Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Camille Grand , former assistant secretary general at NATO and ECFR distinguished policy fellow, and Ivan Rogers , formerly Britain’s permanent representative to the EU, adviser for Europe and global issues to David Cameron, and principle private secretary to Tony Blair. It has been four days after the EU-UK summit and the dust is settling—but questions remain....

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Piotr Buras, head of ECFR’s Warsaw office, for an emergency room episode dissecting Sunday’s pivotal elections in Poland and Romania. Their discussion, which was recorded after high-stakes voting had taken place across Portugal, Poland and Romania, zooms in on some surprising outcomes.   Romania’s liberal candidate, Dan Barna, defied polls to defeat far-ri...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Mij Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group and ECFR council member, for an emergency room episode dissecting the long-awaited EU-UK summit.    While the summit’s agreement sets precedents on policies including an agri-food deal, and a security and defence partnership, it falls short of achieving ambitious goals like a customs union. Mar...

Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin, head of ECFR’s Paris office and senior policy fellow, to discuss how President Donald Trump’s return to the White House could reshape Europe’s political landscape. Their conversation builds on Célia’s recent policy brief, “MAGA goes global: Trump’s plan for Europe”: she argues that, while Trump’s foreign policy may appear impulsive, it follows a clear ideological...

Far from a grand bargain, the US-China trade deal rolls back President Donald Trump’s post-Liberation Day tariff spiral—which peaked at 145%—to pre-April levels. This will avert empty US shelves, but leaves underlying tensions unresolved. In this emergency room episode, Mark Leonard welcomes Janka Oertel, head of ECFR’s Asia programme, to dissect the recent de-escalation, which the parties agreed...

Over the weekend, India and Pakistan came closer to all-out war than perhaps at any point in the past 20 to 25 years as missiles flew back and forth across the border. At the point of this podcast recording, a fragile ceasefire appears to be holding—but tensions remain high. In this week’s emergency podcast episode, Mark Leonard welcomes Andrew Small , senior transatlantic fellow with the German M...

As of May 6th, Germany has a new government, led by the CDU’s Friedrich Merz in coalition with the CSU and SPD. Despite a last-minute hitch, Merz is now safely installed in the Bundeskanzleramt in Berlin, from where he immediately jetted off to Paris and Warsaw for high-level political meetings. In this episode, Mark Leonard welcomes Jeremy Cliffe , ECFR editorial director and senior policy fellow...

Trump’s first 100 days in office have brought chaos to US foreign and domestic policy. From imperial gestures to institutional erosion, Mark Leonard welcomes Jeremy Shapiro to unpack what this means for American democracy—and for Europe. From territorial provocations and budget slashes to institutional chaos and a reordering of US foreign policy, Donald Trump’s early months in office have shaken A...

Friedrich Merz is set to become Germany’s next chancellor after Social Democratic Party members approved a coalition agreement with the Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union—bringing Olaf Scholz’s tenure to an end.  In this emergency episode of World in 30 Minutes, Mark Leonard is joined by Jana Puglierin , head of ECFR’s Berlin office, to br...

On the 100th day of Donald Trump’s second term, the war in Ukraine—which he promised to end within 24 hours—rages on. As Trump’s impatience with the conflict grows, Ukraine and its European allies are scrambling to prevent an imposed peace deal that would see Kyiv recognise Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine , and abandon its hopes of joining NATO. This week, Mark Leonar...

After years of stalled diplomacy, the US and Iran are back in high-level talks. Surprise meetings have taken place in Oman and Rome, with more expected soon. Could this be President Donald Trump’s long-awaited foreign policy win? Or will competing agendas, regional tensions and internal divisions doom the negotiations before they begin? This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Ellie Geranmayeh , deputy di...

Two weeks after Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement shook global markets, he has now offered most countries a 90-day reprieve—while simultaneously escalating trade tensions with China by imposing harsher penalties. So far, China has responded by matching each tariff hike with its own response. This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Agathe Demarais , ECFR senior policy fellow and head of its geoe...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Mujtaba Rahman , managing director, Europe, at Eurasia Group, to explore the evolving dynamic between the EU and the UK. With a new British government under Keir Starmer and shifting global currents, what are the real opportunities—and constraints—for a meaningful reset in EU-UK relations? Mark and Mujtaba discuss the urgency of deeper cooperation on security a...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Camille Grand , ECFR distinguished policy fellow, and Janka Oertel , head of ECFR’s Asia programme, who have recently returned from Taipei. Together, they explore Taiwan’s delicate balancing act as China ramps up its military drills and as the second Trump administration’s priorities shift.    The conversation dives into Taiwan’s efforts to secure US...

In this emergency room episode, Mark Leonard is joined by Agathe Demarais, ECFR senior policy fellow and geoeconomics team leader. They explore the dramatic implications of Donald Trump’s unexpected and aggressive tariff policies announcement on 2nd April—which he has dubbed “Independence Day.”     Mark and Agathe discuss the economic shockwaves hitting the US—where tariffs threaten infl...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Célia Belin, head of ECFR’s Paris office, to dive into the seismic news shaking French politics: the conviction of Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN). A French court has found Le Pen guilty of misusing European Parliament funds, sentencing her to a five-year ban from public office and effectively sidelining her from France’s 2027 preside...

This week, Mark Leonard hosts an expert panel to dive into Europe’s evolving relationships with Asia amid the uncertainties of the Trump administration. Joining from Berlin is Janka Oertel , head of ECFR’s Asia programme; from London, James Crabtree, a distinguished visiting fellow at ECFR with extensive Asia experience; and from New Delhi, Rudra Chowdhury , director of Carnegie India and a key co...

This week, Mark Leonard joins forces with Jeremy Shapiro, ECFR’s director of research and US programme director, to unpick two momentous geopolitical disruptions. First, a stunning scandal emerged from a Signal group chat, where senior US officials—including the vice president, secretary of defence and CIA director—carelessly looped in the Atlantic ’s editor-in-chief to discuss military strikes in...

This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, associate senior policy fellow for ECFR’s Wider Europe programme and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, to discuss the dramatic arrest of Istanbul’s popular mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu. The arrest sparked nationwide protests; together they explore whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bold move signals a critical shift for Turkish democrac...

This week, Mark Leonard hosts Tobias Gehrke, an ECFR senior policy fellow specialising in geoeconomics and economic security, and José Ignacio Torreblanca, head of ECFR’s Madrid office and expert on tech geopolitics, to explore how Europe can counter a potentially hostile Trump administration.  With trade wars looming and the US flexing its power, Mark and his guests delve into Tobias’s new p...

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Kirill Shamiev , a policy fellow with ECFR’s Wider Europe programme, to dissect the outcomes and implications of the historic phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin—which, at two-and-a-half-hours, was the longest between American and Russian leaders in history.  Mark and Kirill explore the three key outcomes: a prisoner exchange of 175 individu...

In this episode, Mark Leonard is joined by Adam Tooze—ECFR trustee, the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis professor of history at Columbia University, director of the university’s European Institute and author—to discuss Donald Trump’s rise through a class lens. They examine how job losses and cultural divides, as well as frustration with media, tech and government elites, are driving workers’ suppo...

Donald Trump's presidency has cast a significant shadow over Europe, reshaping its varied political landscapes and policy decisions. As the continent navigates this transformative era, it also faces tests to its unity and cohesion.   This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin , ECFR senior policy fellow and head of the Paris office, Piotr Buras , ECFR senior policy fellow and head of t...

This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Marie Dumoulin , head of ECFR’s Wider Europe programme, to explore the implications of and strategic motives behind a newly announced Ukraine-US agreement amid the Russia conflict. The deal includes a 30-day ceasefire, and resumed US intelligence sharing and military aid for Ukraine. Will Russia reciprocate or escalate? Is the US fully backing Ukraine or seeking a...

This week Mark Leonard welcomes Piotr Buras senior policy fellow and head of ECFR’s Warsaw office to discuss the recent shifts in Europe’s defence strategy. On the weekend, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz’s has said he would pursue discussions with France and Britain on sharing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk is looking into the possibility of nuclear d...