Volt Europa was founded in 2017 to counter the rising tide of nationalism across Europe, and to address the concern that a Europe divided is a Europe that can't act globally nor generate a viable alternative to the United States or China. Today, nationalist parties hold power in seven EU member states and occupy 26% of the seats in the European Parliament. At the same time, the United States of Europe—Volt's push for a federalised, united Europe—is finding growing support, but not where it matters most: from the national leaders who dictate European governance and who, while agreeing Europe is divided and cannot act, are now favouring coalitions of the willing to move Europe forward. So what does a pan-European federalist party do when the world proves their diagnosis right—but rejects their prescription?

In this episode of the Transatlantic Debrief, host Samuel Dempsey sits down with MEPs Reinier van Lanschot and Anna Strolenberg—members of Volt Europa, the only truly transnational political party in the EU—to reckon with that question and the Europe it produces.

They examine:

• Volt's federal vision for Europe and whether it remains viable in the age of the E6 and coalitions of the willing

• ICE operating on European soil and why European leaders have been largely silent on human rights abuses in the United States

• Europe's own migration crisis—120,000 illegal pushbacks, 21,000 people returned to Libyan detention facilities, and over 10,000 deaths at its borders in 2024 alone

• Marco Rubio's speech at the Munich Security Conference and what the standing ovation really meant

• Volt's decision to join the Greens over Renew Europe—and what it tells us about coalition politics in the Parliament

• The EU-Mercosur deal, trade diversification, and whether Volt is willing to lose elections over geopolitically necessary decisions

• Whether Europe can build hard power without compromising the liberal democratic values that are supposed to set it apart

If you want to understand the tension at the heart of European politics right now—between unity and sovereignty, values and pragmatism, ambition and power—this conversation is essential listening.

Reinier van Lanschot is a Member of the European Parliament representing the Netherlands for Volt Europa, and one of the party's co-founders. He sits on the Committee on Security and Defence and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, and serves on the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the Delegation to the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan, and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Committees. 

Anna Strolenberg is a Member of the European Parliament representing the Netherlands for Volt Europa. She sits on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and serves on the Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean.

In this episode, I sit down with Erik Jones, Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, to discuss the deepening crisis in transatlantic relations and Europe's path forward.

We explore: 

• Why cautious optimism about the transatlantic relationship is still possible despite the current rupture 

• How the EU should engage a Trump administration that applies maximum coercion without offering commitment 

• What strategic autonomy actually means—and why the term is starting to disappear from EU policy documents 

• Germany's push for a "two-speed Europe" and whether the EU-27 can act as a unified global power 

• Why enlargement remains a security imperative, even as formal accession slows 

• What comes next for the transatlantic relationship after this administration—and why domestic consolidation in the US matters more than diplomacy 

• Academia's role in cutting through the noise when policy moves faster than research

About Erik Jones: Erik Jones is Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute and Non-resident Scholar at Carnegie Europe. He served as Director of European and Eurasian Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS from 2013-2021. Jones is author of The Politics of Economic and Monetary Union (2002), Economic Adjustment and Political Transformation in Small States (2008), Weary Policeman: American Power in an Age of Austerity (2012, with Dana H. Allin), The Year the European Crisis Ended (2014), and From Club to Commons: Enlargement, Reform, and Sustainability in European Integration (2025, with Veronica Anghel). 

Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 00:53 - Cautious optimism about transatlantic resilience 03:08 - How should the EU engage Trump's coercive diplomacy? 05:47 - Defining strategic autonomy 10:11 - Can the EU-27 act globally, or do we need a two-speed Europe? 13:02 - Enlargement as security: Ukraine and the Western Balkans 19:42 - What comes next after Trump? 21:20 - Academia's comparative advantage in a noisy world

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In this critical conversation, Rasmus Jarlov, Chairman of the Danish Parliament's Defence Committee, discusses the escalating crisis over Greenland following negotiations between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

After the January 15th White House meeting ended with "fundamental disagreement," President Trump declared that "anything less" than US control of Greenland is "unacceptable." We explore what this means for NATO, transatlantic relations, and the future of European security.

We discuss: 

• The ideological forces driving Trump's Greenland ambitions—from national security neocons to tech oligarchs like Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and US Ambassador to Denmark Ken Howery

• Trump's invocation of "Manifest Destiny" and framing Greenland as both a real estate deal and mob-style ultimatum

• Parallels to Venezuela: Why Trump's treatment of Maduro suggests negotiations may be theater before coercion

• Europe's military response: Are dozens of troops from Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, Netherlands, and UK enough to deter US annexation?

• Diverging positions within NATO and European leadership on the crisis

• Danish public opinion on defending Greenland 

• What US aggression against Greenland would mean for NATO's future and transatlantic trust

Rasmus Jarlov is a member of the Conservative People's Party and has served in the Danish Parliament (Folketing) since 2015. He previously served as Minister for Business Affairs (2018-2019) and currently chairs the Defence Committee. 

Recorded: January 15, 2026

Five days after US special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation that killed over 100 people, I sat down with Venezuelan economist Jorge Jraissati to unpack what this means for Venezuela's future—and what it reveals about American power, international law, and financial sovereignty.

Jorge, a Venezuelan native and President of the Organization for Economic Inclusion, walks us through the complex history that led to this moment: from the 1948 US-backed coup that overthrew Venezuela's first democratically elected president, through the Chávez era, to Maduro's capture in his Caracas residence.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The immediate aftermath of Operation Absolute Resolve and what comes next for Venezuela 

• Trump's explicit interest in Venezuelan oil and the incoherent "day after" planning 

• The long arc of US intervention in Venezuela—from 1948 to 2026 

• What actually destroyed Venezuela: socialism, authoritarianism, US sanctions, or all of the above? 

• How banking became a weapon of control—both by the West against Venezuela, and by Maduro against his own people

 • Why crypto currency became a financial lifeline for millions of Venezuelans when traditional banking failed 

• Where is the EU's response to this violation of international norms and to the promotion of democracy in Venezuela? 

• What the transatlantic community should be thinking about financial sovereignty and democratic transitions

Jorge Jraissati is President of the Organization for Economic Inclusion and a researcher at IESE Business School's Center for Public Leadership and Government. His research has been published in Economic Affairs, the Brookings Institution, and Foreign Policy, with policy recommendations supported by institutions like the OECD and presented at Harvard and Cambridge.

On December 4th, the Trump administration released its National Security Strategy—a document that warns of Europe's "civilizational erasure." In the leaked longer version, it proposes a "Core 5" with China and Russia while excluding Europe entirely, and declares "the days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over." 

What does this mean for Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa? How does Trump's pay-to-play diplomacy reshape global relations? And what's really happening in the Ukraine peace negotiations?

Pablo Rasmussen, Director at Brzezinski Global Strategies and former Peace Corps advisor, joins me to break down the strategy, the stakes, and what it means for partners, public and private, navigating this fractured landscape.

IN THIS EPISODE:

TRUMP'S NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

• Europe: "Civilizational erasure" and the leaked MEGA agenda

• The Core 5 proposal: US, China, Russia, India, Japan—excluding Europe

• Latin America: The "Trump Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine

• Asia-Pacific: Economic competition without strategic confrontation

• Africa: From development aid to extractive investment paradigm

TRUMP'S TRANSACTIONAL FOREIGN POLICY

• Pay-to-play dynamics reshaping US relations

• $200 billion in tariff collections—who really pays?

• How allies and adversaries navigate the new reality

UKRAINE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

• Where negotiations stand right now

• What Ukraine needs for recovery and reconstruction

• Security guarantees, frozen assets, and the road ahead

COMMERCIAL ADVISORY & SOFT POWER

• Why geostrategic advisory matters for CEOs today

• Brzezinski Global Strategies' approach to transatlantic risk

• The gutting of American soft power—Peace Corps, USAID, democracy promotion

• Long-term implications: Is Europe left to dry?

ABOUT PABLO RASMUSSEN: Pablo Rasmussen is a Director at Brzezinski Global Strategies, where he advises firms on geopolitical strategy. Prior to joining the firm, Pablo served in the Biden-Harris Administration as an advisor to the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps, where he supported enterprise strategy, global operations across 61 country posts, and portfolios including inter-agency cooperation and diplomacy.

Before his service in the Administration, Pablo worked at Albright Stonebridge Group. He advised Fortune 500 companies, foundations, and NGOs on trans-Atlantic affairs, EU policy, green transition strategies, and investment risk across 25+ markets. 

Pablo currently co-leads a working group on Diplomacy for the NextGen Initiative at Foreign Policy for America and has contributed opinion pieces to outlets including Euractiv, The Brussels Times, and Harvard Political Review. He publishes his own Substack, The Adret, covering everything from culture to national security.

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And happy holidays to all!

In the relentless churn of global crises—from Ukraine to Gaza to Sudan—some horrors risk fading from view not because they've ended, but because our attention has simply moved on. Chief among these is the plight of ethnic minorities in China.

This week on The Neomedieval Ledger, host Samuel Dempsey talks with Alerk Ablikim about how China's systematic repression of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hongkongers continues—and how influential Western voices are now actively whitewashing these atrocities.

Alerk Ablikim is the founder of Alerkin Consulting, representing Chinese ethnic minorities in the Netherlands. As a Uyghur activist, policy advisor, and co-chair of the Europe working group of the Green Party in the Netherlands, Alerk has spent years documenting the Uyghur genocide.

They examine:

• The attention deficit: Has the reality on the ground changed, or has this crisis simply fallen victim to the media cycle?

• Daily life under repression: What existence looks like now for Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hongkongers as surveillance and control intensify

• The Hasan Piker phenomenon: How one of the internet's most influential political streamers whitewashed China's human rights record—and what it reveals about the far left's blind spots

• The erosion of leverage: Why Western sanctions have failed, supply chains remain entangled, and Xinjiang's surveillance technology is now exported globally

• Europe's complicity: The barriers and opportunities Alerk faces advocating in the Dutch Parliament—and whether there's still hope for meaningful action

If you want uncompromising analysis on the genocide in Xinjiang, the failure of Western pressure campaigns, and what leverage still exists to confront transnational repression—this conversation is essential listening.

This week marks a pivotal moment in the battle for Europe's future. The European Parliament has voted through the Green Omnibus—a sweeping deregulation package that undermines core environmental protections—with decisive support from the far right. Meanwhile, the Digital Omnibus is set to be unveiled on November 19th, threatening to dismantle fundamental GDPR protections under the guise of simplifying compliance. Behind both moves: unprecedented corporate lobbying and mounting U.S. political pressure on European governments.

In this episode of The Neomedieval Ledger, host Samuel Dempsey speaks with Professor Alberto Alemanno—Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law, Harvard Democracy Fellow, and one of Europe's most influential voices on democracy and citizen empowerment. They examine:

• The Green Omnibus and the death of the cordon sanitaire—how the EPP empowered the far right to kill core Green Deal protections

• The Digital Omnibus and the corporate lobbying campaign to gut GDPR

• Why the U.S. and MAGA movement view the EU—not China—as their primary adversary

• The coordinated ideological assault on Europe from U.S. mega-donors, tech billionaires, and think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and Orbán's MCC

• Ursula von der Leyen's leadership and use of political capital to enable these shifts

• Why the Council repeatedly blocks transnational lists and genuine EU-wide democracy

• The crisis of participation—and why Brussels insiders prefer policymaking in obscurity

• Whether European strategic autonomy is still achievable, or if dependence on the U.S. is now locked in

If you want clear, uncompromising analysis on the deregulation agenda reshaping Europe, the far-right's legislative leverage, and what real democratic reform would require—this conversation is essential listening.

Alberto Alemanno is founder of The Good Lobby, which works to democratize access to power in Brussels. Named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, an Ashoka Fellow, and Social Innovator of the Year by the Schwab Foundation, he was recognized by Politico Europe as one of the most influential voices in the EU and featured on Project Syndicate's inaugural list of Forward Thinkers in 2025.

We are now 721 days into the war in Gaza. According to Gaza health authorities, at least 65,000 people have been killed and over 166,000 wounded—with Israeli military data indicating that 83% of those killed are civilians. The New York Times headline on the day of shooting this podcast says it plainly: “Europe Talks Big on Gaza but Struggles to Act.”

In this episode of The Neomedieval Ledger, host Samuel Dempsey speaks with two of Europe’s most experienced foreign policy minds: Shada Islam, one of Brussels’ leading strategic thinkers on the EU’s global role, and Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, former EU Ambassador to Palestine.

We examine:

• Why the EU has been largely paralyzed on Gaza

• The wave of European recognition of Palestine and what it really means

• The EU’s unused economic and political leverage over Israel, including its Association Agreement and trade tools

• Why Europe rarely pressures the United States, Israel’s main arms supplier

• The debate over whether Israel’s actions meet the legal definition of genocide

• What real European leadership could look like

If you want clear, hard analysis on the EU’s role and failures—and where it could act if there was the will—this conversation is essential listening.

Shada Islam is a renowned Brussels strategist and founder of the New Horizons Project, named by Politico among the Top 20 Women Who Shape Brussels and ranked #5 EUInfluencer 2024, on influence on EU policy. 

Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff is a veteran EU diplomat and former EU Ambassador to Palestine, with decades of experience in various ambassadorial roles and in working on mediation at the European External Action Service.

In this episode of The New Medieval Ledger, host Samuel Dempsey speaks with leading European security analyst Maria Martisiute about what may already be war between Russia and NATO. From recent Russian drone incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace, to NATO’s reactive launch of Operation Eastern Sentry and the EU’s announcement of a Drone Wall by 2027, they examine whether Europe is responding with the urgency the moment demands. Maria warns that Europe has “not done its homework”—arguing that the continent’s lack of initiative, fragmented defense systems, and overreliance on the U.S. is creating dangerous vulnerabilities.Maria is a Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre, specializing in defence, security, and foreign affairs. With over a decade of experience across NATO, the EU, national governments, and NGOs, she previously led reform efforts within NATO’s cooperative security trust funds and worked on defence sector reform with partners in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. She has also contributed to EU strategic infrastructure policy at the European Commission, supported crisis response efforts in Afghanistan and Ukraine, and promotes people-to-people diplomacyThe discussion also tackles the deeper strategic cracks in the transatlantic relationship: the presence of U.S. military observers at Russia’s Zapad 2025, the White House hosting Germany’s Kremlin-friendly AfD party, and the total absence of U.S. forces in NATO’s Eastern Sentry response. Maria and Samuel explore what it would take for Europe to stand on its own—arguing that Europe may need to spend 3–4x Russia’s defense budget to match its war economy. It's an important and timely discussion.

In this episode, I speak with Terrell Jermaine Starr—an independent American journalist based between Kyiv and Brooklyn. Terrell speaks Russian, Georgian, and is learning Ukrainian. With over 16 years of lived experience in Ukraine, he’s a leading voice on Ukraine–U.S. relations, democracy, and life in wartime Kyiv. He also runs the popular Substack, Terrell J-Star Official. Our conversation covers the recent Russian drone attacks and their impact on morale in Ukraine, what’s needed from the EU, U.S., and NATO to sustain Ukraine’s defense, the paradox of fighting for democracy abroad while it’s under attack at home, the links between the struggles of Palestinians and Ukrainians, and how race has been weaponized in narratives surrounding the killing of a Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina. It’s a candid and insightful discussion about war, democracy, solidarity, and the narratives that shape them.