• Resilience and Adaptation: International Relations after COVID

    Virtual Discussions

    As countries around the world struggle to roll out vaccines to combat the coronavirus crisis, the pandemic is not the only global challenge on the international agenda. The common issues facing Europe and the United States are daunting. They include climate change, migration, democracy...

  • Will Central Bank Digital Currencies Become a Reality? A View from the Bundesbank

    Virtual Discussions

    The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as it has prompted millions of people to turn to cashless payments. But, efforts to create CBDCs is nothing new. Central banks have been exploring how CBDCs could become a reality since Facebook’s efforts to launch its own cryptocurrency Libra raised the...

  • The Arab Spring: Unfinished Business Ten Years Later

    Virtual Discussions

    Starting with a street vendor in Tunisia, the “Arab Spring” protests took over much of the Middle East and Northern Africa ten years ago as people fought against oppressive governments. Although many observers and analysts believed that this would be a turning point for the region, high hopes turned to despair. A decade after citizens...

  • Hanging in the Balance: Europe, the United States, and the Iran Nuclear Deal

    Virtual Discussions

    The U.S. Secretary of State and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement indicating that they are willing to hold direct talks with Tehran over how to bring the United States and Iran into compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (or JCPOA, commonly known as the...