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Carl Bildt

Carl Bildt

Writing for PS since 2009
122 commentaries

Carl Bildt was Sweden’s foreign minister from 2006 to 2014 and prime minister from 1991 to 1994, when he negotiated Sweden’s EU accession. A renowned international diplomat, he served as EU Special Envoy to the Former Yugoslavia, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, UN Special Envoy to the Balkans, and Co-Chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference. He is Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations. 

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  1. The Indo-Pacific Strategy’s Fatal Blind Spot
    bildt121_PAVEL BYRKINSPUTNIKAFP via Getty Images_putinxi Pavel Byrkin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

    The Indo-Pacific Strategy’s Fatal Blind Spot

    Mar 20, 2024 Carl Bildt worries that Western strategists are not paying enough attention to the incipient Russia-China axis.

  2. Russia Will Honor Navalny Someday
    bildt120_VASILY MAXIMOVAFP via Getty Images_navalny VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP via Getty Images

    Russia Will Honor Navalny Someday

    Feb 21, 2024 Carl Bildt reflects on the murdered opposition leader’s success in challenging Vladimir Putin’s regime.

  3. Extremism From the River to the Sea
    bildt119_MAHMUD HAMSAFP via Getty Images_gazawar Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

    Extremism From the River to the Sea

    Jan 23, 2024 Carl Bildt laments the outsize role of one-state chauvinists on both sides of today's Israeli-Palestinian divide.

  4. Putin’s Dead-End
    bildt118_OLEKSII FILIPPOVSPUTNIKAFP via Getty Images_putin Oleksii Filippov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

    Putin’s Dead-End

    Dec 19, 2023 Carl Bildt thinks the Russian leader's war against Ukraine is still destined to fail, irrespective of what America does.

  5. There Is Only One Way Forward in Gaza
    bildt117_J. DAVID AKEAFP via Getty Images_arafat rabin oslo J. David Ake/AFP via Getty Images

    There Is Only One Way Forward in Gaza

    Nov 20, 2023 Carl Bildt argues that the choice for Israelis and Palestinians has always been a two-state solution or eternal war.

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  1. skidelsky200_Getty Images_speech Getty Images
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    The Language of Political Control

    Robert Skidelsky views recent linguistic innovations as manipulative efforts to compel “correct” thought and perception.
  2. basu101_Alfonso Sangiao iStock Getty Images Plus_voting Alfonso Sangiao/iStock / Getty Images Plus
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    Globalization vs. Democracy

    Kaushik Basu highlights the contradictions and vulnerabilities inherent in the current international order.
  3. coyle36 Alishia AbodundeGetty Images INFRASTRUCTURE Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images
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    The West’s New Infrastructure Imperative

    Diane Coyle explains why a broader conception of the term could reflect a renewed interest in investing in the future.
  4. bp iran israel Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images
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    An Iran-Israel War?

    Iran’s mass ballistic missile and drone attack on Israel last week raised anew the specter of a widening Middle East war that draws in Iran and its proxies, as well as Western countries like the United States. The urgent need to defuse tensions – starting by ending Israel’s war in Gaza and pursuing a lasting political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – is obvious, but can it be done?

  5. nasheed3_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_georgieva MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
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    What a Climate-Aligned IMF Would Look Like

    Mohamed Nasheed & Rakesh Mohan explain how the managing director can fully position the institution to help the most vulnerable countries.
  6. ghosh76_Kristin Palitzapicture alliance via Getty Images_afrigen Kristin Palitza/picture alliance via Getty Images
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    The Key to Transforming African Health

    Jayati Ghosh highlights efforts to foster scientific innovation and drug manufacturing on the continent.
  7. op_roach3_ Kevin FrayerGetty Images_china lagging consumption Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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    China’s Rebalancing Imperative

    Stephen S. Roach

    The most successful development stories almost always involve major shifts in the sources of economic growth, which in turn allow economies to reinvent themselves out of necessity or by design. In China, the interplay of mounting external pressures, lagging household consumption, and falling productivity will increasingly shape China’s policy choices in the years ahead.

     explains why the Chinese authorities should switch to a consumption- and productivity-led growth model.
  8. castaneda88_GERARDO MENOSCALAFP via Getty Images_latin america safety GERARDO MENOSCAL/AFP via Getty Images
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    From Welfare State to Safe State in Latin America

    Jorge G. Castañeda & Carlos Ominami

    Designing a progressive anti-violence strategy that delivers the safety for which a huge share of Latin Americans crave is perhaps the most difficult challenge facing many of the region’s governments. But it is also the most important.

     urge the region’s progressives to start treating security as an essential component of social protection.
  9. ocampo57_Celal GunesAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_imf Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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    The Urgency of Sovereign-Debt Restructuring

    José Antonio Ocampo highlights the need for a comprehensive mechanism to deliver relief to low- and middle-income countries.

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