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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. 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 & Jeremy Shapiro - 03 January 2019
Top ten trends that will occupy European foreign policymakers in 2019
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro review the year gone by and predict the 10 foreign policy trends that will define 2019.
Mark Leonard speaks with Shoshana Fine, Tom Nuttall, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, and Patrycja Sasnal about the UN’s Global Compact for Migration, and whether it matters that some European countries haven’t signed it. The podcast was recorded on 12 December 2018.
Bookshelf:
Go, went, gone by Jenny Erpenbeck
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Security at the Borders: Transnational Practices and Technologies in West Africa by Philippe M. Frowd
Revolution Of Hope: Toward a Humanized Technology by Erich Fromm
Distant Love by Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim
Mark Leonard speaks with Michael Thumann about Germany and its new role in the world.
Bookshelf:
The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities by John J. Mearsheimer
Spionagechef im geheimen Krieg by Markus Wolf
Die Zeit articles by Michael Thumann
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 speaks with Andrew Wilson, Kadri Liik and Nicu Popescu about the Kerch Strait ship capture, what this means and how the international community could react to the latest tensions. The podcast was recorded on 26 November 2018.
Bookshelf:
The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage by Cliff Stoll
Why doctors hate their computers by Atul Gawande
Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President - What We Don't, Can't, and Do Know by Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Network Propaganda - Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics by Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts
Distant love by Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim
.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
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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 - 24 July 2018
As US President Donald Trump continues to wage war on the American-led international order, Europeans can no longer assume that their interests are synonymous with those of the US. The time has come for the European Union to redefine its interests, and to develop a new strategy for defending them.
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 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
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
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.
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro review the year gone by and predict the 10 foreign policy trends that will define 2019.
Mark Leonard speaks with Shoshana Fine, Tom Nuttall, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, and Patrycja Sasnal about the UN’s Global Compact for Migration, and whether it matters that some European countries haven’t signed it. The podcast was recorded on 12 December 2018.
Bookshelf:
Go, went, gone by Jenny Erpenbeck
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Security at the Borders: Transnational Practices and Technologies in West Africa by Philippe M. Frowd
Revolution Of Hope: Toward a Humanized Technology by Erich Fromm
Distant Love by Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim
Mark Leonard speaks with Michael Thumann about Germany and its new role in the world.
Bookshelf:
The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities by John J. Mearsheimer
Spionagechef im geheimen Krieg by Markus Wolf
Die Zeit articles by Michael Thumann
Mark Leonard's article and Susi Dennison and Pawel Zerka's survey regarding the European Parliament and the rise of populism.
El Espectador publishes in Spanish the interview of Mark Leonard to Federica Mogherini.
In this NYT article Mark Leonard comments on the aftermath of the PM Theresa May's rejected Brexit deal and its consequences for both the UK and the EU.
Mark Leonard quoted by the New York Times on Merkel and Macron's call for a European army.
Mark Leonard quoted by the New York Times on Merkel's call for a "European army".
Mark Leonard is quoted by Le Point regarding the relationship between President Trump and President Emmanuel Macron.
Mark Leonard is quoted by the New York Times on the World War I centenary in Paris and US/European relations.
Mark Leonard quoted in the Washington Post on Macron hosting more than 60 heads of state in Paris this weekend.
Germany and France looking to even out the shift in balance of power post Brexit says Mark Leonard
Email: mark.leonard@ecfr.eu
Tel: +44 (0)20 7227 6869