Can Great Britain Save the West?

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is pursuing a dual strategy: he aims to take a leadership role in Europe's security and defence repositioning while also convincing the Trump administration to remain militarily engaged in Europe. The United Kingdom is to act as a bridge between an increasingly unpredictable White House and a Europe unsettled by Trump's rapprochement with Russia. This was the context of his visit to Washington at the end of February, as well as the summit he convened in London with leading heads of state and government under the title "Securing our Future."

Background Report

Brexit Reset in Brussels

The informal EU summit on 3 February 2025 in Brussels marked the first time a British Prime Minister participated since Brexit. For PM Keir Starmer, it was a crucial opportunity to reset the United Kingdom’s (UK) relationship with the European Union under the banner of a “Brexit Reset.” Unlike any other Prime Minister since Theresa May, Starmer has set a comprehensive revision of UK-EU relations as his goal. Accordingly, he has established a dedicated team within the Cabinet Office, led by EU Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, to handle negotiations with the EU. At the same time, the Prime Minister has publicly committed to substantive red lines, ruling out a return to the Single Market, the Customs Union, or freedom of movement. Instead, the UK seeks tailored agreements in trade policy, crime prevention, and security cooperation.

Familiar Faces, New Priorities

Government Formation and Priority Setting in Ireland after the 2024 Parliamentary Elections

The fastest coalition negotiations in recent Irish history have concluded. A process that previously took nearly six months was completed in just six weeks. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and independent TDs have formed a center-right coalition that secures a majority in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of parliament. Micheál Martin (Fianna Fáil) will initially serve as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and alternate with Simon Harris (Fine Gael). While governing parties in many European countries have faced significant losses, Ireland's political landscape has remained stable. The government program, "Securing Ireland's Future," focuses on economic stability, infrastructure investment, and cautious reforms. However, social inequality and rising rents remain two of the many unresolved issues. Whether Ireland’s economic success will reach the broader population is the central challenge for the new coalition.

The Political Landscape in the United Kingdom

A Review Six Months After the Change of Government

Europe is shifting politically to the right. Across the continent, right-wing populist parties are gaining influence or are already part of governing coalitions. At first glance, the United Kingdom seems to be an exception. Six months ago, Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to power with a supermajority. However, a closer look at public opinion and current polling reveals that the British public has not shifted to the left—quite the opposite. It is steadily moving to the right—on various issues and at different speeds, but increasingly away from Labour. Over the past six months, the proportion of voters supporting the right-wing political bloc has risen from 38 per cent to nearly 50 per cent. The political landscape of Britain is undergoing significant change.

Many New Alliances

The Middle East and North Africa in the Global “Systemic Rivalry”

There is consensus in the West that the outcome of the war in Ukraine will decide whether authoritarian states such as Russia and China can be countered in their thirst for power so as to defend the rules-based order. Based on this ­interpretation, the war is a global systemic conflict between democracy and autocracy in which the West expects support from the ­countries ­of the so-called Global South as well. The reality is quite different, however: the “Global South” is going its own way. This applies to the states of the Middle East and North Africa, too. While they condemn the Russian attack almost without exception, they have a different ­perspective on what has been called Zeitenwende in Germany – and are becoming increasingly estranged from the West.

"Zeitenwende" in the Eastern Mediterranean?

Discussion Event of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung at the Munich Security Conference

On February 17, 2023, the Middle East and North Africa Department of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) hosted for the first time a roundtable discussion at the MSC premises in the Bayerischer Hof as part of the Munich Security Conference (MSC). The invitation of the KAS Chairman, former Bundestag President Professor Norbert Lammert, to an evening event on the topic "A New Club Méditerranée? The Eastern Mediterranean from Rivalry to Rapprochement" was accepted by high-ranking decision makers from politics, military, diplomacy and think tanks from Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt as well as from numerous European states.

Neue Abhängigkeiten

Europäische Verwundbarkeit im Nahen Osten und in Nordafrika

Ob Sicherheit oder Migration: Europa ist heute mehr denn je auf die Zusammenarbeit mit Ländern des Nahen Ostens und Nordafrikas angewiesen. Und diese Länder sind ihrerseits immer weniger gewillt, europäische Bedingungen in Sachen Demokratie und guter Regierungsführung zu akzeptieren. Will die Europäische Union in ihrer südlichen Nachbarschaft relevant bleiben, muss sie die Chancen und Potenziale der Region stärker in den Mittelpunkt rücken.

Anspruch und Wirklichkeit

Eine neue Agenda für die euro-mediterrane Partnerschaft

Interview: "Europa muss handlungsfähig werden"

Der deutsche Außenpolitiker Johann David Wadephul über den Nahost-Konflikt, die Spannungen im östlichen Mittelmeer und Europas Verantwortung in der Mittelmeerregion

Tiefe Brüche

Transatlantische Divergenzen im Nahen Osten

In den transatlantischen Beziehungen scheint es in einer Reihe von Fragen mehr Divergenzen als Konvergenzen zu geben. In besonderer Weise betrifft dies die Nahostpolitik. Für die Trump-Administration ist der Nahe Osten „die Mühe nicht mehr wert“, weil sich Interessen verlagert haben und man auf die arabischen Interessen und Befindlichkeiten keine Rücksicht mehr nehmen muss. Für Europa gilt das Gegenteil. Eine friedliche Entwicklung und Stabilität in der krisenerschütterten unmittelbaren Nachbarschaft sind von primärem Interesse.