The Eurofile

Max and Donatienne discuss the ongoing negotiations over the EU’s next long-term budget and a recent call from the German government to establish a common European stock market. Then, they turn to a conversation with Jeremy Shapiro, Research Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss how European leaders have approached Trump. Have they avoided the worst-case scenario or is...

Max and Donatienne discuss the recent Czech parliamentary election in which billionaire businessman and former prime minister Andrej Babis and his ANO party roared to a victory (01:00). They also cover last week’s informal European Council summit in Copenhagen, where leaders met to discuss how to bolster the continent’s security (07:33). Finally, they turn to a conversation with Ben McWilliams, af...

Max and Donatienne answer listener questions (0:44) before talking with Sylvie Kauffmann, editorial director and columnist at Le Monde, about France’s political turmoil (22:40).  Learn more:   Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts 

Max and Donatienne are back from summer vacation with a preview of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address to European Parliament this week. Then, Sander Tordoir and Federico Steinberg came back on The Eurofile to break down the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, the latest moves in EU trade, and what progress has been made in the past year to implement the The Dr...

In a special crossover episode with CSIS’s State of Play, Max Bergmann joins Will Todman and Victor Cha to discuss what East Asian and European allies are learning about summits with President Trump and what patterns are emerging about how President Trump engages with autocrats. Learn more:⁠State of Play | CSIS Podcasts⁠Statesmen’s Forum: His Excellency Lee Jae Myung, President of the Republic of...

Max sat down with Matthew Kaminski—co-founder of Politico Europe, former editor-in-chief and former editor-at-large of Politico—to discuss the ethos of Politico Europe, why it’s been successful, and how it fits into the political journalism landscape in Brussels. Please submit your questions or feedback to ⁠erep@csis.org⁠ with “Eurofile Listener Feedback” in the subject line.  Learn more:   ⁠Russi...

Max and Donatienne talk to David Leonhardt, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and editorial director for The New York Times, about the politics of migration in Europe and the United States.   Please submit your questions or feedback to erep@csis.org with “Eurofile Listener Feedback” in the subject line.  Learn more:   Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts  In an Age of Right-Wing Populism, Why Are Denm...

Max and Donatienne discuss last week’s EU-US trade deal announcement, where European allies agreed to a 15 percent tariff rate on most U.S. imports. Max talks with Lykke Friis, director of the Copenhagen-based think tank Europa, about Denmark’s presidency of the European Union. Please submit your questions or feedback to erep@csis.org with “Eurofile Listener Feedback” in the subject line. Learn mo...

Max and Otto discuss President Trump’s latest tariff threats and the timid European response. Max talks to Noah Barkin, Senior Advisor with Rhodium Group's China practice, to preview next week’s EU-China summit. Learn more:  Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts  Watching China in Europe—July 2025 

Max and Otto discuss last week’s NATO summit in The Hague, where European allies signed up to a massive new spending pledge. Donatienne talks with Sarah Hall, 1931 Professor of Geography and Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge University and Deputy Director of UK in a Changing Europe, about the state of the UK economy and Labour’s economic agenda.  Learn more:   Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts...

Max and Donatienne discuss this week’s G7 Summit in Canada and the latest round of EU sanctions against Russia. Then, they turn to a conversation with Dr. Daniel Fiott, Head of the Defence and Statecraft Programme at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG), to discuss the state of European defense and Europe’s rearmament.  Learn more:   Ru...

Max and Donatienne discuss the second round of the Polish presidential election and its implications for Europe. Then they discuss Max’s recent Europe trip and his impressions from meetings with European officials and experts. Learn more:  Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts The Implications of Poland’s Presidential Election

Max and Donatienne discuss the second round of the Romanian presidential election, Portugal’s parliamentary election, and a new EU-UK deal on post-Brexit relations. Then they turn to a conversation with Jana Puglierin, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and head of its Berlin office, to discuss the priorities of the new German government. Learn more:  Russian Roulett...

On this episode, Max and Donatienne cover the first round of the Romanian presidential election, where George Simion, a hard-right candidate, soared to a first-place finish ahead of the second round on May 18. Since recording this episode on May 5th, major developments, including the resignation and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and rapid capital flight, have sparked a political crisis. This story...

In this week's episode, Max and Donatienne cover Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s visit to Washington and the state of transatlantic relations as we approach the 100-day mark of the second Trump presidency. Then, they are joined by Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), to break down how big changes in US...

Following announcements from President Donald Trump of sweeping new tariffs, Max and Donatienne discuss the fallout from last week’s “Liberation Day” with economist and international trade expert, Federico Steinberg: a Visiting Fellow with the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program and Prince of Asturias Distinguished Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. This episode dives deeply into th...

This week, Max and Donatienne discuss the state of Turkey’s democracy after the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor days before becoming presidential candidate, the latest European Council meeting and a new EU white paper for European defense. Then, our hosts turn to a conversation with Tom Wright, senior fellow at Brookings and former Senior Director for Strategic Planning at the United States National S...

In this week's episode, Max and Donatienne discuss the state of Germany’s post-election politics, including the future of the debt brake and upcoming coalition talks, and highlight the latest European Council meeting, European security, and Ukraine. Then, Max shares his key takeaways from a visit to Brussels before turning to a conversation with Phil Luck, director of the CSIS Economics Program an...

In a special crossover episode with CSIS's The Truth of the Matter, Max Bergmann joins Andrew Schwartz to debrief his recent trip to meet with European diplomats in Brussels and Paris and discuss a possible United States divorce from our allies in Europe. Economic disputes, defense spending disagreements, and differing approaches to Russia and China have further widened the gap between the transat...

Max and Donatienne break down the results of German election and discuss what a new government could mean for the Germany's economic trajectory. They then welcome Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, to discuss Germany’s economic malaise and preview how a new German government may impact the European economy. Learn more: Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts

In this crossover episode with the Truth of the Matter, Max Bergmann joins Host Andrew Schwartz to discuss the current state of European security, the potential for a U.S.-Europe tech war, how Ukraine negotiations might evolve, and more.

Max and Donatienne discuss how the EU can respond to Trump’s tariffs and whether EU doomerism is overstated. They then turn to a conversation with Anu Bradford, Professor of Law and International Organization at Columbia Law School, to discuss how Washington and Brussels might clash over tech regulation in the second Trump administration.  Learn more:   Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts 

Max and Donatienne recap Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen’s speeches at the World Economic Forum in Davos before previewing European tech regulation during Trump’s second term. Then, they turn to a conversation with Federico Rampini, Global Columnist for Corriere della Sera, to discuss Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s tenure, the state of the Italian economy, and what the second Trump administ...

Max, Donatienne, and Otto discuss Trump’s recent statements about Greenland and the reactions to Elon Musk’s interjections into European politics. They are then joined by Jeremy Cliffe, editorial director and senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, to preview the upcoming German elections and Europe’s approach to Trump’s return to the White House.  Learn more:  Russian Roulette...

Max and Donatienne recap the major stories that shaped 2024 and look ahead at the coming year. They are then joined by Georgina Wright, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director for International Studies at Institut Montaigne, for a discussion on the political turmoil currently roiling France. Learn more:   Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts