Wars, Wildfires and Migrants Leave Europe Straining for Control
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- Europe faces a brutal summer of compounding crises — wars in Iran and Ukraine, record heat and wildfires, a migration surge, and rising inflation — most of which are outside the continent's power to control.
- Iran war disruptions have driven up gas, grocery, and travel prices across Europe, and leaders have pledged to help secure oil passage through the Strait of Hormuz once fighting ends, per the analysis.
- Ukraine war has continued for more than four years of bloodshed with Europe unable to resolve the conflict.
- Migration: a sudden, unexplained surge of people across the Moroccan border into a Spanish exclave — almost all immediately sent back — divided bloc leaders and fueled the far right.
- Europe's climate record of cutting emissions is being overshadowed by the actions of the United States and China, the analysis notes.
- Right-wing populism has risen across Europe, fueled by migration, inequality, and misinformation, as parliaments from Poland to the UK wrestle with the cascading pressures.
Why it matters: Europe's crisis of control has material costs citizens feel directly — higher gas, grocery, and travel prices from the Iran war, plus voter anxiety about food, energy, and security that is already feeding far-right gains. With decisions on AI, climate, and key wars being made elsewhere, European leaders are left reacting to decisions broadcast through President Trump's social media feed rather than shaping outcomes themselves.
