On the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we share some of the analyses and activities recently undertaken by members of the European Leadership Network.
Turkey’s resistance to Swedish and Finnish NATO membership is an outward sign of a more profound shift in Turkey’s geo-strategic position, writes Nick Williams. Fast becoming a “semi-detached ally”, NATO members are hoping that Turkey will return to a more moderate stance after the country’s May elections. If not, the consequences could be calamitous.
Three members of the ELN’s Network discuss how the Russia-West-Ukraine challenge might develop in 2023 and what other issues we should all be alert to in the coming 12 months.
The decline of neutrality in world politics has been proclaimed several times over the past century, most recently with Finland and Sweden’s decision to join NATO. Pascal Lottaz, co-editor of a new book assessing global developments in neutralism in the “Post-Cold War” period, writes that neutrality policies are still a staple of international politics and that a new international consensus on what neutrality means could help deescalate the current crisis in Europe.
On 27 October 2022. the European Leadership Network (ELN) convened the Contact Group on Russia-West relations via Zoom to discuss Turkey’s positioning on the war in Ukraine and resulting foreign policy relations.
In some western circles, there has been a question mark over Turkey’s position on Russia’s war in Ukraine, writes Ambassador Tacan Ildem. Here he outlines the long history of Turkish-Russian relations, and how Turkey’s policy on Ukraine today is a balancing act informed by the geopolitics of the region.