Samuel C. S. Dempsey

Making European and transatlantic policy legible — for the corridors of Brussels and Washington and for the people it affects.

Recent POLITICO Analysis

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Security by subscription: Europe’s technology dependency trap

Samuel Dempsey · POLITICO Pro Analysis

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Make American energy dominant again?

Samuel Dempsey · POLITICO Pro Analysis

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Still haven't found what we're paying for

Samuel Dempsey · POLITICO Pro Analysis

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Recent in The European Correspondent

The European Correspondent

From red lines to red alerts

Not since the Cold War has a single week seen this many signs that Europe is preparing for a possible Russian attack.

The European Correspondent

The country that keeps beating NATO

Once we thought we were helping Ukraine. It increasingly seems like Ukraine is helping us.

The European Correspondent

Are we at war? Are we not at war? We’re at hybrid war!

Russia’s “hybrid” war on NATO is edging toward “real” war. Our leaders still don’t know how to stop it.

The European Correspondent

Zelenskyy’s removal of “mini Elon Musk” sparks mass protests

Ukraine’s youngest, most popular minister was fired. Now a generational split has erupted in the streets.

The European Correspondent

Europe isn’t getting its money’s worth on defence

Defence budgets are soaring, but fragmented national spending means Europe gets far less capability for every euro.

The European Correspondent

European rearmament is clashing with the far right

As governments ramp up defence spending, populist parties are turning military budgets into a political battleground.

Recent Opinion

The EU’s transatlantic strategy is broken: it courts MAGA powerbrokers and sidelines America’s opposition

EUobserver · Opinion

Since Donald Trump’s return, Europe has consistently failed to get into the rooms where straight answers exist — and has not structurally engaged the one constituency that could give it clear eyes: the opposition.

By Samuel Dempsey · 1 July 2026

Recent in EU Perspectives