A Different Perspective from the Other Side of the Pond
About the author: Chad Brechbuhler ’25 is a Global Studies/FSI The Europe Center intern with the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, Belgium. Chad is studying Public Policy at Stanford University.
I have had a strangely strong interest in European politics for almost a decade. Since I began learning French during freshman year of high school, I have read politico.eu and France 24 as if my life depends on it. Now, more than seven years later, I find myself living and working in the political capital of the European Union.
After having missed the application deadline last year by two days, I am thrilled to be working at the Center for European Policy Studies in the Energy, Environment, Resources, and Climate Unit. Over the past four weeks, I have learned a massive amount about European and South Korean industrial and energy policy working on an EU-ROK climate partnership with Jaxon (another Stanford intern). While the work has certainly been interesting, the true highlight of the experience has been something else entirely: experiencing US and European politics from a different side of the Atlantic.
My first month spent in Brussels has corresponded with four of the most tumultuous weeks in the modern political history of both the US and the EU. The week before I arrived, the EU held their legislative elections, ushering in a powerful far right voting bloc and dealing a death knell to centrism. Arriving at CEPS against this backdrop, I relished in the opportunity to probe coworkers for their thoughts, listening intently as colleagues from across the continent expressed sentiments ranging from fury to fear to faith in institutions.
The spotlight, however, was not always on our European colleagues. In fact, more frequently than not, we find ourselves the subject of puzzled inquiries about American politics. Just days after President Macron called snap elections in France, President Biden delivered the worst debate performance in the history of the United States. After watching the disastrous and demoralizing performance on a bus to Amsterdam with my roommates, I was certain that Biden’s fumble would be the main topic of discussion at CEPS when we returned. I was not mistaken. From every coworker from every country, we received the same concerned questions and expressions of shock at the abysmal political options available in the alleged greatest country in the world. Removed from the domestic political context and surrounded by Europeans, my view on the issue was shifted from what I would have been feeling in the States.
Back in the EU side of the political whirlwind, it was exciting to feel the palpable hope in the office the mornings after the French and UK elections. It was an unmatched experience to talk with our French supervisor about the surprise victory by the Nouveau Front Populaire. Further, I went to Paris the weekend after the elections, seeing first-hand the tensions growing between the right and the left despite the mostly positive results. Walking through spiraling street protests and creative anti-National Rally graphitti, I had never felt more immersed in European politics.
In addition to exploring European politics while in Paris, I learned about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump while getting ready for bed in my former host family’s house. Alone in Paris and six hours ahead of Pennsylvania, it was shocking and disorienting to experience that event outside of the US. Just as with Biden’s debate debacle, it was interesting to hear how Europeans saw the assassination attempt. The next workday in the office we were flooded with questions about conspiracy theories, American views of the attempt, issues of gun control, and a whole host of topics I wouldn’t have even thought to raise. As people with no direct ties to the US but likely to be impacted deeply by the results, Trump’s near assassination was framed in an entirely different light.
These events, somehow, are only the tip of the political iceberg that has emerged over the past month. Whether it be watching Ursula Von der Leyen survive a re-election vote from just a few dozen miles away or engaging in discussions of why Israel is allowed to compete in international sporting events on the eve of the Olympics, the opportunity to live European politics in person (rather than vicariously through politico.eu) has been unmatched. While other students at Stanford and my friends from other internships never shy away from a political discussion, a group of European employees at an EU think-tank paired with a political junkie American intern is an entirely different level. I mean, where else could you watch thirty minutes of Kamala Harris-coconut tree-Brat TikToks with your boss before walking home past the European Parliament?
