HCSS Programme Director Laura Birkman | PBL ‘Grey Swans’ event on geopolitical future of climate and biodiversity governance
At this week's PBL “Grey Swans” event, HCSS Programme Director Laura Birkman explored how shifting geopolitical dynamics are reshaping global climate and biodiversity governance. She highlighted the growing role of strategic competition, critical dependencies, and systemic risks, as well as the increasing importance of minilateral cooperation alongside multilateral frameworks. Birkman emphasised that effective governance must integrate security, equity, and local ownership, particularly as climate impacts and ecosystem degradation intensify and increasingly affect global stability, resilience, and international cooperation.
Expert Analysis | The ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were supposed to revive US manufacturing. So far they have not.
One year after Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, the hoped-for revival of US manufacturing has yet to materialize, write Geoffroy Feij and Ron Stoop. Investment, construction spending, and employment all fell between April and December 2025, while production growth remained marginal. High tariffs on imports – many of which are essential intermediate goods – have raised costs for American companies without boosting output. Combined with labour shortages and policy uncertainty, these measures highlight the limits of broad import tariffs as a tool for re-industrialisation and offer cautionary lessons for Europe.
De Balie | Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?
After the short peaceful years that followed the Cold War, the world is rearming itself with nuclear weapons again. On the 8th of May, HCSS Director of Research Tim Sweijs will speak at De Balie in Amsterdam about what this renewed nuclear arms race means for global security. Is a second, European, nuclear shield our best guarantee of peace? And what does the rise of AI mean for the way nuclear weapons are controlled and deployed?
