Languages: English, French, German
Areas of Expertise: Geopolitics and Geoeconomics; 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. His topics of focus include geopolitics and geoeconomics, China, and EU institutions.
Leonard writes a syndicated column on global affairs for Project Syndicate.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, Leonard 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.
He was Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Geoeconomics until 2016.
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, Leonard 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. Leonard'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 forthcoming book on the same topic.
Mark Leonard speaks with Susi Dennison, director of ECFR’s European Power programme, and Pawel Zerka, programme coordinator for European Power, about the upcoming European Parliament elections, the possibility of a surge in Eurosceptic parties, and how to reach the silent pro-European majority.
New ECFR report: "The 2019 European Elections: How anti-Europeans plan to wreck Europe and what can be done to stop"
Bookshelf:
The Happiness Industry by William Davies
Nervous States by William Davies
Bourgeois Equality by Deirdre N. McCloskey
The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
The podcast was recorded on 11 February 2019.
Anthony Dworkin steps in for Mark Leonard and speaks with Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, Federica Paddeu, and Sergey Sukhankin, about what risks the recognition of Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela by several European countries will bring. The podcast was recorded on 5 February 2019.
Bookshelf:
Russian mercenaries on the march: next stop Venezuela? by Sergey Sukhankin
Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chávez Authoritarian Experiment by Allan R. Brewer-Carías
The Mutiny - the name of the third world by Evgeny Messner
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee
Mark Leonard - 04 February 2019
The European Parliament elections this May have been described as a make-or-break moment for the future of the European project – and for good reason. With plans to form a populist united front, Eurosceptic parties need only capture one-third of parliamentary seats to bring EU governance to a crawl.
Anthony Dworkin steps in for Mark Leonard and speaks with Janka Oertel and Sebastian Mallaby about US-China trade talks, their relationship and Europe’s role. The podcast was recorded on 30 January 2019.
Bookshelf:
Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age by Leslie Berlin
The Code: Silicon Valley and the remaking of America by Margeret O’Mara
Die Neuerfindung der Diktatur by Kai Strittmatter
Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers by Elaine Mokhtefi
Anthony Dworkin steps in for Mark Leonard and speaks with Almut Möller, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil and Tom Nuttall about how significant the new treaty of friendship between France and Germany is. The podcast was recorded on the 17 January 2019.
Bookshelf:
Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark
Wir sind ja nicht zum Spaß hier: Reportagen, Satiren und andere Gebrauchstexte by Deniz Yügel
La Faiblesse du vrai: Ce que la post-vérité fait à notre monde commun by Myriam Revault d'Allonnes
Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth
Warnings From Versailles: The Lessons of 1919, a Hundred Years On by Margaret MacMillan
An Interview with Federica Mogherini, conducted by Mark Leonard - 11 January 2019
After a decade of economic and political crises, the project of European integration continues to face existential challenges. But while some observers worry about the EU’s future, its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is confident that through continued cooperation, Europeans can secure their interests even in an era of global upheaval.
Anthony Dworkin steps in for Mark Leonard and discusses the US strategy in Syria with Asli Aydintasbas, Julien Barnes-Dacey and Jasmin El-Gamal. The podcast was recorded on 10 January 2019.
.jpg "Pic: By The White House from Washington, DC (21587440_1434135893340806_7127041855563357278_o) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Donald_J._Trump_addresses_the_72nd_Session_of_the_United_Nations_General_Assem - CC0 1.0 - https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/")
by Anthony Dworkin, Mark Leonard - 24th May, 2018
The rules-based international order is under threat. The EU should place its defence at the centre of its global strategy.
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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
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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
Mark Leonard - 03 April 2019
As the United Kingdom has hurtled ever closer to the Brexit cliff, once-abstract notions of a transcendent European identity have gained substance, and millions of people who still believe in the European project have come out in support of it. The question now is whether the European idea can win out over resurgent nationalism.
Mark Leonard - 26 February 2019
At this year's Munich Security Conference, appearances by former US Vice President Joseph Biden and current Vice President Mike Pence offered the transatlanticists in attendance a portrait in contrasts. Yet to achieve the bright future promised by Biden, Europeans need to heed Pence's dark warnings.
Mark Leonard - 04 February 2019
The European Parliament elections this May have been described as a make-or-break moment for the future of the European project – and for good reason. With plans to form a populist united front, Eurosceptic parties need only capture one-third of parliamentary seats to bring EU governance to a crawl.
An Interview with Federica Mogherini, conducted by Mark Leonard - 11 January 2019
After a decade of economic and political crises, the project of European integration continues to face existential challenges. But while some observers worry about the EU’s future, its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is confident that through continued cooperation, Europeans can secure their interests even in an era of global upheaval.
Mark Leonard & Jeremy Shapiro - 03 January 2019
Top ten trends that will occupy European foreign policymakers in 2019
Mark Leonard - 27 November 2018
After years of economic symbiosis in which the US purchased low-cost Chinese imports and China purchased US Treasuries, China has begun to pursue the prerogatives of a superpower, and the US has responded in kind. As a result, both countries are becoming more alike, particularly in their belief that there can be only one winner.
Mark Leonard - 31 October 2018
Among the many legacies that US President Donald Trump received from his predecessors is a “secondary sanctions” regime that allows the US to bar malign actors from most of the global economy. Under Trump, however, this sophisticated set of tools has become a bludgeon with which to threaten allies.
Mark Leonard - 01 October 2018
At the UN General Assembly last week, it was clear to most that the post-war multilateral system is now an artifact of a bygone era. The new world order that is currently emerging will be defined less by shared principles, and more by the whims of individual leaders and governments
Mark Leonard speaks with Simon Kuper, Tara Varma and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about the Yellow Vest Movement, and whetherit’s only a French phenomenon. The podcast was recorded on 21 March 2019.
Bookshelf:
Sur le fil de l'asile by Pasquale Brice
Harcelées by Astrid de Villaines
Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain by Fintan O’Toole
Twilight of the Elites: Prosperity, the Periphery, and the Future of France by Christophe Guilluy & Malcolm DeBevoise
The 2019 European Election: How anti-Europeans plan to wreck European and what can be done to stop it by Susi Dennison and Pawel Zerka
Why Viktor Orbán and his allies won’t win the EU elections by Ivan Krastev
Will the yellow vests movement spread across Europe? by Tara Varma
Secrets of the populist playbook: How a new breed of political strategist paved the way for Trump and Orbán by Simon Kuper
Jeremy Shapiro is standing in for the regular host Mark Leonard and discusses the current situation in Crimea and relations between Russia and Ukraine with ECFR experts Kadri Liik and Nicu Popsecu. The podcast was recorded on 13 March 2019.
EU Radio is now also broadcasting this podcast on Tuesdays at 7pm and Wednesdays at 9am CET every week. You can listen to the station at euradio.fr.
Bookshelf:
We need to talk about Putin by Mark Galeotti
History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Mark Leonard speaks with Andrew Lebovich, Anthony Dworkin and Chloe Teevan, about what the demonstrators want, and EU-Algeria relations.
Bookshelf:
La Martingale Algérienne, Réflexions sur une crise by Abderrahmane Hadj-Nacer
A History of Algeria by James McDougall
Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers by Elaine Mokhtefi
The Battlefield: Algeria 1988-2002, Studies in a Broken Polity by Hugh Roberts
Protests and the ailing president: Algeria's political crisis by Andrew Lebovich
Renewing Europe by Emmanuel Macron
Mark Leonard speaks with Ellie Geranmayeh and Dr Kayhan Barzegar about Mohammad Javad Zarif’s resignation and the current political situation in Iran. The podcast was recorded on 27 February 2019.
Bookshelf:
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Reading Lolita from Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Let the swords encircle me by Scott Peterson
Films:
Direct from the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Mark Leonard, Ulrike Franke and Jonathan Hackenbroich share their post-conference insights. They discuss speeches by German chancellor Angela Merkel, US vice-president Mike Pence, and Britain’s defence secretary Gavin Williamson, and talk about their favourite side-events.
Bookshelf:
Munich Security Report 2019 "The Great Puzzle: Who Will Pick Up the Pieces?"
La ruée vers l'Europe : La jeune Afrique en route pour le Vieux Continent by Stephen Smith
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Light that Failed: How the West Won the Cold War But Lost the Peace by Ivan Krastev & Stephen Holmes (forthcoming September 2019)
The podcast was recorded on 17 February 2017.
Mark Leonard speaks with Susi Dennison, director of ECFR’s European Power programme, and Pawel Zerka, programme coordinator for European Power, about the upcoming European Parliament elections, the possibility of a surge in Eurosceptic parties, and how to reach the silent pro-European majority.
New ECFR report: "The 2019 European Elections: How anti-Europeans plan to wreck Europe and what can be done to stop"
Bookshelf:
The Happiness Industry by William Davies
Nervous States by William Davies
Bourgeois Equality by Deirdre N. McCloskey
The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
The podcast was recorded on 11 February 2019.
Anthony Dworkin steps in for Mark Leonard and speaks with Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, Federica Paddeu, and Sergey Sukhankin, about what risks the recognition of Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela by several European countries will bring. The podcast was recorded on 5 February 2019.
Bookshelf:
Russian mercenaries on the march: next stop Venezuela? by Sergey Sukhankin
Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chávez Authoritarian Experiment by Allan R. Brewer-Carías
The Mutiny - the name of the third world by Evgeny Messner
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee
Anthony Dworkin steps in for Mark Leonard and speaks with Janka Oertel and Sebastian Mallaby about US-China trade talks, their relationship and Europe’s role. The podcast was recorded on 30 January 2019.
Bookshelf:
Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age by Leslie Berlin
The Code: Silicon Valley and the remaking of America by Margeret O’Mara
Die Neuerfindung der Diktatur by Kai Strittmatter
Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers by Elaine Mokhtefi
Mark Leonard is quoted by Le Monde regarding ECFR's latest report on European elections.
ECFR's latest study results on 2019 European Elections are quoted by France Culture.
Mark Leonard in Die Presse on the topics that actually matter to voters in the 2019 European elections.
ECFR's latest study results on 2019 European Elections are quoted by Euronews.
Publico interviews Mark Leonard on populism and May's European Parliament elections.
ECFR's latest study results on 2019 European Elections are quoted by Toute l'Europe.
ECFR's latest study results on 2019 European Elections are quoted by Le Temps.
France 24 reports on the results of ECFR's survey on issues important to voters in the European Parliament elections in May.
ECFR's latest study results on 2019 European Elections are quoted by Le Petit Journal.
ECFR's latest study results on 2019 European Elections are quoted by Euractiv.
Email: mark.leonard@ecfr.eu
Tel: +44 (0)20 7227 6869