Allison Carragher is no longer with Carnegie Europe.
Allison Carragher was a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, where she specialized in economic engagement in the Western Balkans and countries of the former Yugoslavia. She was an international affairs fellow sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Carragher was on leave from the U.S. Department of State, where she is an economic officer in the Foreign Service. She most recently completed a tour at U.S. Embassy Zagreb, during which Croatia held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. She has also served at the U.S. embassies in Brunei Darussalam and Rwanda. Before joining the State Department, Carragher was the special assistant to president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Elizabeth Littlefield. She also worked for the U.S. Trade Representative and Senator Patrick Leahy.
Carragher earned her master’s degree with honors from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where she was a Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellow. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Vermont, where she was awarded the Warren R. and Mildred Austin Prize for International Peace and Security for special achievement in international relations.
The European Union has labeled China as a cooperation partner, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival but is struggling to implement policies that account for the complexities of this relationship.
Financed by the EU, the construction of the Pelješac Bridge in Croatia has been a resounding success for Chinese soft power. Policymakers in Brussels should implement changes to the union’s procurement policy to avoid supporting the ambitions of its economic competitor and systemic rival.
Carnegie scholars assess U.S.-European cooperation on China, technology, climate, and more.
EU funding mobilized for the Western Balkans’ green transformation could ultimately flow right into the coffers of Russia and China. The European Commission cannot ignore the geopolitical implications of its Green Agenda for the region.
The race is on to vaccinate Europeans, and it’s a competition between East vs West. Russia and China aren’t just selling vaccines—they’re peddling a value set that undermines international norms.
The Western Balkans’ brain drain and EU accession are mutually exclusive. If accession is a serious goal, the EU must take responsibility as the key beneficiary of that brain drain and share the burden of finding a solution.
In an interview for the Institute for Security Studies and Development of North Macedonia (ISSD) Allison Carragher provides the keys to sustained economic development in the Western Balkans.