Continuity or sea change? What to expect from Kamala Harris on foreign policy Published: 17 October 2024 Analysis No consistent picture has emerged yet as to how Kamala Harris would shape her foreign policy if she ends up being the next US president. Her time as Vice President gives at least some hints on how she might deal with China, the war in Ukraine, and policy in the Middle East. By Teresa Eder
Climate pragmatism or Faustian bargain? What the new US climate law does—and where it fails Published: 19 August 2022 Analysis The Inflation Reduction Act is seen as an expression of climate pragmatism by some and a Faustian bargain with the fossil fuel industry by others. What exactly is it? By Liane Schalatek
Texas Power Grid Failure: Causes, Lessons Learned and Implications for EU Energy Market Transformation Published: 19 March 2021 Analysis In mid-February 2021, the US state of Texas, much like the rest of the country, was hit by a series of three severe winter storms. The resulting near-arctic weather conditions have laid bare the long-standing weaknesses and inefficiencies of the Texas energy system. By Matěj Jungwirth
Joe Biden and Climate: Cause for Cautious Optimism Published: 3 December 2020 Analysis The victory of the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, in the American presidential elections is the most important development in global climate policies since the Paris climate agreement was drafted in late 2015. Who steers the US climate agenda and how matters a great deal to the rest of the world, and not just because the US is currently the planet’s second-largest polluter in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. By Matěj Jungwirth
“Trump’s election defeat won’t end structural racism” Published: 10 June 2020 Interview The murder of George Floyd has thrown the USA into a state of unrest. Trump is throwing fuel on the fire in an attempt to increase his re-election chances.
An inch closer to a world without nuclear weapons Published: 24 March 2014 Almost exactly one year since his last visit, US President Barack Obama has returned to Prague. One year ago, he publicly declared his vision for a world without nuclear weapons. Today, together with his counterpart, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, he has signed a treaty that some international commentators call the most concrete foreign-policy achievement of the US president so far.
Missile defense: Postpone and re-evaluate Published: 24 March 2014 The European (or “third”) pillar of missile defense is a planned component of the American national missile defense system, tasked with protecting the United States of America (and indirectly, their allies) from possible ballistic missile attack. The American missile defense system has been in development since the 1950s in various modifications, but it was not until the administration of the Republican President George W. Bush that it was expanded (President Clinton only supported a project for missile defense in combat - TMD). In 2001, the United States increased funding for missile defense and withdrew from the Soviet-American Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (the ABM treaty). That treaty, signed in 1972, restricted the distribution of missile defense capabilities.
New Strategies for Communicating Climate Change Published: 24 March 2014 I want to talk about the fact that climate change seems to finally have showed up on the public agenda. You know that for a long time this was basically a conversation among us experts and maybe among some elitist politicians or NGOs. However, it seems to have now appeared on the public agenda, and I want to talk more about where the public really is on global warming and, resulting from that, what the needs for communication are at this point. I will discuss how difficult it is to talk about climate change and how well we have done today, what we have achieved and what is left to do, and I will take a pretty critical look at that. Finally, I will share the insights from this project that I have been involved in for the last three or four years on communicating climate change in a way that actually facilitates societal response to this problem -- not just communicating to get the word out, but to actually mobilize the public, which is, I think, the necessity now.
