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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 is the creator and editor of the Everyday Europe, an interactive project involving Britons sharing their experiences of Europe, including newspaper articles and a future book.
19th September, 2016
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with Senior Policy Fellow Richard Gowan about the candidates, and the factors that will decide the race. The podcast was recorded on the 15 September 2016.
Bookshelf:
The fog of peace: A memoir of international peacekeeping in the 21st century by Jean-Marie Guehenno
EU indecision on UN Secretary General choice plays to Russia’s advantage by Richard Gowan
by Asli Aydıntaşbaş & Mark Leonard & Vessela Tcherneva - 15th September, 2016
A complex and explosive mixture of misunderstandings, bad blood and unrecognised but shared interests has brought EU-Turkey relationship to a critical juncture.
14th September, 2016
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with experts Angela Stanzel, Francois Godement and Susi Dennison, about what the British exit from the EU will mean for China and Asia, and how the East can gain from the new landscape. The podcast was recorded on the 13 September 2016.
Bookshelf:
Europeans, get down to work by Andres Ortega
Wild grass: China’s revolution from below by Ian Johnson
Goodbye Europe by Sylvie Goulard
China and Brexit: What’s in it for us? by Francois Godement and Angela Stanzel
08th September, 2016
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with heads of office Almut Möller and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about political debates in France and Germany. What directions are the two countries heading as they approach next year's elections? The podcast was recorded on 7 September 2016.
Bookshelf:
Der taumelnde Kontinent by Philipp Blom
New European counter-terror wars by Anthony Dworkin
View from Berlin: The EU’s musical chairs by Josef Janning
by Mark Leonard - 02nd September, 2016
The dislocation and confusion of 2016 do not rival the turmoil of the interwar period, but they are certainly symptoms of a new interregnum.
31st August, 2016
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with experts Andrew Wilson, Fredrik Wesslau and Gustav Gressel, about rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the Donbass, the Minsk agreement, and whether European sanctions on Russia should be renewed. The podcast was recorded on 30 August 2016.
Bookshelf:
Enough said: What’s gone wrong with the language of politics by Mark Thompson
The decline of the West by Oswald Sprengler
Ukraine crisis: What it means for the West by Andrew Wilson
The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation by Andrew Wilson
26th August, 2016
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with policy fellow Asli Aydintasbas and research director Jeremy Shapiro about the deployment of Turkish tanks into Syria and the rivalry with Kurdish troops in the fight against ISIS in that region. The podcast was recorded on the 25 August 2016.
Bookshelf:
Desert Queen: The extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell by Janet Wallach
Decisive moments in history by Stefan Zweig
Man(h)atten (series)
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
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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.
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EPUB
Mobi
by Mark Leonard - 20th January, 2016
Why migration, finance and trade are the geo-economic battlegrounds of the future
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EPUB
Mobi
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by Mark Leonard - 26th March, 2015
Chinesische Experten und Intellektuelle analysieren im ECFR-Essayband „China 3.0“ die politischen Trends, die das neue China ausmachen.
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by Mark Leonard - 11th March, 2015
With the prospect of a referendum before 2017, a British Exit from the EU led by a Europhobic elite is a real possibility – with disasterous consequences.
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Asli Aydıntaşbaş & Mark Leonard & Vessela Tcherneva - 15 September 2016
A complex and explosive mixture of misunderstandings, bad blood and unrecognised but shared interests has brought EU-Turkey relationship to a critical juncture.
Mark Leonard - 02 September 2016
The dislocation and confusion of 2016 do not rival the turmoil of the interwar period, but they are certainly symptoms of a new interregnum.
Mark Leonard - 04 August 2016
Johnson did more than anyone to bury Britain’s European future; but his ultra-flexibility may yet prove to be its salvation.
Mark Leonard - 04 August 2016
The next phase of European integration must engage with - and provide safeguards against - the dark side of interdependence. Otherwise Brexit will be just the beginning.
Mark Leonard - 24 June 2016
The people have spoken. But yesterday’s vote to leave the European Union is only the beginning of what will be a long and uncertain process of divorce.
Mark Leonard - 13 June 2016
The uncertainty is stress-testing the British elite and the rest of the world, which is looking on helplessly at the results.
Mark Leonard - 11 May 2016
European migrants are supporting the social fabric of places such as Thurrock and keeping Britain’s creaking public services on life support.
Mark Leonard - 26 April 2016
As control over population flows becomes a currency of power, states that follow the M-7’s lead will have the opportunity to boost their geopolitical heft.
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with Senior Policy Fellow Richard Gowan about the candidates, and the factors that will decide the race. The podcast was recorded on the 15 September 2016.
Bookshelf:
The fog of peace: A memoir of international peacekeeping in the 21st century by Jean-Marie Guehenno
EU indecision on UN Secretary General choice plays to Russia’s advantage by Richard Gowan
Listen onlineECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with experts Angela Stanzel, Francois Godement and Susi Dennison, about what the British exit from the EU will mean for China and Asia, and how the East can gain from the new landscape. The podcast was recorded on the 13 September 2016.
Bookshelf:
Europeans, get down to work by Andres Ortega
Wild grass: China’s revolution from below by Ian Johnson
Goodbye Europe by Sylvie Goulard
China and Brexit: What’s in it for us? by Francois Godement and Angela Stanzel
Listen onlineECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with heads of office Almut Möller and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about political debates in France and Germany. What directions are the two countries heading as they approach next year's elections? The podcast was recorded on 7 September 2016.
Bookshelf:
Der taumelnde Kontinent by Philipp Blom
New European counter-terror wars by Anthony Dworkin
View from Berlin: The EU’s musical chairs by Josef Janning
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with experts Andrew Wilson, Fredrik Wesslau and Gustav Gressel, about rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the Donbass, the Minsk agreement, and whether European sanctions on Russia should be renewed. The podcast was recorded on 30 August 2016.
Bookshelf:
Enough said: What’s gone wrong with the language of politics by Mark Thompson
The decline of the West by Oswald Sprengler
Ukraine crisis: What it means for the West by Andrew Wilson
The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation by Andrew Wilson
Russia’s role in the grey zone
Listen onlineECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with policy fellow Asli Aydintasbas and research director Jeremy Shapiro about the deployment of Turkish tanks into Syria and the rivalry with Kurdish troops in the fight against ISIS in that region. The podcast was recorded on the 25 August 2016.
Bookshelf:
Desert Queen: The extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell by Janet Wallach
Decisive moments in history by Stefan Zweig
Man(h)atten (series)
Listen onlineECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR experts Vessela Tcherneva, Silvia Francescon, Ulrike Franke, Borja Lasheras, and board member Ivan Krastev, about summer readings. The list includes foreign policy books, wider readings to understand the world we live in, and finally what to read to get away from it all. The podcast was recorded on 28 July 2016.
Books discussed:
The force of reason by Oriana Fallaci
Senza la Guerra by Massimo Cacciari, Lucio Caracciolo, Ernesto Galli della Lggia and Elisabetta Rasy
La febbre di Trump: Un fenomeno Americano by Mattia Ferraresi
Liberta a migrare: Perche ci spostiamo da sempre ed e bene cosi by Valerio Calzano and Telmo Pievani
En immersion a Molenbeek by Hind Fraihi
Reichtum ohne Gier by Sahra Wagenknecht
Wunschdenken: Europa, Währung, Bildung, Einwanderung – warum Politik so häufig scheitert by Thilo Sarrazin
1913: The year before the storm by Florian Illies
La France pour la vie by Nikolas Sarkozy
Expert political judgement: How good is it? How can we know? by Philip E. Tetlock
Global inequality: A new approch for the age of globalisation by Branko Milanovic
El retorno de los chamanes by Victor Lapuente
Siria, el país de las almas rotas by Javier Espinosa and Monica G. Prieto
Esodo: Storia del nuovo millennio by Domenico Quirico
The search for Europe: Contrasting approaches, published by BBVA
1917: Razgadka “russkoj” revolyutsii by Nikolaj Starikov
The Silk Road: A new history of the world by Peter Frankopan
Political epistemics: The secret police, the opposition, and the end of east German socialism by Andreas Glaeser
Thinking in time: The uses of history for decision makers by Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest R. May
Diplomat i gradinar by Ivan D. Stanchov
Ill fares the land by Tony Judt
When facts change by Tony Judt
Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder
The responsible company: What we’ve learned from Patagonia’s first 40 years by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley
Drone warfare by John Kaag and Sarah Kreps
Swarm troopers: How small drones will conquer the world by David Hambling
Sternstunden der Menschheit by Stefan Zweig
The Star Rover by Jack London
The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston De Walt
Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
Listen onlineECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with Tom Nuttall, Brussels Bureau Chief of the Economist and author of the Charlemagne column, about reactions to the UK referendum result in the EU institutions, and the upcoming negotiations. The podcast was recorded on 26 July 2016.
Bookshelf:
This Blessed Plot by Hugo Young
Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 by Linda Colley
Britain as Europe by Linda Colley
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with Ulrike Franke, research assistant and expert on security and drones, Josef Janning, co-head of ECFR’s Berlin office, and Volker Stanzel, senior advisor to the Asia & China programme, about the four recent violent attacks in Southern Germany. The speakers agree that the mood in Germany is much calmer than that portrayed by foreign media. The podcast was recorded on the 25 June 2016.
Bookshelf:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Der Schimmelreiter by Theodor Storm
Ohne Liebe geht es auch by Rudolf Lorenzen
Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhongshu
Heretics by Leonardo Padura
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon by Karl Marx
Listen online
Mark Leonard inteviewed on the future of European integration.
Interview with Mark Leonard on Juncker's state fo the union address.
Interview with Mark Leonard on Brexit and the future of Europe.
Mark Leonard's article on playing denfense in Europe while remaining a viable project.
Mark Leonard on how long the British exit from the EU negotiations will take.
Mark Leonard on the timing of Britain's departure from the EU.
Mark Leonard on the implications of the UK EU referendum results on David Cameron.
Email: mark.leonard@ecfr.eu
Tel: +44 (0)20 7227 6869