Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

Mark Leonard is joined by Ulrike Franke , ECFR senior policy fellow, for an Emergency Room podcast. Together, they unpack the recent wave of drone incursions across European airspace in Poland, Romania and Denmark, and discuss what these hybrid threats reveal about Russian tactics and NATO’s readiness.   How serious are these drone sightings and what are their origins? What kind of counter-dr...

Mark Leonard welcomes Jana Kobzova to break down the summer’s key developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. This week, ECFR’s director Mark Leonard returns to our regular programming after an eventful summer over Ukraine that saw Donald Trump meet Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss the war—a meeting that stunned global observers. Also over the summer, European leaders held a summit in the White Ho...

This week, ECFR director Mark Leonard concludes his deep-dive podcast series into the political universe of the “post-liberal revolution”. Throughout the series, Mark has interviewed prominent individuals across national conservative movements and “new right” politics, aiming to unpack the values behind its roots and ideas. The last episode, which Mark recorded at the National Conservatism Confere...

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Balázs Orbán , Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s (no relation) political director since 2021. He is also chairman of the board at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. Previously, Balázs was minister of state in the prime minister’s office and director general of the Migration Research Institute in Budapest.  Together, Mark and Balázs explore the latter’s i...

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Hélène De Lauzun, Paris correspondent for the European Conservative and author of L'histoire de l'Autriche (The History of Austria), to discuss the historical roots and modern expressions of conservatism in France.   Together, Mark and Hélène explore her intellectual journey as a historian emphasising France’s pre-Revolutionary legacy, the fragmentation of...

In the second episode of ECFR’s summer mini-series on the “New Right”, Mark Leonard is joined by Gladden Pappin , president of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, co-founder and deputy editor of American Affairs Journal and co-founder of the online magazine Post-Liberal Order .  Gladden's intellectual journey illustrates the transnational nature of contemporary political thought...

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Rod Dreher , a visiting fellow and Network Project director at the Danube Institute in Budapest, and former senior editor at The American Conservative . Draher is also a writer—his latest book, “Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents” is based on the experiences of Christians persecuted in Soviet Russia. Together, Mark and Rod discuss the shifting p...

In the second episode of ECFR’s summer mini-series on the “New Right”, Mark Leonard is joined by Yoram Hazony , Israeli political scientist, president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem and chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation, to explore the emergence of national conservatism as a response to the perceived crisis of liberalism. In their conversation, Mark and Yoram discuss the...

The re-election of President Donald Trump and the recent successes of right-wing parties across the world are posing a challenge to the established political order. With overwhelming evidence that we are living through a political Zeitenwende , this summer ECFR is taking a deep dive into the “post-liberal revolution”—starting with a new podcast series on the so-called “New Right”.  In the fir...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Vessela Tcherneva, deputy director of ECFR, and Maria Simeonova, head of ECFR’s Sofia office, to discuss the deteriorating political situation in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is set to join the euro zone in 2026—but the country faces severe internal challenges. In a sign of mounting political instability, Bulgarians have gone to the polls seven times in five years. Power...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Jeremy Shapiro , ECFR’s research director and head of its US programme, and Tom Wright , senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Strobe Talbott Centre and former Biden administration official, for an episode recorded live at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.   Mark, Jeremy and Tom discuss the forum’s tense atmosphere, marked by the Trump administr...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Hugh Lovatt , ECFR policy fellow, and Tahani Mustafa , visiting fellow in ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme, to discuss Israel’s military action in Gaza and the West Bank, the ensuing humanitarian crisis, and the political dynamics of Hamas, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Mark, Hugh and Tahani provide insights into the complexities of the con...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Tobias Gehrke , ECFR senior policy fellow, for a 15-minute Emergency Room episode dissecting the collapse of an EU-US trade deal. President Donald Trump’s last-minute letter, threatening to impose tariffs of 30% on the EU by August 1st, shattered expectations of a negotiated settlement—and prompted EU member states to prepare a €93bn retaliation package which t...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Jana Kobzova , ECFR senior policy fellow, and Camille Grand , ECFR distinguished policy fellow, to discuss ECFR’s new European Security Programme and the war in Ukraine. They take a “beyond the horizon” view of the war, considering what Europe’s medium- and long-term strategy towards Ukraine should look like. This links directly to the new programme’s mission,...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Henry Farrell , ECFR council member and professor at John Hopkins University, to discuss Henry’s new book “Underground Economy”, co-authored by Abraham Newman . In their take, globalisation has brought interdependence—which is being weaponised as a tool for strategic advantage. As the main facilitator of global interdependence, America exploits countries’...

Recorded live from ECFR’s Annual Council Meeting 2025, this week’s podcast features Mark Leonard in conversation with Ivan Krastev , Chair of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and permanent fellow at the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna, and Carl Bildt , former prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden as well as co-chair of ECFR’s council. They discuss the new ECFR report “Trump...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Camille Grand , former NATO assistant secretary general and ECFR distinguished policy fellow, for a 15-minute Emergency Room episode dissecting the high-stakes NATO summit in The Hague. Against a turbulent geopolitical backdrop, world leaders navigated President Donald Trump’s push for a 5% GDP defence-spending target, their ongoing support for Ukraine, and Rus...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by the deputy director of ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme, Ellie Geranmayeh , and Eran Etzion , policy planning director for the Israeli foreign ministry and former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council. Mark and his guests break down how the conflict has developed since last Friday’s emergency podcast and explore possible future scenario...

Mark Leonard is joined by Ellie Geranmayeh , deputy director of ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme, for a 15-minute Emergency Room episode diving into Israel’s massive overnight attack on Iran. Using 200 fighter jets, Israel targeted over 100 military and nuclear sites, assassinating senior Iranian commanders and scientists. The result is a situation which is escalating far beyond Octob...

A humanitarian crisis in Gaza; question marks around Iran; unstable governments in eastern Europe; and the growth of China’s economic and military might. All are cause for concern—and all provide the backdrop to the Trump administration’s approach to foreign policy, which represents the biggest generational shift since the cold war. This week Mark Leonard is joined by Dan Caldwell , former senior...

How policymakers respond to Europe’s many challenges—from Russian aggression to sluggish economic growth to the shift to clean energy - will shape the continent for decades to come. In the face of these trials, however, they overlook something slower but equally as important: the global demographic transition. This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Alberto Rizzi , ECFR policy fellow, to discuss what...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Malcolm Chalmers , deputy director general at the Royal United Services Institute and former Labour government advisor, for an Emergency Room episode dissecting the UK’s newly unveiled Strategic Defence Review (SDR). Prime minister Keir Starmer has committed to increasing defence spending to 3% GDP by 2030, expanding the UK’s military capabilities with 12 attac...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Piotr Buras , head of ECFR’s Warsaw office, for a 15-minute rapid-response episode dissecting the outcome of Poland’s presidential election. Yesterday, right-wing populist Karol Nawrocki, member of the Law and Justice party (PiS), edged out Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski by just 400,000 votes, crushing hopes of a liberal wave similar to Romania.   Togethe...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Tiago Antunes , ECFR associate senior fellow at and former Portuguese secretary of state for European affairs; and Nicu Popescu , ECFR distinguished policy fellow and former Moldovan deputy prime minister and foreign minister. Mark, Tiago and Nicu discuss the proposal for a European Preparedness Act, inspired by the US Defense Production Act, which aims to enha...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Julien Barnes-Dacey, ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme director, for an emergency room episode diving into the dire situation in Gaza. After the March ceasefire collapsed, Israel’s intensified offensive—where it plans to occupy 75% of the strip—and an 80-day humanitarian blockade have pushed Gaza into famine.   The controversial Gaza Humanitari...