Ed Owen

Can the EU-UK summit lead to a new post-Brexit partnership? With shared challenges at home and abroad, the United Kingdom and European Union have an opportunity to renew their trade and security ties.

My take on Monday’s UK/EU summit for @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...

Can the EU-UK summit lead to a new post-Brexit partnership? With shared challenges at home and abroad, the United Kingdom and European Union have an opportunity to renew their trade and security ties.

My take on Monday’s UK/EU summit for @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...

Other contributors (cont'd):

@ed-owen.bsky.social (@atlanticcouncil.bsky.social, @thirdway.bsky.social)

@james-rogers.bsky.social (@congeostrategy.bsky.social)

Peter Watkins (UK Ministry of Defence [2014-2018], King’s College London)

How should the next National Security Strategy differ from the integrated reviews? The Big Ask | No. 16.2025

‘The boundaries between foreign and domestic policy are increasingly blurred, and national security can no longer be an issue left only to diplomatic and defence specialists,’ writes @ed-owen.bsky.social, @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social

#BigAsk #BritainsWorld

How should the next National Security Strategy differ from the integrated reviews? The Big Ask | No. 16.2025

Did you catch the latest Big Ask?

How should the next National Security Strategy differ from the integrated reviews?

✍️ @evieaspinall.bsky.social, Dr Hillary Briffa, Robert Clark, Dr Michael Clarke, Ruth Harris, @ed-owen.bsky.social, @james-rogers.bsky.social, Peter Watkins

#BritainsWorld

'Starmer's US trip was a diplomatic triumph, but many more challenges lie ahead' - LabourList Returning to London from Washington early this morning, Keir Starmer and his team were justifiably delighted at how…

Starmer achieved a diplomatic triumph in D.C. but the challenges will keep on coming @labourlist.bsky.social labourlist.org/2025/02/keir...

'The US sell-out of Ukraine can be Starmer’s moment to define the purpose of his government' - LabourList For many, this Labour government has lacked a defining vision, an overriding purpose for existing. Through events beyond…

🇺🇸 "Bruised by attacks from Elon Musk and JD Vance, most European leaders are considerably less charitable and see Trump as, at best, an unreliable partner and, at worst, outright hostile."

✍️ Ed Owen previews Keir Starmer's meeting with Trump today:
labourlist.org/2025/02/us-u...

'The US sell-out of Ukraine can be Starmer’s moment to define the purpose of his government' - LabourList For many, this Labour government has lacked a defining vision, an overriding purpose for existing. Through events beyond…

Ukraine is Starmer’s opportunity to define his government’s purpose. My comment for @labourlist.bluesky.social labourlist.org/2025/02/us-u...

Ed Owen on LinkedIn: Starmer's calling - a letter from London I'm just back from a short trip to a damp London where I got a chance to speak to a few people in and around the UK Government. Here are my reflections on the…

A few thoughts on Starmer & the UK government following my brief trip to London just days before his visit to D.C. later this week www.linkedin.com/posts/ed-owe...

Important. Gosh.

The PM: “These crucial days ahead will determine the future security of our continent. As I will say in Paris, peace comes through strength. But the reverse is also true. Weakness leads to war.”

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

‘Trump’s presidency is a brutal application of raw political power – but one we have to engage with’ – LabourList No one can say they weren’t warned. Yet even seasoned politicos in Washington DC have been left stunned by the first weeks of the Trump…

“The Trump Presidency is a brutal application of raw political power - but one we have to deal with.” My take on the first weeks of Trump 2.0 for @labourlist.bsky.social labourlist.org/2025/02/trum...

We shouldn't take anything off the table before the negotiations have even started.

It is clear that any deal behind our backs will not work.
You need the Europeans, you need the Ukrainians.

Extracts from my doorstep ahead of NATO Defence Ministers meeting ↓

A revealing remark from Trump & gives the lie to recent nonsense that somehow he was going to be tougher on Russia than previously thought. He has never had any interest in supporting Ukraine & this is process is destined only to marginalise Kiyv & reward Moscow

He needs Europeans to provide peacekeeping force and security guarantees so not sure he can completely ignore them

Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity are unconditional.

Our priority must now be strengthening Ukraine and providing robust security guarantees.

In any negotiation, Europe must have a central role.

Our Weimar+ statement ↓

Absolutely this!

Trump-Putin Ukraine peace talks mustn’t exclude Kyiv, EU allies warn U.S. and Russian leaders spoke on the phone Wednesday about ending the war — and agreed to start negotiations “immediately.”

When it comes to durable peace in Ukraine, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze understands what the Trump team appears not to: "Degrading Russia's military capabilities is the way to peace". Weakness, of the kind Trump & Hegseth showed today, only encourages Putin. www.politico.eu/article/ukra...

Hegseth calls Ukraine’s peace goals ‘unrealistic’ in meeting with allies Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said any deal must come with international oversight between Russian and Ukrainian forces, and no NATO membership for Ukraine.

And so the sell-out of Ukraine begins alongside the weakening of the US’s commitment to European security www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Thx Tom. I’m fascinated by Keir’s propensity to outsource political strategy matters. For the govt to succeed he must 100% own, lead, live & breathe this. A PM isn’t there to fix problems but to set & drive a clear direction for govt & wider society. Is he capable & willing to do this, do you think?

Many thx to @financialtimes.com for publishing my piece on the lessons we can learn from the significant fall in the US prison population over the last 15 years

Lessons from the US on combating mass incarceration | Opinion Fiscal hawks have moulded America into an unlikely exemplar of justice reform

Lessons from the US on combating mass incarceration | Opinion

https://www.ft.com/content/098315bd-2205-46f8-8c40-73c79f1978e1

Good piece, Robert!

What is Mandelson's strategy for charming Trumpworld? As Peter Mandelson takes up the role of ambassador to the US, No 10 is determined the UK builds a strong relationship with Donald Trump.

Good piece on Mandelson’s plans in D.C. by @joepike.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...

This act & subsequent laws effectively denied enslaved & non-white people the right to become citizens - & is why the 14th amendment was so important. Yet many Americans believe it remains essential today too. As a liberal Brit, I’d be genuinely interested to know why

The founding fathers of the US constitution were somewhat ambiguous about the criteria for US citizenship so the Naturalisation Act in 1790 made clear it could only be granted to “a free white person” of “good character”who had lived in the US for 2 years

The 14th amendment to the US constitution in 1868 sought to ensure descendants of African slaves were properly recognised as citizens & to guarantee legal equality. It drew on the legal principle of “jus soli” which, ironically, had been used by the former colonial power to entice early settlers

Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship is controversial. But, as a Brit, the US position is a novel one. All countries in Europe (& most globally outside the Americas) demand at least one parent has legal citizenship/residence for a child born on its territory to be a citizen 🧵

‘Trump’s inauguration heralds profound change for America and the world’ – LabourList Donald Trump will today be sworn in as America’s 47th President inside the same Capitol Building violently stormed by his supporters just four years ago seeking to…

"Starmer is working hard to build a close relationship with the new President, but the pressure from many at home and overseas will, at times, be intense"

Ed Owen on the challenges Trump's return poses for Britain, America and the world

Trump’s return to power, how did we get here & what does it mean for America, the UK & the world. My take for @labourlist.bsky.social labourlist.org/2025/01/news...

What the new British ambassador to the US means for the ‘special relationship’ The new envoy to Washington is a politician, not a career diplomat. That might be just what the US-UK relationship needs at this moment.

Here’s my take for @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social on the decision to nominate Peter Mandelson as the next UK ambassador here in the US www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...