Many describe our geopolitical moment as one of instability, but that word feels
too weak for what we are living through. Some, like Mark Carney, argue that we
are facing a rupture: a break with assumptions that anchored the global economic
and political order for decades. Others, like Christine Lagarde, see a profound
transition, a shift toward a new configuration of power, technology and societal
expectations. Whichever perception we adopt, the implication is clear: leaders
can no longer rely on yesterday’s mental models, institutional routines or
governance templates.
Johanna Mair is the Director of the Florence School of Transnational Governance
at the European University Institute in Florence, where she leads education,
training and research on governance beyond the nation state.
Security, for example, is no longer a discrete policy field. It now reaches
deeply into energy systems, artificial intelligence, cyber governance, financial
stability and democratic resilience, all under conditions of strategic
competition and mistrust. At the same time, competitiveness cannot be reduced to
productivity metrics or short-term growth rates. It is about a society’s
capacity to innovate, regulate effectively and mobilize investment toward
long-term objectives — from the green and digital transitions to social
cohesion. This dense web of interdependence is where transnational governance is
practiced every day.
The European Union illustrates this reality vividly. No single member state can
build the capacity to manage these transformations on its own. EU institutions
and other regional bodies shape regulatory frameworks and collective responses;
corporations influence infrastructure and supply chains; financial institutions
direct capital flows; and civic actors respond to social fragmentation and
governance gaps. Effective leadership has become a systemic endeavour: it
requires coordination across these levels, while sustaining public legitimacy
and defending liberal democratic principles.
> Our mission is to teach and train current and future leaders, equipping them
> with the knowledge, skills and networks to tackle global challenges in ways
> that are both innovative and grounded in democratic values.
The Florence School of Transnational Governance (STG) at the European University
Institute was created precisely to respond to this need. Located in Florence and
embedded in a European institution founded by EU member states, the STG is a hub
where policymakers, business leaders, civil society, media and academia meet to
work on governance beyond national borders. Our mission is to teach and train
current and future leaders, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and
networks to tackle global challenges in ways that are both innovative and
grounded in democratic values.
What makes this mission distinctive is not only the topics we address, but also
how and with whom we address them. We see leadership development as a practice
embedded in real institutions, not a purely classroom-based exercise. People do
not come to Florence to observe transnational governance from a distance; they
come to practice it, test hypotheses and co-create solutions with peers who work
on the frontlines of policy and politics.
This philosophy underpins our portfolio of programs, from degree offerings to
executive education. With early career professionals, we focus on helping them
understand and shape governance beyond the state, whether in international
organizations, national administrations, the private sector or civil society. We
encourage them to see institutions not as static structures, but as arrangements
that can and must be strengthened and reformed to support a liberal, rules-based
order under stress.
At the same time, we devote significant attention to practitioners already in
positions of responsibility. Our Global Executive Master (GEM) is designed for
experienced professionals who cannot pause their careers, but recognize that the
governance landscape in which they operate has changed fundamentally. Developed
by the STG, the GEM convenes participants from EU institutions, national
administrations, international organizations, business and civil society —
professionals from a wide range of nationalities and institutional backgrounds,
reflecting the coalitions required to address complex problems.
The program is structured to fit the reality of leadership today. Delivered part
time over two years, it combines online learning with residential periods in
Florence and executive study visits in key policy centres. This blended format
allows participants to remain in full-time roles while advancing their
qualifications and networks, and it ensures that learning is continuously tested
against institutional realities rather than remaining an abstract exercise.
Participants specialize in tracks such as geopolitics and security, tech and
governance, economy and finance, or energy and climate. Alongside this subject
depth, they build capabilities more commonly associated with top executive
programs than traditional public policy degrees: change management,
negotiations, strategic communication, foresight and leadership under
uncertainty. These skills are essential for bridging policy design and
implementation — a gap that is increasingly visible as governments struggle to
deliver on ambitious agendas.
Executive study visits are a core element of this practice-oriented approach. In
a recent Brussels visit, GEM participants engaged with high-level speakers from
the European Commission, the European External Action Service, the Council, the
European Parliament, NATO, Business Europe, Fleishman Hillard and POLITICO
itself. Over several days, they discussed foreign and security policy,
industrial strategy, strategic foresight and the governance of emerging
technologies. These encounters do more than illustrate theory; they give
participants a chance to stress-test their assumptions, understand the
constraints facing decision-makers and build relationships across institutional
boundaries.
via EUI
Throughout the program, each participant develops a capstone project that
addresses a strategic challenge connected to a policy organization, often their
own employer. This ensures that executive education translates into
institutional impact: projects range from new regulatory approaches and
partnership models to internal reforms aimed at making organizations more agile
and resilient. At the same time, they help weave a durable transnational network
of practitioners who can work together beyond the programme.
Across our activities at the STG, a common thread runs through our work: a
commitment to defending and renewing the liberal order through concrete
practice. Addressing the rupture or transition we are living through requires
more than technical fixes. It demands leaders who can think systemically, act
across borders and design governance solutions that are both unconventional and
democratically legitimate.
> Across our activities at the STG, a common thread runs through our work: a
> commitment to defending and renewing the liberal order through concrete
> practice.
In a period defined by systemic risk and strategic competition, leadership
development cannot remain sectoral or reactive. It must be interdisciplinary,
practice-oriented and anchored in real policy environments. At the Florence
School of Transnational Governance, we aim to create precisely this kind of
learning community — one where students, fellows and executives work side by
side to reimagine how institutions can respond to global challenges. For
policymakers and professionals who recognize themselves in this moment of
rupture, our programs — including the GEM — offer a space to step back, learn
with peers and return to their institutions better equipped to lead change. The
task is urgent, but it is also an opportunity: by investing in transnational
governance education today, we can help lay the foundations for a more resilient
and inclusive order tomorrow.
Tag - Borders
The Trump administration is doubling down on its endorsement of Hungarian leader
Viktor Orbán in next month’s Hungarian elections, even as Orbán’s deal-blocking
in Brussels has been labeled “unacceptable” by EU peers.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday reiterated his “complete and total
endorsement” of Orbán in the Hungarian elections. And U.S. Vice President JD
Vance is reportedly due to fly to Budapest in April in support of the prime
minister.
The EU’s longest-serving leader, facing an election in less than a month that he
is forecast to lose, has long been a thorn in the side of Brussels. In the
latest stand-off against his European counterparts, Orbán held hostage a €90
billion loan to Ukraine this week over an oil dispute.
“The prime minister has been a strong leader whose shown the entire world what’s
possible when you defend your borders, your culture, your heritage, your
sovereignty and your values,” Trump said in a video address to the Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) taking place in Hungary on Saturday.
Trump praised Hungary’s “strong borders” and said the country will continue to
“work very hard on immigration,” and said Europe has to “work very hard” to
solve “a lot of problems” around immigration.
The American president said that Hungary and the U.S. are “showing the way
toward a revitalized West,” and would also work “hard together on energy.”
Vance is planning an April trip to Budapest just ahead of the Hungarian
elections in a show of support for Orbán, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter
Szijjarto confirmed in a podcast on Friday. Reuters first reported on Vance’s
planned trip to Budapest.
ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, Iraq — About 5 kilometers from Iran, aircraft roar overhead.
Are the planes American, Israeli, Iranian? The Kurdish fighter shrugged and
urged haste. The final stretch to his militia’s base could be reached only on
foot, along a steep path covered in loose rock. Out in the open, everyone is
vulnerable.
A tunnel leads to the underground base in a sliver of the Zagros Mountains in
northeastern Iraq. The Iranian-Kurdish guerrilla group, the Kurdistan Free Life
Party, is careful to keep its exact location secret. Visitors must switch their
smartphones to flight mode before handing them over upon entry.
The Kurdistan Free Life Party is in waiting mode, poised along Iran’s western
border to move in if a weakened regime opens up a path to strike it. The Axel
Springer Global Reporters Network, which includes POLITICO, was granted rare
access to the group’s base and its members, who discussed its ideology, goals
and under what conditions they’d go into Iran.
Militia representative Bahar Avrin said in an interview inside the base that the
organization already has elements “inside” Iran, and that deploying a larger
force against Tehran is ultimately a question of the right timing and
conditions. The border between northern Iraq and Iran runs through the Zagros
Mountains and is considered porous — for smugglers, locals and the handful of
militias operating there.
The Kurdistan Free Life Party, often referred to by its Kurdish acronym PJAK, is
part of a coalition of six Kurdish militia groups that want to topple Iran’s
Islamist regime and usher in a government that is more democratic and grants
more rights and autonomy to Iranian Kurds in Iran.
President Donald Trump has said Iraqi and Iranian Kurdish groups are “willing”
to participate in a ground offensive against Tehran — but he has said he ruled
out the idea to avoid making the war “any more complex than it already is.”
A Kurdish assault could spark a sectarian power struggle that destabilizes Iran.
And key U.S. allies with their own Kurdish minorities — Iraq and Turkey — have
warned the idea could spread unrest elsewhere in the Middle East.
The idea could nonetheless prove tempting for Trump as the war, now in its third
week, drags on. The ruling regime in Tehran has not capitulated despite
punishing airstrikes that have killed scores of its top leaders. Trump could
find himself looking for military options that do not trigger the political risk
that would accompany deployment of U.S. ground troops.
“The president never takes anything fully off the table,” said Victoria Coates,
who served as deputy national security adviser for the Middle East in Trump’s
first term. “And if you were considering this, this is the last thing you would
want the Iranians to know.”
TUNNEL VISION
PJAK looks ready to go into a fight, with a base that suggests an organized
military operation. It consists of a tunnel system running through the
mountain’s interior, with electricity and running water. On the walls hang
photographs of fallen fighters — many of them young, women and men in their 20s
and 30s. Four monitors mounted to the walls display the surrounding terrain
outside. Motion sensors control the cameras; when a bird flutters across the
screen, the image switches to it automatically.
In a dark tunnel, a 20-year-old fighter holding an assault rifle introduced
herself as Zilan. Her day begins at 5:30 a.m. and follows a strict schedule.
“Our daily life is based on discipline,” she said. Ideological instruction aims
at building a democratic society; military training focuses on defending the
Kurdish people.Watch: The Conversation
“We never want the help of foreign powers like Israel and the United States,”
she said. “We are an independent party.”
The Kurdistan Free Life Party is one of several Iranian-Kurdish groups in
Iraq. In 1979, Kurds in Iran supported the revolution against the shah. When the
new Islamic Republic rejected their demands for autonomy, heavy fighting broke
out in Iranian Kurdistan. Numerous groups relocated to Iraq, where they now
operate freely in northern Iraq, which is largely autonomous from the rest of
the country and detached from the central government in Baghdad.
The six members of the political and military alliance are not in agreement
about whether to invade if called on, and under what conditions they would
embark on a full-scale war for their political goals.
Some parties appear eager to take on a ground offensive in Iran. Reza Kaabi,
secretary-general of the Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan, has even set out a
blueprint, declaring a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone to be a prerequisite for any
Kurdish invasion.
There is a general sense in the region that PJAK — given its proximity to the
Iranian border and its relatively strong military presence — would be one of the
first of the six Kurdish militias in the coalition to go into Iran if given U.S.
military support. But PJAK publicly rejects the idea that they would do so at
the bidding of Washington. It’s a stance rooted in distrust of the U.S. — not
least because the United States abruptly withdrew support from the Kurds in
Syria in January.
Asked under what conditions PJAK would launch an offensive across the
Iraqi-Iranian border, Avrin declined to answer. But, she said, her organization
has “never waited for any force to bring about change.”
CNN recently reported that just a few days into the Iran war, Trump spoke with
Mustafa Hijri, the secretary-general of another group in the Kurdish-Iranian
opposition alliance: the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, or PDKI. It is
one of the oldest Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties and has maintained armed
units operating from exile in northern Iraq.
PDKI executive committee member Hassan Sharafi said in an interview that he
could “neither confirm nor deny” whether such a conversation had taken place, in
part because of the limited contact among the group’s leadership maintained for
security reasons.
Sharafi said the PDKI had “no operational relations” with the United States on
the ground in Iraq. At the political level, however, contacts exist: “In
Washington, Paris, and London we have contacts, and our representatives there
maintain relations. Our relations are diplomatic and political.” Such links, he
said, were long-standing: “For more than 20 years we have had relations with the
United States and with all European countries. We have contacts with all of
them.”
THE ROAD TO TEHRAN
From Tehran’s perspective, the militias represent a serious threat. Iranian
artillery has struck in the border region multiple times in recent days, hitting
villages near the frontier. These attacks primarily affect civilians. The
Kurdish guerrillas sheltered inside the mountain remain protected. Other militia
groups, whose positions are located in more exposed terrain, have also come
under fire.
A 2023 security agreement between Iran and Iraq obliged Baghdad to disarm
Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups, dismantle their bases and relocate them
deeper into Iraqi territory. Now that the Kurdish groups are openly considering
an offensive in Iran, Tehran has concluded that the agreement has failed,
according to Kamaran Osman, an Iraq-based human rights officer with a nonprofit
organization called Community Peacemaker Teams that monitors human rights abuses
in conflict zones.
“Now it believes it must target, destroy and defeat these groups,” Osman said,
speaking in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, about a two-hour drive from the PJAK
base.
As of Monday, his organization had recorded 307 Iranian attacks on the Kurdistan
region in Iraq, leaving eight people killed and 51 injured.
He sees only grim scenarios for the Kurdish people in Iran. “If the regime
falls, there is a risk of civil war in Iran,” he said. If the regime survives,
he fears more retaliation from Tehran against Kurds in Iraq — both
Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Should northern Iraq become destabilized, a power vacuum could emerge. The last
time order eroded here, in 2014, ISIS militants seized control of a swathe of
territory stretching from Iraq to Syria, a landmass nearly as large as the
United Kingdom. PJAK has ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a militant group
that has fought against the Turkish government, and is listed as a terrorist
organization there — as well as in the EU and the U.S.
The United States has a troubled history of making big promises to ethnic
Kurdish groups — and then abandoning them at the worst possible moment. After
calling on Iraqis to rise up and overthrow then-dictator Saddam Hussein in 1991,
President George H.W. Bush declined to intervene when Hussein began slaughtering
Iraqi Kurds who took up the U.S. president’s call. And as recently as this
January, the Trump administration stood by as a Syrian Kurdish militia that led
the U.S.-backed campaign to defeat ISIS just a few years ago was attacked by
Syria’s new government.
The big question for U.S. policymakers may be how much they would need to
support a Kurdish assault on Iran to make it successful. Former U.S.
intelligence and special forces experts believe it would require the type of
commitment he might prefer to avoid: large infusions of cash and weapons, close
air support, and potentially even on-the-ground aid from U.S. special forces.
Even then, a Kurdish-led attack could fizzle, leaving Trump with two grim
choices: Abandon the Kurds, or come to their rescue with even greater U.S.
combat support.
“It would require a lot of commitment on the U.S. side with a very unclear end
state,” said Alex Plitsas, a former senior Pentagon official who worked on
special operations and counterterrorism policy in the Middle East.
While Coates cautioned that Trump had other, better options at hand, she argued
that even modest U.S. military support for the Kurds — such as small arms
shipments and limited air support — could threaten Iran’s increasingly brittle
regime.
The key, she said, was arming the exiled Kurds in Iraq in conjunction with other
Iranian resistance groups inside the country to avoid the perception it was
coming from outside.
“The way this is going to be effective,” Coates said, “is not by a bunch of
Iraqis invading Iran.”
Drüten of WELT reported from Iraq. Sakellariadis reported from Washington.
The Axel Springer Global Reporters Network is a multi-publication initiative
publishing scoops, investigations, interviews, op-eds and analysis that
reverberate across the world. It connects journalists from Axel Springer brands
— including POLITICO, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, and Onet — on major stories
for an international audience. Their ambitious reporting stretches across Axel
Springer platforms: online, print, TV and audio. Together, the outlets reach
hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
LONDON — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned the U.K. that it needs to
get tougher on irregular migration to protect the country’s borders.
Orbán admitted border control was “not the nicest job” but essential to ensure
only those permitted could enter a country.
Speaking to the right-wing broadcaster GB News, the Hungarian leader was
insistent that only a hard-line approach deters people from crossing
irregularly.
The U.K. government has struggled to combat irregular small boat crossings
across the English Channel. Between 2018 and 2025, around 193,000 people were
detected crossing, with the yearly peak hitting 46,000 in 2022.
Asked for his advice on stopping migration, Orbán told the TV channel his secret
was “determination.”
“So if you decide that you stop them, stop them. So sometimes it’s not the
nicest job, but if you decide that this is our borderline and nobody can cross
it without our permission, you have to keep the line. You have to do so.”
Last year, around 41,000 people entered the U.K. on small boats, with more than
3,000 people crossing the channel so far in 2026. Around 95 percent of people
who arrive go on to claim asylum and are often housed in hotels, which has
caused widespread controversy.
“In Hungary, it’s very simple,” Orbán said. “If somebody is crossing the
borderline without getting the permission prior of that from the authorities,
it’s a crime and we treat them as crime makers.”
London struck a “one in, one out” agreement with Paris last July, which meant
undocumented migrants arriving on small boats could be removed in exchange for
asylum seekers who had a U.K. connection. However, this plan faced criticism
after a man deported under the scheme returned to Britain, as well as for the
treatment of those who returned to France.
Pushed on whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Tory predecessor Rishi
Sunak were too weak in their approach to migration, Orbán said: “I’m not as
brave to criticize any leader of the U.K.”
Listen on
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Europe is working hard to end the standoff with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor
Orbán over the €90 billion loan promised to Ukraine.
Host Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart, senior EU politics editor, discuss how
likely it is for the deadlock to be resolved before tomorrow’s meeting of EU
leaders now that Kyiv has agreed to work with the bloc to repair the Druzhba
pipeline. Orbán has held off on greenlighting any funding until Ukraine fixes
this pipeline that carries Russian oil into Hungary.
Also on the pod, Brussels is trying to do something about its startup problem.
The European Commission will unveil the so-called “28th regime” which attempts
to make it easier to start and scale new companies across borders. We explain
why this plan is actually a test of something much bigger — and more political.
Finally, a new exhibition in the European Parliament traces the continent’s
history through the eyes of a notary … because what’s more “EU” than official
documents?
Questions? Comments? Send them to our WhatsApp: +32 491 05 06 29.
A top Pentagon official told lawmakers Tuesday that existing military operations
targeting Latin American drug cartels are “just the beginning” — and left open
the possibility of deploying ground forces even as lethal boat strikes against
alleged smugglers continue indefinitely.
The comments from Joseph Humire, acting assistant secretary of defense for
homeland defense, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing raised
immediate concerns from congressional Democrats who said the efforts appear to
be another “forever war” without clear goals or a stated end date.
It’s the latest example of the administration doubling down on aggressive
foreign policy interventions without clarifying what victory might look like,
despite President Donald Trump’s past campaign pledges to avoid embroiling
America in more overseas conflicts. And it raises the prospect that the nation’s
armed forces could be further strained amid a massive air war over Iran.
Democrats on Tuesday also questioned military leaders’ assertions that the
six-month effort to sink smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific
has made a meaningful impact on illegal drugs entering American borders, and
whether it follows proper rules of engagement for enemy combatants or amounts to
war crimes.
“We could shoot suspected criminals dead on the street here in America, and it
may be a deterrent to crime, but that doesn’t make it legal,” said Rep. Gil
Cisneros (D-Calif.).
But Humire insisted the open-ended missions — dubbed Operation Southern Spear —
are “saving American lives” and compliment President Donald Trump’s other border
security mandates.
“Interdiction is necessary, but insufficient,” he said. “Deterrence has a
signaling effect on narco-terrorists, and raises the risks with their
movements.”
At least 157 people have been killed in 45 strikes on alleged drug smuggling
boats in the seas around South America since early September, according to
Defense Department statistics. More than 15,000 service members have been
deployed to the region for counter-drug missions, training efforts and blockade
enforcement over the last six months, though some of those numbers have been
drawn down since the start of the conflict in Iran.
Humire said officials have seen a 20 percent reduction in suspected drug vessels
traveling the Caribbean and a 25 percent reduction in the Eastern Pacific
traffic since the start of the military operations.
But committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) questioned whether those
numbers actually translate into fewer drugs on American streets, or simply
evidence that smugglers are being forced into other shipping lanes or land
routes.
Humire said officials are looking to expand to land strikes against known cartel
routes and hideouts, but are working with partner country militaries on that
work. The U.S. Defense Department launched operations with Ecuadorian forces
against narco-terrorist groups in that country earlier this month.
He would not, however, rule out potential unilateral strikes in South American
countries later on. Smith called that hedge concerning.
Republicans on the committee largely praised the military’s anti-drug
operations, dismissing the Democratic criticism.
“Defending the homeland does not stop at our border,” said committee Chair Mike
Rogers (R-Ala.). “It also requires confronting threats at their source. The
president has made it clear that narco-terrorists and hostile foreign powers
will find no sanctuary or foothold anywhere in our hemisphere.”
President Donald Trump has often frustrated European allies with his overt
entreaties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and harsh words for Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
But behind the seeming imbalance is a longer-term strategic goal – countering
China.
The Trump administration believes that incentivizing Russia to end the war in
Ukraine, welcoming it back economically and showering it with U.S. investments,
could eventually shift the global order away from China.
It’s a gamble – and one Ukrainians are concerned with – but it underscores the
administration’s belief that the biggest geopolitical threat facing the United
States and the West is China, not Putin’s Russia. While countering China isn’t
the only reason the administration wants a truce, it does help explain why after
more than 15 months of fruitless talks and multiple threats to walk away, the
president’s team – special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner –
keep looking for a breakthrough.
A Trump administration official, granted anonymity to discuss ongoing
negotiations, said finding a “way to align closer with Russia” could create “a
different power balance with China that could be very, very beneficial.”
The administration’s desire to use Ukraine peace negotiations to counter China
has not been previously reported.
But many observers believe this plan has little hope of succeeding – at least
while Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping remain in charge. And the idea of
giving Russia economic incentives to grow closer to the U.S. is concerning for
Ukraine, said a Ukrainian official, granted anonymity to discuss diplomatic
matters.
“We had such attempts in the past already and it led to nothing,” they said.
“Germany had [Ostpolitik, Germany’s policy toward the East], for that and now
Russia is fighting the deadliest war in Europe.”
And when it comes to banking on breaking apart China and Russia, the Ukrainian
official noted that both countries “have one [thing] in common which you can not
beat – they hate the U.S. as a symbol of democracy.”
Still, the strategy is in keeping with the administration’s broader foreign
policy initiatives aimed at least in part in countering Chinese influence.
Taking out Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and pressuring Cuba’s government to
the brink of collapse all diminishes China’s influence in the Western
Hemisphere. The administration threatened Panama, which withdrew from Chinese
leader Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative a month after Trump took office and called
Peru’s deal with China surrounding its deepwater port in Chancay a “cautionary
tale.”
And striking Iran shifted China’s oil import potential, as Tehran supplied
Beijing with more than 13 percent of its oil in 2025, according to Reuters.
Indeed, the Trump administration official noted that between Venezuela, Iran and
Russia, China was buying oil at below-market rates, subsidizing its consumption
“to the tune of over $100 billion a year for the last several years.”
“So that’s been a massive subsidy for China by being able to buy oil from these
places on the black market, sometimes $30 a barrel lower than what the spot
market is,” the person said.
Even as there are reports that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran, the
U.S. and Russia keep talking. Witkoff and Kushner met with Kirill Dmitriev, a
top adviser to Putin, last week. The Russians called the meeting “productive.”
Witkoff said they’d keep talking. These negotiations and the broader efforts to
counter China now take place under the spectre of Trump asking several
countries, including China, for help securing the Strait of Hormuz.
The National Security Strategy, released in November, spilled a fair amount of
ink on China, though it often doesn’t mention Beijing directly. Many U.S.
lawmakers — from both parties — consider China the gravest long-term threat to
America’s global power.
“There is a longstanding kind of U.S. strategic train of thought that says that
having Russia and China working together is very much not in our interests, and
finding ways to divide them, or at least tactically collaborate with the partner
who’s less of a long term strategic threat to us,” said said Alexander Gray,
Trump’s National Security Council chief of staff in his first term.
Gray, who is currently the CEO of American Global Strategies, a consulting firm,
compared the effort to former Secretary of State and national security adviser
Henry Kissinger, who spearheaded President Richard Nixon’s trip to China during
the Cold War in an effort to pull that country away from the Soviet Union.
The State Department declined to comment for this report. However, a State
Department spokesperson previously told POLITICO that China’s economic ties with
Latin American countries present a “national security threat” for the U.S. that
the administration is actively trying to mitigate.
The White House declined to comment.
Fred Fleitz, another Trump NSC chief of staff in his first term, noted that the
president has “pressed Putin to end the war to normalize Russia’s relationship
with the U.S. and Europe,” and wants Russia to rejoin the G8.
“It is clear that Trump wants to find a way to end the war in Ukraine and to
coexist peacefully with Russia,” said Fleitz, who now serves as the vice chair
for American Security at the America First Policy Institute. “But I also believe
he correctly sees the growing Russia-China alliance as a far greater threat to
U.S. and global security than the Ukraine War and therefore wants to find ways
to improve U.S.-Russia relations to weaken or break that alliance.”
Others, however, remain skeptical. Craig Singleton, senior director of the China
program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the goal to break Russia
and China is “appealing in theory, but in practice the partnership between
Moscow and Beijing is iron-clad.”
“Obviously there is nothing wrong with testing diplomacy and President Trump is
a dealmaker. But history probably suggests that this won’t really result in
much,” Singleton added. “The likely outcome [with Russia] is limited tactical
cooperation with the U.S., not some sort of durable break with Beijing.”
And China seeks to keep Russia as an ally and junior partner in its relationship
as a counter to Western powers. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaffirmed the
relationship in a press conference this month, saying, “in a fluid and turbulent
world, China-Russia relationship has stood rock-solid against all odds.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, shortly after his confirmation, hinted at the
broader strategy, saying in an interview, that “a situation where the Russians
are permanently a junior partner to China, having to do whatever China says they
need to do because of their dependence on them” is not a “good outcome” for
Russia, the U.S. or Europe.
But Rubio, like the Trump administration official given anonymity to discuss
ongoing negotiations, both acknowledged that fully severing those ties would be
a tough lift.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever be successful at peeling them completely off a
relationship with the Chinese,” Rubio said in February of last year.
Adam Savit, director for China policy at the America First Policy Institute,
argued that “Russia matters at the margins, but it won’t be a decisive variable
in the U.S.-China competition,” and that the “center of gravity is East Asia.”
“Russia gives China strategic depth, a friendly border, energy supply, and a
second front in Ukraine to sap Western attention,” he said. “Getting closer to
Russia could complicate China’s strategic position, but Moscow is a declining
power and solidly the junior partner in that relationship.”
BERLIN — France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has floated the idea that
Canada could one day join the European Union, using the transatlantic ally as a
striking example of the bloc’s global appeal.
Speaking at the Europe 2026 conference in Berlin alongside his German
counterpart Johann Wadephul, Barrot argued that the EU is increasingly
attracting partners far beyond its borders as geopolitical tensions soar.
“Nine countries are formally candidates to EU accession today. Others might join
them,” Barrot said. “Iceland in a few weeks or months. And maybe Canada at some
point.”
Barrot’s Canada remark was not presented as a concrete policy proposal, but
rather as part of a broader argument that the EU is emerging as a “third
superpower” capable of balancing the rivalry between the United States and
China.
Earlier on Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb suggested to Canadian
Prime Minister Mark Carney while the pair were out running that he should “think
about” joining the EU as well.
The comments come as European leaders push to strengthen the bloc’s geopolitical
role amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and the U.S. war in the Middle East.
Barrot framed Europe as uniquely positioned to draw countries closer through its
economic weight, democratic model and regulatory power. “Many countries around
the world are willing to get closer to our union,” he said.
He also pointed to signs of renewed alignment with the United Kingdom, noting
debates in London about closer ties to the single market, as well as deepening
cooperation with countries like India and Switzerland.
Talk of Canada as a potential EU member has grown more common as the country
struggles with an increasingly antagonistic relationship with the United States
under Donald Trump, who early in his second presidency often talked about
turning Canada into a “51st state.”
Those comments, too, were initially viewed as frivolous — but the laughter in
Ottawa grew steadily more nervous, and has lately ceased altogether.
A poll conducted in 2025 showed that 44 percent of Canadians think the country
should join the EU.
Barrot and Stubb are the most senior politicians to talk up the suggestion, with
a spokesperson for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reacting
warmly to the poll but ultimately dismissing the idea as a non-starter.
Canada has already pushed back on any suggestion of EU membership, with Carney
stating there are no plans to join the bloc. “The short answer is no,” the
Canadian PM said when asked about the idea at the NATO summit earlier this year.
“That’s not the intent. That’s not the pathway we’re on.”
Instead, Ottawa has been pursuing closer ties short of membership, including a
new strategic defense and security partnership with the EU aimed at deepening
cooperation across trade, supply chains and security.
While full EU membership for Canada is unlikely in the short term, and no
concrete plans to realize it are yet known to be in motion, given the increasing
geopolitical turbulence it is not impossible.
Hans von der Burchard contributed to this report.
The Trump administration quietly shifted its immigration messaging in the weeks
after its violent operation in Minneapolis that included the fatal shooting of
two Americans, largely dropping mentions of “mass deportations” as public
sentiment shifted against the aggressive tactics.
A POLITICO review of social media posts from major official administration
accounts shows only one mention of the term in the past month, compared to more
than a dozen in the four weeks prior.
The analysis examined the social media accounts of top Trump officials and White
House-run pages the administration has leveraged to push support for its
immigration agenda.
The findings suggest an administration recalibrating its message in the wake of
wavering poll numbers on what had been one of President Donald Trump’s signature
issues. It comes as Republicans have grown worried about the 2026 midterms, with
calls for large-scale deportations — a hallmark of Trump’s campaign — now seen
by some in the party as a vulnerability, particularly with Hispanic voters who
had shifted toward the president just two years ago.
“Deportations have a different look after Minneapolis, and we need to reclaim
immigration as an issue,” said Michigan-based GOP strategist Jason Roe.
“Deporting criminals remains popular, and the fact that the Democrats
reflexively take the opposite side of Trump puts them, once again, on the side
of criminals.”
For months, calls for “mass deportation” were a frequent feature of the Trump
administration’s aggressive social media strategy. On X, the White House’s
prolific Rapid Response account spent days in mid-January linking “mass
deportations” to lower crime, more jobs and lower housing costs.
But that account hasn’t used the phrase “mass deportation” since Feb. 12, when
it shared clips from a press conference during which border czar Tom Homan, who
was dispatched to Minneapolis to deescalate tensions, said mass deportations
were still on but emphasized more targeted enforcement.
“The message focus is a reflection on where the administration’s strongest
arguments have always been, which is an emphasis on border security policies
that draw a contrast with the Biden-Harris administration, and a more
prioritized and precise focus on illegal immigrants with criminal offenses,”
said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who has worked for House GOP
leadership and on presidential campaigns.
Last week, Trump picked Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to be the next Homeland
Security secretary, moving current DHS chief Kristi Noem to a special envoy
role in the face of growing frustrations with her tenure.
The official White House account, along with social media accounts tied to other
top Trump officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and press
secretary Karoline Leavitt, have also eschewed the phrase after highlighting
mass deportations in the past — even as they continue to post when immigrants
accused of violent crimes are arrested.
A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy, said the
rapid response page is not indicative of any policy changes. The account
amplifies and engages with major news stories, the official said, noting that
there has been less news coverage about immigration since early February. The
official said the same applies to other officials’ X accounts.
The Department of Homeland Security’s public ad campaign has also started to
take a different tact: An ad that began running in February, weeks after the
Minnesota shootings, sought to highlight “victims of illegal immigration,” in
contrast with ads the agency had previously run that featured footage of
arrests.
A DHS spokesperson said the agency “remains committed to arresting and deporting
the worst of the worst illegal aliens to keep the American people safe, just as
President Trump promised.” The spokesperson also shared several DHS press
releases from this week highlighting arrests of immigrants who had committed
crimes.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration’s immigration
enforcement isn’t changing, and that the president’s “highest priority has
always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American
communities.” She also said that 70 percent of deportations to date have been
unauthorized immigrants with criminal records, and said the administration has
had the “most secure border in U.S. history for nine straight months.”
This week, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair privately urged House
Republicans at their annual policy retreat in Doral, Florida, to focus their
immigration message on removing violent criminals instead of “mass
deportations.” Blair’s message was first reported by Axios.
A senior White House official said Blair’s comments were taken “out of context.”
The official said the administration can highlight deportations but that the
White House also has to tout the president’s success at the border.
“Like the border numbers are astronomical — zero, right?” the senior official
said. “Zero people coming in. That’s a great message to push.”
A person close to the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the
strategy, said among crucial voting blocs, including Latino voters, moderate
Republicans, Independents, and young voters, “mass deportations” is associated
with sweeping round-ups in community gathering places. If candidates instead
focus on criminal arrests, public safety, and the president’s success in
securing the southern border, the person argued, they can turn the issue against
Democrats.
“Just have to message it a little bit better,” the person said. “If you can go
on a campaign, and you can contrast and say, ‘OK, this person wants open
borders, this person wants amnesty for criminal illegal aliens — it’s madness.’
It’s just not where the majority of the American people are.”
The president, during the State of the Union address, sought to draw that
contrast when he asked members of Congress to stand if they agreed that “the
first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not
illegal aliens” — a standout moment Vice President JD Vance amplified again
during a speech in North Carolina on Friday. In the February address, the
president only said “deporting” once to emphasize his focus on deporting
“criminal illegal aliens.” It was part of a section in which Trump introduced
the mother of Lizbeth Medina, a teenager killed by an unauthorized immigrant.
It was a departure from Trump’s 2025 address when the president reiterated his
vow to conduct the “largest deportation operation in U.S. history.” Promises of
“mass deportations” were also a recurring feature of his 2024 campaign — a vow
he and his top officials repeatedly amplified during his first year back in the
White House.
“People know where President Trump stands on immigration, on deportation,” the
senior official said, when asked about the president’s SOTU address. “It was a
hallmark of his campaign. … We don’t need to explain our immigration position.”
The White House’s shift in messaging is infuriating some Trump allies who have
launched a lobbying effort to reverse that reversal. Those concerns underscore
the GOP divide on how aggressive to be on immigration enforcement.
Immigration hardliners want Trump to ramp up deportations but many Republicans
worry that would risk a further loss of public support.
Recent immigration polling, including a January POLITICO poll conducted before
37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed, has shown growing unease with the
president’s deportation campaign. Even among his base, the poll found that more
than 1 in 3 Trump voters said that while they supported the goal of his policy,
they disapproved of its implementation.
Eli Stokols and Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.
Anton, a 44-year-old Russian soldier who heads a workshop responsible for
repairing and supplying drones, was at his kitchen table when he learned last
month that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had cut off access to Starlink terminals used by
Russian forces. He scrambled for alternatives, but none offered unlimited
internet, data plans were restrictive, and coverage did not extend to the areas
of Ukraine where his unit operated.
It’s not only American tech executives who are narrowing communications options
for Russians. Days later, Russian authorities began slowing down access
nationwide to the messaging app Telegram, the service that frontline troops use
to coordinate directly with one another and bypass slower chains of command.
“All military work goes through Telegram — all communication,” Anton, whose name
has been changed because he fears government reprisal, told POLITICO in voice
messages sent via the app. “That would be like shooting the entire Russian army
in the head.”
Telegram would be joining a home screen’s worth of apps that have become useless
to Russians. Kremlin policymakers have already blocked or limited access to
WhatsApp, along with parent company Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Microsoft’s
LinkedIn, Google’s YouTube, Apple’s FaceTime, Snapchat and X, which like SpaceX
is owned by Musk. Encrypted messaging apps Signal and Discord, as well as
Japanese-owned Viber, have been inaccessible since 2024. Last month, President
Vladimir Putin signed a law requiring telecom operators to block cellular and
fixed internet access at the request of the Federal Security Service. Shortly
after it took effect on March 3, Moscow residents reported widespread problems
with mobile internet, calls and text messages across all major operators for
several days, with outages affecting mobile service and Wi-Fi even inside the
State Duma.
Those decisions have left Russians increasingly cut off from both the outside
world and one another, complicating battlefield coordination and disrupting
online communities that organize volunteer aid, fundraising and discussion of
the war effort. Deepening digital isolation could turn Russia into something
akin to “a large, nuclear-armed North Korea and a junior partner to China,”
according to Alexander Gabuev, the Berlin-based director of the Carnegie Russia
Eurasia Center.
In April, the Kremlin is expected to escalate its campaign against Telegram —
already one of Russia’s most popular messaging platforms, but now in the absence
of other social-media options, a central hub for news, business and
entertainment. It may block the platform altogether. That is likely to fuel an
escalating struggle between state censorship and the tools people use to evade
it, with Russia’s place in the world hanging in the balance.
“It’s turned into a war,” said Mikhail Klimarev, executive director of the
internet Protection Society, a digital rights group that monitors Russia’s
censorship infrastructure. “A guerrilla war. They hunt down the VPNs they can
see, they block them — and the ‘partisans’ run, build new bunkers, and come
back.”
THE APP THAT RUNS THE WAR
On Feb. 4, SpaceX tightened the authentication system that Starlink terminals
use to connect to its satellite network, introducing stricter verification for
registered devices. The change effectively blocked many terminals operated by
Russian units relying on unauthorized connections, cutting Starlink traffic
inside Ukraine by roughly 75 percent, according to internet traffic analysis
by Doug Madory, an analyst at the U.S. network monitoring firm Kentik.
The move threw Russian operations into disarray, allowing Ukraine to make
battlefield gains. Russia has turned to a workaround widely used before
satellite internet was an option: laying fiber-optic lines, from rear areas
toward frontline battlefield positions.
Until then, Starlink terminals had allowed drone operators to stream live video
through platforms such as Discord, which is officially blocked in Russia but
still sometimes used by the Russian military via VPNs, to commanders at multiple
levels. A battalion commander could watch an assault unfold in real time and
issue corrections — “enemy ahead” or “turn left” — via radio or Telegram. What
once required layers of approval could now happen in minutes.
Satellite-connected messaging apps became the fastest way to transmit
coordinates, imagery and targeting data.
But on Feb. 10, Roskomnadzor, the Russian communications regulator, began
slowing down Telegram for users across Russia, citing alleged violations of
Russian law. Russian news outlet RBC reported, citing two sources, that
authorities plan to shut down Telegram in early April — though not on the front
line.
In mid-February, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said the
government did not yet intend to restrict Telegram at the front but hoped
servicemen would gradually transition to other platforms. Kremlin spokesperson
Dmitry Peskov said this week the company could avoid a full ban by complying
with Russian legislation and maintaining what he described as “flexible contact”
with authorities.
Roskomnadzor has accused Telegram of failing to protect personal data, combat
fraud and prevent its use by terrorists and criminals. Similar accusations have
been directed at other foreign tech platforms. In 2022, a Russian court
designated Meta an “extremist organization” after the company said it would
temporarily allow posts calling for violence against Russian soldiers in the
context of the Ukraine war — a decision authorities used to justify blocking
Facebook and Instagram in Russia and increasing pressure on the company’s other
services, including WhatsApp.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov, a Russian-born entrepreneur now based in the
United Arab Emirates, says the throttiling is being used as a pretext to push
Russians toward a government-controlled messaging app designed for surveillance
and political censorship.
That app is MAX, which was launched in March 2025 and has been compared to
China’s WeChat in its ambition to anchor a domestic digital ecosystem.
Authorities are increasingly steering Russians toward MAX through employers,
neighborhood chats and the government services portal Gosuslugi — where citizens
retrieve documents, pay fines and book appointments — as well as through banks
and retailers. The app’s developer, VK, reports rapid user growth, though those
figures are difficult to independently verify.
“They didn’t just leave people to fend for themselves — you could say they led
them by the hand through that adaptation by offering alternatives,” said Levada
Center pollster Denis Volkov, who has studied Russian attitudes toward
technology use. The strategy, he said, has been to provide a Russian or
state-backed alternative for the majority, while stopping short of fully
criminalizing workarounds for more technologically savvy users who do not want
to switch.
Elena, a 38-year-old Yekaterinburg resident whose surname has been withheld
because she fears government reprisal, said her daughter’s primary school moved
official communication from WhatsApp to MAX without consulting parents. She
keeps MAX installed on a separate tablet that remains mostly in a drawer — a
version of what some Russians call a “MAXophone,” gadgets solely for that app,
without any other data being left on those phones for the (very real) fear the
government could access it.
“It works badly. Messages are delayed. Notifications don’t come,” she said. “I
don’t trust it … And this whole situation just makes people angry.”
THE VPN ARMS RACE
Unlike China’s centralized “Great Firewall,” which filters traffic at the
country’s digital borders, Russia’s system operates internally. Internet
providers are required to route traffic through state-installed deep packet
inspection equipment capable of controlling and analyzing data flows in real
time.
“It’s not one wall,” Klimarev said. “It’s thousands of fences. You climb one,
then there’s another.”
The architecture allows authorities to slow services without formally banning
them — a tactic used against YouTube before its web address was removed from
government-run domain-name servers last month. Russian law explicitly provides
government authority for blocking websites on grounds such as extremism,
terrorism, illegal content or violations of data regulations, but it does not
clearly define throttling — slowing traffic rather than blocking it outright —
as a formal enforcement mechanism. “The slowdown isn’t described anywhere in
legislation,” Klimarev said. “It’s pressure without procedure.”
In September, Russia banned advertising for virtual private network services
that citizens use to bypass government-imposed restrictions on certain apps or
sites. By Klimarev’s estimate, roughly half of Russian internet users now know
what a VPN is, and millions pay for one. Polling last year by the Levada Center,
Russia’s only major independent pollster, suggests regular use is lower, finding
about one-quarter of Russians said they have used VPN services.
Russian courts can treat the use of anonymization tools as an aggravating factor
in certain crimes — steps that signal growing pressure on circumvention
technologies without formally outlawing them. In February, the Federal
Antimonopoly Service opened what appears to be the first case against a media
outlet for promoting a VPN after the regional publication Serditaya Chuvashiya
advertised such a service on its Telegram channel.
Surveys in recent years have shown that many Russians, particularly older
citizens, support tighter internet regulation, often citing fraud, extremism and
online safety. That sentiment gives authorities political space to tighten
controls even when the restrictions are unpopular among more technologically
savvy users.
Even so, the slowdown of Telegram drew criticism from unlikely quarters,
including Sergei Mironov, a longtime Kremlin ally and leader of the Just Russia
party. In a statement posted on his Telegram channel on Feb. 11, he blasted the
regulators behind the move as “idiots,” accusing them of undermining soldiers at
the front. He said troops rely on the app to communicate with relatives and
organize fundraising for the war effort, warning that restricting it could cost
lives. While praising the state-backed messaging app MAX, he argued that
Russians should be free to choose which platforms they use.
Pro-war Telegram channels frame the government’s blocking techniques as sabotage
of the war effort. Ivan Philippov, who tracks Russia’s influential military
bloggers, said the reaction inside that ecosystem to news about Telegram has
been visceral “rage.”
Unlike Starlink, whose cutoff could be blamed on a foreign company, restrictions
on Telegram are viewed as self-inflicted. Bloggers accuse regulators of
undermining the war effort. Telegram is used not only for battlefield
coordination but also for volunteer fundraising networks that provide basic
logistics the state does not reliably cover — from transport vehicles and fuel
to body armor, trench materials and even evacuation equipment. Telegram serves
as the primary hub for donations and reporting back to supporters.
“If you break Telegram inside Russia, you break fundraising,” Philippov said.
“And without fundraising, a lot of units simply don’t function.”
Few in that community trust MAX, citing technical flaws and privacy concerns.
Because MAX operates under Russian data-retention laws and is integrated with
state services, many assume their communications would be accessible to
authorities.
Philippov said the app’s prominent defenders are largely figures tied to state
media or the presidential administration. “Among independent military bloggers,
I haven’t seen a single person who supports it,” he said.
Small groups of activists attempted to organize rallies in at least 11 Russian
cities, including Moscow, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk, in defense of Telegram.
Authorities rejected or obstructed most of the proposed demonstrations — in some
cases citing pandemic-era restrictions, weather conditions or vague security
concerns — and in several cases revoked previously issued permits. In
Novosibirsk, police detained around 15 people ahead of a planned rally. Although
a small number of protests were formally approved, no large-scale demonstrations
ultimately took place.
THE POWER TO PULL THE PLUG
The new law signed last month allows Russia’s Federal Security Service to order
telecom operators to block cellular and fixed internet access. Peskov, the
Kremlin spokesman, said subsequent shutdowns of service in Moscow were linked to
security measures aimed at protecting critical infrastructure and countering
drone threats, adding that such limitations would remain in place “for as long
as necessary.”
In practice, the disruptions rarely amount to a total communications blackout.
Most target mobile internet rather than all services, while voice calls and SMS
often continue to function. Some domestic websites and apps — including
government portals or banking services — may remain accessible through
“whitelists,” meaning authorities allow certain services to keep operating even
while broader internet access is restricted. The restrictions are typically
localized and temporary, affecting specific regions or parts of cities rather
than the entire country.
Internet disruptions have increasingly become a tool of control beyond
individual platforms. Research by the independent outlet Meduza and the
monitoring project Na Svyazi has documented dozens of regional internet
shutdowns and mobile network restrictions across Russia, with disruptions
occurring regularly since May 2025.
The communications shutdown, and uncertainty around where it will go next, is
affecting life for citizens of all kinds, from the elderly struggling to contact
family members abroad to tech-savvy users who juggle SIM cards and secondary
phones to stay connected. Demand has risen for dated communication devices —
including walkie-talkies, pagers and landline phones — along with paper maps as
mobile networks become less reliable, according to retailers interviewed by RBC.
“It feels like we’re isolating ourselves,” said Dmitry, 35, who splits his time
between Moscow and Dubai and whose surname has been withheld to protect his
identity under fear of governmental reprisal. “Like building a sovereign grave.”
Those who track Russian public opinion say the pattern is consistent: irritation
followed by adaptation. When Instagram and YouTube were blocked or slowed in
recent years, their audiences shrank rapidly as users migrated to alternative
services rather than mobilizing against the restrictions.
For now, Russia’s digital tightening resembles managed escalation rather than
total isolation. Officials deny plans for a full shutdown, and even critics say
a complete severing would cripple banking, logistics and foreign trade.
“It’s possible,” Klimarev said. “But if they do that, the internet won’t be the
main problem anymore.”