Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

China’s tightening of export controls on rare earths and related technologies across 2025 marked a turning point in Europe’s economic security. Even with Beijing’s partial and momentary rollback after talks with...

This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Ellie Geranmayeh, senior policy fellow and deputy head of ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme, and Hugh Lovatt, senior policy fellow with ECFR’s MENA programme and chairman of...

America has published its new National Security Strategy (NSS)—and it contains worrying rhetoric about the EU, European values and the transatlantic relationship. Russia, however, is never described as a threat or...

China’s rise has long fascinated policymakers, economists and technologists. But few observers have studied the country’s technological ambitions as closely as Dan Wang, research fellow at the Hoover History Lab at...

The European Council on Foreign Relations turned 18 in November 2025. This milestone offers a unique moment to reflect on the world in which ECFR was founded—and how dramatically it has changed. In 2007, Europe had the...

In this emergency podcast episode, Mark Leonard welcomes Jana Kobzova, co-director of ECFR’s European Security Programme, and Jim O’Brien, former US assistant secretary of state for Europe and ECFR distinguished policy...

Europe’s most ambitious defence project is in deep trouble. Europe’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS), presented as the crown jewel of Franco-German cooperation, was meant to deliver a next-generation defence system...

Across Europe, immigration and integration have become pressing political issues. The far right is surging in national polls, and debates over borders and national identity are reshaping party systems and public life...

In recent years, military juntas have replaced democratically elected governments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. These have expelled European forces and welcomed Russian mercenaries—yet stability in these countries...

This week, Mark Leonard returns to the World in 30 Minutes to unpack the latest development in US foreign policy: America’s military buildup off the coast of Venezuela. The US has deployed troops in the Caribbean and an...

Donald Trump’s efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine have largely taken a backseat to events in Gaza. But a recent call with Vladimir Putin, followed by a tense meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, has...

This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Eran Etzion, former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council, and Jamal Nusseibeh, Palestinian legal scholar and political analyst, to discuss what comes next after a landmark...

EU enlargement is back at the top of the EU’s political agenda as Russia’s war against Ukraine has transformed it from a bureaucratic process into a matter of European security. This episode marks the launch of ECFR’s...

This week Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin, senior policy fellow and head of ECFR’s Paris office, to discuss the unprecedented political turmoil in France. Just weeks after his appointment, Sébastien Lecornu became the...

Mark Leonard welcomes Hugh Lovatt to unpack Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and what it means for Israel, Hamas, and Europe. This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Hugh Lovatt, Senior Policy Fellow at ECFR and expert...

In the United States, the political right is undergoing a significant transformation. Once dominated by Reagan economics—characterised by free trade and deregulation—the movement has increasingly adopted policies...

Mark Leonard welcomes James Crabtree and Suhasini Haidar to explore India’s foreign policy and its emerging relations with Europe. For decades, India-Europe relations did not fulfil their potential. Now transactional...

Mark Leonard is joined by Ulrike Franke, ECFR senior policy fellow, for an Emergency Room podcast. Together, they unpack the recent wave of drone incursions across European airspace in Poland, Romania and Denmark, and...

Mark Leonard welcomes Jana Kobzova to break down the summer’s key developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. This week, ECFR’s director Mark Leonard returns to our regular programming after an eventful summer over Ukraine...

This week, ECFR director Mark Leonard concludes his deep-dive podcast series into the political universe of the “post-liberal revolution”. Throughout the series, Mark has interviewed prominent individuals across...

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Balázs Orbán, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s (no relation) political director since 2021. He is also chairman of the board at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. Previously...

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Hélène De Lauzun, Paris correspondent for the European Conservative and author of L'histoire de l'Autriche (The History of Austria), to discuss the historical roots and modern...

In the second episode of ECFR’s summer mini-series on the “New Right”, Mark Leonard is joined by Gladden Pappin, president of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, co-founder and deputy editor of American...

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Rod Dreher, a visiting fellow and Network Project director at the Danube Institute in Budapest, and former senior editor at The American Conservative. Draher is also a writer—his...

In the second episode of ECFR’s summer mini-series on the “New Right”, Mark Leonard is joined by Yoram Hazony, Israeli political scientist, president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem and chairman of the Edmund Burke...