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frontpage / Events / 8th Helsinki Summer Session: US and the Evolving...

8th Helsinki Summer Session: US and the Evolving International Order: European strategic autonomy: what can we agree on?

invitation only · Webinar · 01.09.2021 16:00 - 17:15

invitation only

1st of September 2021, at 16.00-17.15 (EEST)

The United States and the international order it has traditionally propped up have faced tumultuous times in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic is still causing disruptions around the world and the climate crisis is driving ever more destructive extreme weather events. The US, until recently the order’s putative leader, continues to grapple with the aftershocks of the Trump presidency both internally and in its foreign policy. Meanwhile, great-power competition is heating up in various theatres from Europe to the Indo-Pacific, not to mention in different domains, whether cyber, maritime or aerial. Against this backdrop, the 8th Helsinki Summer Session explores the future of international order at a time when the United States is debating and reassessing the parameters of its global engagement. This year’s panels bring together experts from the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific to cover a wide range of themes, including transatlantic trade and security relations, the developing order in the Indo-Pacific, climate politics, as well as the role of the US in Nordic security.

Panel description:

European strategic autonomy is seen by some as a “generation’s goal” and by others as an “illusion”. Most policymakers and experts would agree that a more capable Europe on defence and foreign policy matters is a worthwhile pursuit. Nevertheless, when it comes to the choice of priorities, frameworks and partners, EU member state’s have diverging perspectives. Should the focus be on the development of autonomous capabilities for crisis management in the Southern neighbourhood, or should Europe rather invest in strengthening the transatlantic alliance, which remains vital for the deterrence efforts in the Baltic region? What role can the EU and NATO play in the future in the pursuit of these strategic interests? This panel brings together experts on the Baltic and Southern dimensions of European security as well as from the US in order to discuss how the strategic autonomy of the EU and its member states can be further developed.

The recording of the webinar is available at FIIA’s youtube-channel:

Speakers

Benjamin Haddad

Director, the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council

Benjamin Haddad is the director of the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council. He is an expert in European politics and transatlantic relations. Before moving to the Atlantic Council, he was a fellow at Hudson Institute in Washington DC. His work has notably advocated for transatlantic unity in the face of Russian aggression, greater European responsibility, and investment on strategic matters. His recent book “Paradise Lost: Europe in the World of Trump” makes the case for greater European unity in a world of new challenges and threats.

Kristi Raik

Director, the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute

Dr Kristi Raik is the Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the International Centre for Defence and Security since February 2018. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Turku. Dr Raik has previously served inter alia as a Senior Research Fellow and Acting Programme Director at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki; an official at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels; and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels and the International Centre for Policy Studies in Kyiv. She has a PhD from the University of Turku. She has published, lectured and commented widely on European foreign and security policy.

Daniel S. Hamilton

the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center

Dr. Daniel S. Hamilton is the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center. He is a widely recognized expert on U.S. foreign policy and on European, Eurasian and transatlantic security, economic and political affairs. He is also Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins SAIS, where he co-leads the School’s postdoctoral program on “The United States, Europe, and World Order.” He was the Founding Director of the SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations, and for fifteen years served concurrently as Executive Director of the American Consortium for European Union Studies. He has held a variety of senior positions in the U.S. Department of State.

chair

Niklas Helwig

Leading Researcher

EU foreign policy and defence cooperation, German foreign and defence policy, EU-US relations.

attachments

Official_programme_summer_session_2021