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Languages: English, French, German
Areas of Expertise: Geo-politics and Geo-economics, China, EU-Russia relations, transatlantic relations, EU institutions, Public diplomacy and nation branding, UK foreign policy
Mark Leonard is co-founder and director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the first pan-European think tank.
He writes a syndicated column on global affairs for Reuters.com and is Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Geoeconomics.
Previously he worked as director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform and as director of the Foreign Policy Centre, a think tank he founded at the age of 24 under the patronage of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In the 1990s Mark worked for the think tank Demos where his Britain™ report was credited with launching Cool Britannia. Mark has spent time in Washington, D.C. as a Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and in Beijing as a visiting scholar at the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences.
Honoured as a “Young Global Leader” of the World Economic Forum, he spends a lot of time helping governments, companies, and international organisations make sense of the big geo-political trends of the twenty-first century. He is a regular speaker and prolific writer and commentator on global issues, the future of Europe, China's internal politics, and the practice of diplomacy and business in a networked world. His essays have appeared in publications such as Foreign Affairs, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, El Pais, Gazeta Wyborcza, Foreign Policy, the New Statesman, The Daily Telegraph, The Economist, Time, and Newsweek.
As well as writing and commenting frequently in the media on global affairs, Mark is author of two best-selling books. His first book, Why Europe will run the 21st Century, was published in 2005 and translated into 19 languages. Mark’s second book, What does China think? was published in 2008 and translated into 15 languages. He has published an edited volume on Connectivity Wars and is working on a future book on the same topic.
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR's Ellie Geranmayeh, Ilan Goldberg, head of the MENA programme at the Centre for New American Security, and Nasser Haiden, Professor of Political Science at Teheran University, about the JCPOA and whether Trump will pull out of the deal.
Bookshelf:
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
A Saudi Prince’s Quest to Remake the Middle East by Dexter Filkins
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR experts Asli Aydintasbas, Kadri Liik, Julien Barnes-Dacey, and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about how the international community might respond.
Bookshelf:
Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story by Henry Morgenthau
Joseph Conrad: A Biography by Jeffrey Meyers
Brother’s Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
La mondialisation des pauvres by Armelle Choplin and Olivier Pliez
Alone in the desert? How France can lead Europe in the Middle East by Manuel Lafont Rapnouil
Mark Leonard - 10 April 2018
During his first year in office, French President Emmanuel Macron outlined a series of proposals for reforming European institutions; now he is launching a campaign to shake up the European Parliament election in 2019. Through it all, he has adhered to a coherent philosophy of how politics in the twenty-first century should work.
Jonathan Hackenbroich covers for Mark Leonard and speaks with Professor John Naughton about Facebook’s data leak and its monetisation of data.
Bookshelf:
East West Street by Philippe Sands
95 Thesis about Technology by John Naughton 95theses.co.uk/
China’s Big Data Big Brother by Mark Leonard
by Findings of a reflection group led by Marta Dassù, Wolfgang Ischinger, Pierre Vimont, and Robert Cooper. Edited by Susi Dennison - 20th March, 2018
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR experts Kadri Liik and Sebastian Dullien about the consequences of the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK, and the eruption of an EU-US trade war.
Bookshelf:
The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization by Professor Peter van den Bossche
Liquid Surveillance by Zygmunt Bauman and David Lyon
Mark Leonard speaks with Asli Aydıntaşbaş, Kadri Liik, François Godement and Jeremy Shapiro about Europe’s relations with the US, China, Russia and Turkey. The podcast was recorded on the 6 March 2018.
by Findings of a reflection group led by Marta Dassù, Wolfgang Ischinger, Pierre Vimont, and Robert Cooper. Edited by Susi Dennison - 20th March, 2018
by Mark Leonard - 30th August, 2017
The EU’s survival depends on protecting its citizens from the forces it has created
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by Susi Dennison , Mark Leonard, Nick Witney - 16th May, 2016
A British exit from the EU would make it harder to fight crime and terrorism, reduce Britain’s ability to lead and influence its partners, and weaken NATO
PDF
by Dennison et al. - 28th January, 2016
The sixth ECFR Foreign Policy Scorecard highlights the EU's diminishing ability to influence its neighbours, and the neighbourhood's growing impact on the EU.
PDF
EPUB
Mobi
by Ulrike Esther Franke, Mark Leonard - 20th January, 2016
Why migration, finance and trade are the geo-economic battlegrounds of the future
PDF
EPUB
Mobi
Mark Leonard - 10 April 2018
During his first year in office, French President Emmanuel Macron outlined a series of proposals for reforming European institutions; now he is launching a campaign to shake up the European Parliament election in 2019. Through it all, he has adhered to a coherent philosophy of how politics in the twenty-first century should work.
Mark Leonard & Norbert Röttgen - 14 February 2018
It is time to move past institutional integration and develop practical European security capabilities.
Mark Leonard - 22 January 2018
The next German government must lead the way in forging European consensus on migration, foreign policy, and a common system of values. This means it will have to think bigger than ever before.
Mark Leonard - 05 December 2017
The biggest threat to the European project is not the "illiberal" saboteurs on the periphery of the EU, but the deep divide within member states, including bastions of liberalism such as France and Germany.
Mark Leonard - 05 October 2017
In the past 20 years, the UK and Germany have switched positions, with the latter now representing openness while the former has come to embody backward-looking nationalism. But there is no reason to believe that the two countries won't swap places again.
Mark Leonard - 02 August 2017
Berlin's firmer line on Turkey confirms Germany's status as a major economic power.
Mark Leonard - 09 June 2017
The UK election result emphatically confirmed the sense that the political class is out of touch with popular sentiment.
Mark Leonard - 30 May 2017
To bring true change, Macron will have to reconcile technocracy and populism.
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR's Ellie Geranmayeh, Ilan Goldberg, head of the MENA programme at the Centre for New American Security, and Nasser Haiden, Professor of Political Science at Teheran University, about the JCPOA and whether Trump will pull out of the deal.
Bookshelf:
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
A Saudi Prince’s Quest to Remake the Middle East by Dexter Filkins
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR experts Asli Aydintasbas, Kadri Liik, Julien Barnes-Dacey, and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about how the international community might respond.
Bookshelf:
Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story by Henry Morgenthau
Joseph Conrad: A Biography by Jeffrey Meyers
Brother’s Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
La mondialisation des pauvres by Armelle Choplin and Olivier Pliez
Alone in the desert? How France can lead Europe in the Middle East by Manuel Lafont Rapnouil
Jonathan Hackenbroich covers for Mark Leonard and speaks with Professor John Naughton about Facebook’s data leak and its monetisation of data.
Bookshelf:
East West Street by Philippe Sands
95 Thesis about Technology by John Naughton 95theses.co.uk/
China’s Big Data Big Brother by Mark Leonard
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR experts Kadri Liik and Sebastian Dullien about the consequences of the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK, and the eruption of an EU-US trade war.
Bookshelf:
The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization by Professor Peter van den Bossche
Liquid Surveillance by Zygmunt Bauman and David Lyon
Mark Leonard speaks with Asli Aydıntaşbaş, Kadri Liik, François Godement and Jeremy Shapiro about Europe’s relations with the US, China, Russia and Turkey. The podcast was recorded on the 6 March 2018.
ECFR's director Mark Leonard discusses four possible outcomes in Italy’s election on the 4th of march 2018 with Silvia Francescon, head of ECFR Rome, and Alba Lamberti, Senior Director for Advocacy.
This podcast was recorded on 2 March 2018.
More on the Italy election:
Teresa Coratella: Italy votes: Europe in the Italian election
Josef Janning: Italy: Followig Britain towards the exit?
For our Italian listeners, check out the event on Italy’s foreign policy after the election on YouTube.
ECFR's director Mark Leonard checks in with ECFR's Policy Fellows Ulrike Franke and Ellie Geranmayeh after the first day of the Munich Security Conference 2018. They discuss the hot topics so far - European defence, the end of the liberal order and technology - and give an outlook on the more explosive discussions related to the Middle East that will be discussed on Sunday.
The podcast was recorded on Friday, 16 February 2017.
Bookshelf:
Munich Security Report 2018: To the Brink - and Back
MSC2018 Opening Statements by Ursula von der Leyen and Florence Parly
Jim Walsh: Why North Korea and Iran get accused of nuclear collusion
Franklin Foren: World Without Mind - The Existential Threat of Big Tech
Mark Leonard speaks with Ulrike Franke and Susi Dennison about what the new German coalition means for foreign policy. The podcast was recorded on 8 January 2018.
Bookshelf:
Coalition Treaty
Autumn and Winter by Ali Smith
Too soon for champagne toasts for GroKo by Ulrike Franke
El País publishes Mark Leonard´s commentary on China’s Big-Data Big Brother.
Mark Leonard quoted in the New York Times on the Italian election result
Mark Leonard quoted on the topic of Chinese Media Surveillance
Mark Leonard quoted in the New York Times on Theresa May at the Munich Security Conference
Mark Leonard cité dans France Culture à propos des négociations sur le Brexit
Mark Leonard's tweet about European leaders' responses to Trump is quoted in the New York Times.
El País publishes Marc Leonard's article about the deep divides within Europe.
Mark Leonard writes in Project Syndicate that threats to the European project come also from divisions between core member states, not just those outside of the EU.
Mark Leonard is quoted in The Guardian on the UK's overly emotional attachment to its 'special relationship' with the US.
Email: mark.leonard@ecfr.eu
Tel: +44 (0)20 7227 6869