Over the years, POLITICO’s annual list of the most powerful names in Europe has featured a diverse array of influential leaders. This year, we asked a handful of POLITICO 28 alumni — the dreamers, doers and disrupters — to briefly share their predictions and tell us what they believe will be the one idea that will define 2022.
Sovereignty
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Illustrations by Liam Eisenberg
Ivan Krastev is chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, POLITICO 28 Class of 2019
In the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, “sovereignty is not given, it is taken,” and it is this issue that will undoubtedly shape 2022. In the coming year, Poland and Hungary will weaponize the notion of national sovereignty in their war against the European Union, while the bloc focuses on strategic autonomy — both internally and in foreign policy.
Brussels and Paris will try to define the EU’s sovereignty in their relations with the United States, China and Russia. And at the same time, some of the new libertarian voices on both the left and the right will use the concept as a rallying call in their resistance to Europe’s new normal. Sovereignty will be everybody’s battle cry.
Climate action
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Jens Stoltenberg is the secretary general of NATO, Class of 2021
Climate change is a threat we cannot ignore. It destroys resources, devastates communities and fuels conflict. From the Sahel in Africa, where a harsh climate drives extremism and migration, to the Arctic, where melting ice caps provoke geopolitical competition, climate change is making our world more dangerous.
This is an issue that directly affects NATO as well. Some naval bases suffer from regular flooding, and NATO troops in Iraq face temperatures of over 50 degrees. But we are adapting. For the first time, NATO is developing a way to map military emissions, so that we can start cutting them. Allies are investing in sustainable solutions, including biofuels for jet aircraft and solar panels to power equipment.