During the 2025 Munich Security Conference, the US delegation distributed a questionnaire to European delegations containing six questions pertaining to a potential peace settlement in Ukraine.
It asked questions like: “Would your country be willing to deploy its troops to Ukraine as part of a peace settlement?” and “What, if any, US support requirements would your government consider necessary for its participation in these security arrangements?”
The questionnaire was met with shock among European officials, who were perplexed by the Americans’ approach. This unexpected questionnaire also represents a growing divide between the United States and Europe in their respective approaches to global politics and diplomacy.
However, this divergence is not the result of a fundamental change in the “rules” of international politics, nor has a singular trigger event rendered past strategies unfeasible. Rather, it may be argued that the actors within the global political arena have increasingly adopted divergent strategies towards international politics, signalling the end of an era of diplomatic unity.
To explain why there have been such divergent approaches to achieving peace in Ukraine, one needs to understand the assumptions that each player is making about the world and politics.
As such, this report will explore six different lenses through which key states view global politics, taking inspiration from the Trump Administration’s efforts at the Munich Security Conference.
To access the full report by Alyson Kierans, Political Consultant for Defence, Foreign Affairs and International Development, simply fill the form below: