WPR Daily Review.

"The return of Europe's great(ish) powers."

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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).

 

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May 28, 2025

Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering the geopolitical return of Europe’s major powers.

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On May 9, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish PM Donald Tusk met in the French city of Nancy to sign a Franco-Polish friendship treaty. The Franco-Polish rapprochement is interesting in itself, as Macron has for several years worked hard to mend France’s ties with Eastern Europe.

But, more importantly, the two countries’ cooperation is part of a more fundamental development within Europe: the return of the big European powers.

Over the last few years, with Russia’s war against Ukraine and the breakdown of the trans-Atlantic relationship under U.S. President Donald Trump, the bigger European countries have multiplied their joint actions. France, Germany, the U.K. and, increasingly, Poland, are stepping up—a development which might simultaneously be a curse and blessing for the smaller European nations, columnist Ulrike Franke writes.

The Return of Europe’s Great(ish) Powers By Ulrike Franke France, Germany, the U.K. and Poland are increasingly looking to each other—and, notably, not the EU—to address shared geopolitical challenges.

Question of the Day: In what year was North Korea’s first-ever nuclear detonation?

1998 2002 2006 2010

Find the answer in the latest WPR Weekly Quiz, then read Theresa Lou’s briefing on how the strategic environment around North Korea has changed since U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term.

At the first-ever meeting in Poland of the U.S.-based Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called on voters to elect Karol Nawrocki as the country’s next president. Nawrocki is backed by the hard-right—and often illiberal—Law and Justice, or PiS, party. He faces Rafal Trzaskowski, who is backed by the ruling center-left party, in a tightly contested runoff election Sunday.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has increasingly promoted like-minded leaders and parties in other countries’ domestic politics, while at the same time showing a disdain for democracy promotion abroad. As Daniel W. Drezner wrote last month, the result could mean the U.S. fosters a more populist and less liberal democratic order, although there are signs that these attempts could be backfiring.

Under Trump, the U.S. Has Adopted an Autocracy Promotion Agenda By Daniel W. Drezner April 3, 2025 | As the U.S. becomes less democratic, Trump appears interested in promoting populist rulers around the world. It could backfire.

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Prosecutors in the Brazilian state of Bahia said yesterday they are suing Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD and two of its contractors over allegations of international human trafficking and “slavery-like conditions” for workers building a factory in Brazil. The labor conditions were revealed in December, a year after BYD clinched a deal to take over a factory in Bahia.

Brazil is BYD’s largest market outside of China, and its expansion there is just one part of a broader internationalization strategy, as the EV maker increasingly targets emerging markets. As Jacob Mardell wrote last year, BYD’s success in the Global South comes in part because of Beijing’s ambitions to dominate the global EV market and Western automakers’ reluctance to match BYD’s offers.

China Is Cornering the EV Market in the Global South By Jacob Mardell April 29, 2024 | BYD, already the world’s largest EV producer, is moving into Brazil, further consolidating its conquest of EV markets in the Global South.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday he had appointed a team to begin drafting a new constitution for the country, which critics argue he will use as a path to remain in power after 2028, when his current and final term expires. The announcement comes as Erdogan’s regime is increasingly cracking down on the country’s opposition. Read more in this edition of the Daily Review from March.

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Leaders from the West African bloc ECOWAS are meeting today to commemorate the organization’s 50th anniversary, a milestone that comes just months after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger exited the bloc. Their withdrawal has fundamentally shaken ECOWAS, but as Jessica Moody wrote at the time, the bloc still has a path back to relevance.

More from WPR

Cristina Guevara on the escape of Panama’s fugitive ex-president. Paul Poast on Trump’s Middle East trip. Theresa Lou on Trump and North Korea. Frida Ghitis on Lebanon’s big opportunity.

Read all of our latest coverage here.

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