Europe in Trouble

Between mid-2015 and mid-2016, the EU was in serious trouble. Not yet fully recovered from the financial crisis and still challenged by both the war in the Ukraine and Russian policy, two more crises exploded. Some two million refugees reached the heartlands of Europe, where the readiness to welcome them triggered a wave of protest, exploited by right-wing populists. And terror in France and Belgium profoundly shocked our societies and played further into the hands of political adventurers. When, in addition to these challenges, a majority of the British electorate voted for “Brexit” in June 2016, the European Union was finally plunged into an unprecedented crisis. Never before had a member state asked to leave the EU. Other important issues on the global agenda deserve political attention, too – ranging from the electoral campaign for the new US president to China’s economy and politics.
For a second year, CIFE has continued to publish policy papers on these challenges. Again, twenty scholars, members of CIFE’s research team and guest authors, analyse and assess these issues.