EXECUTIVE TRAINING SEMINAR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE Scientific Coordinators: Ulrich Krotz European University Institute Richard Maher European University Institute Sala Europa Villa Schifanoia, Via Boccaccio 121 - Florence @GlobGovProgram 7-9 MAY 2018 INTRODUCTION This Executive Training Seminar will examine the current state of transatlantic relations. The transatlantic alliance between the United States and its European partners has been essential for global peace, security, and stability since the end of World War II. But a number of developments are placing doubts on the centrality of the alliance on both sides of the Atlantic. The U.S. rebalance to Asia and the election of Donald Trump have raised questions about America s commitment to European security. Transatlantic economic relations, including the future of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), also reveal differences between the United States and Europe. Bringing together academic specialists, policymakers, and think tank experts, this three-day seminar will offer an in-depth overview of the scale and scope of issues currently facing the transatlantic alliance, and outlines possible measures that the United States and Europe could take to address these challenges. Topics include the future of U.S. grand strategy and its implications for Europe, EU initiatives to build independent security and defense capabilities, transatlantic relations and Russia, transatlantic economic relations, and transatlantic relations in the era of Donald Trump. Through presentations, case studies, and simulations, attendees will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the complex set of issues currently facing transatlantic relations and the policy responses that will be needed to address these issues.
PROGRAMME 7 MAY 10.00-10.30 Opening Brigid Laffan Director, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies & Global Governance Programme, EUI Ulrich Krotz Professor, Chair in International Relations, EUI & Director, Europe in the World programme 10.30-11.30 Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy Barry Posen Massachusetts Institute of Technology 11.30-12.00 Coffee break This discussion relies on my book Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy. The explicit purpose of the book is to develop a grand strategy based on a strictly construed assessment of U.S. security interests, or vital interests. These interests are the minimization of threats to U.S. sovereignty, safety, territorial integrity, and the power position necessary to ensure against these threats. I demonstrate that on the basis of such an approach, one can build a relatively coherent, effective, and efficient grand strategy that would involve the United States in fewer costly and indecisive wars. The present grand strategy of the United States includes many other elements, such as trade and the spread of democracy. Those who wish to employ military power to pursue them should admit forthrightly that they believe them worthy of vast expenditures of treasure and blood because of their inherent value, not because of their contribution to U.S. national security. In fact, geography, the economy, demographics, nuclear deterrence, the skills of the military industrial base, and the quality of the military render the United States very secure. Three issues overseas do require U.S. attention: preventing the rise of a Eurasian hegemon, which today means China; minimizing the risk that nuclear weapons will fall into the hands of nonstate actors; and vigilance against the potential for some terrorist organizations to affect significantly the safety of U.S. citizens as they go about their daily business. I suggest measured remedies to these potential threats, noting that even in the realm of remedies, restraint is in order. 12.00-13.00 America s Place in the World in the Trump Presidency Stephen Brooks Dartmouth College This presentation draws upon research from my recently published book America Abroad: The United States Global Role in the 21st Century (coauthored with William Wohlforth) to address the two most important questions concerning the United States role in the world. The conclusion of the presentation will then discuss the implications of Trump s foreign policy stance for Europe. The first part of the presentation examines how fast America is declining. Our underlying assessment is that for many decades into the future, the United States will be the only state in a position to sustain a globally engaged grand strategy. The
13.00-14.00 Lunch break second part of the talk then analyzes the current grand strategic debate over whether America should stay engaged or should now come home. Our analysis shows that Washington would be wise to sustain the core elements of the so-called deep engagement grand strategy, since pulling back from the world would have a variety of negative consequences for America and for its global partners. 14.00-15.30 Thinking Strategically About the Future of Transatlantic Relations 15.30-16.00 Coffee break Barry Posen Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stephen Brooks Dartmouth College 16.00-17.30 The Past, Present, and Future of Transatlantic Relations: Brooks and Posen Respond 20.00 Dinner Barry Posen Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stephen Brooks Dartmouth College 8 MAY 10.00-11.30 Towards a European Security and Defence Union: Implications for Transatlantic Relations (part I) Nathalie Tocci Special Advisor to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini & Director, Istituto Affari Internazionali 11.30-12.00 Coffee break 2017 was a remarkable year for European security and defence. The work began with the EU Global Strategy (EUGS), presented by High Representative and Vice President (HRVP) Federica Mogherini in June 2016. Only a few months later, the Council welcomed an ambitious Security and Defence Implementation Plan, which aimed to translate the security and defence dimension of the EUGS into reality. 2017 was entirely devoted to the implementation of this Plan, leading to significant activism in European security and defence. Talk about a European Security and Defence Union became louder as the months went. This presentation will explore the why, the what, and the what next behind this remarkable year in European security and defence. Why, as some put it, has the EU s sleeping beauty awakened? What concretely does a European Security and Defence Union mean? What hurdles must be overcome to ensure that 2017 will not be remembered as another false dawn for European security and defence? And what will all this mean for the transatlantic relationship? 12.00-13.30 Towards a European Security and Defence Union: Implications for Transatlantic Relations (part II)
13.30-14.30 Lunch break Nathalie Tocci Special Advisor to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini & Director, Istituto Affari Internazionali 14.30-16.00 The Transatlantic Meaning of Donald Trump (part I) Jeremy Shapiro European Council on Foreign Relations 16.00-16.30 Coffee break Donald Trump, for all of his radicalism, is more a symptom of the rot in the transatlantic relationship than the cause. Even before Trump, America was growing more self-interested and distant. European governments are broadly in denial about this trend. They continue to look to America for security because they cannot resolve their own internal disputes. This situation cannot continue. A post-american politics in Europe is possible and even necessary, but will only come about if EU member states recognise the need. Germany is central to this effort, but its transatlantic habits run deep and it lacks support from other member states. 16.30-18.00 The Transatlantic Meaning of Donald Trump (part II) Jeremy Shapiro European Council on Foreign Relations 9 MAY 12.00-13.30 Europe s Current Threat Environment: Who, What, Why, and How to Respond? Marina Henke European University Institute Richard Maher European University Institute Robin Markwica European University Institute Paul van Hooft European University Institute 13.30-14.30 Lunch break This session asks participants to think about the range of threats that the EU currently faces, and to what extent these threats should be addressed nationally, regionally, or internationally. Participants should map these threats on a graph with the likelihood of the threat materializing in some form on the x-axis and the impact it will likely have on the y-axis. Based on this mapping, select the 3-5 most important risks, dangers, and threats facing Europe today. Next think about who or what is best equipped to manage or address each of these threats. Map these threats on a graph with a more transatlantic response on the x-axis and European/EU on the y-axis. Participants will then present, compare, and contrast their findings to the whole group. 14.30-16.00 The Post-Post-Cold War Dilemma (part I)
Ivan Krastev Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies (Sofia) & Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (Vienna) 16.00-16.30 Coffee break Transatlantic relations as we know them today are rooted in the Cold War. As a result, many in Europe and the United States have sought to preserve the Cold War framework and the centrality of Cold War institutions such as NATO in an effort to sustain transatlantic unity. But the current crisis in U.S.-Turkey and EU-Turkey relations shows the risk of this approach. This presentation focuses on how we can rearrange U.S.-EU relations in the world where not the Cold War but rather decolonization was the most important historical moment of the 20th century. 16.30-18.00 The Post-Post-Cold War Dilemma (part II) Ivan Krastev Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies (Sofia) & Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (Vienna) 18.00 Distribution of attendance diploma and farewell cocktail SPEAKERS Stephen Brooks Ivan Krastev Barry Posen Jeremy Shapiro Nathalie Tocci Ulrich Krotz Brigid Laffan Dartmouth College, United States Centre for Liberal Strategies, Bulgaria & Institute for Human Sciences, Austria Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States European Council on Foreign Relations, United Kingdom Special Advisor to the HRVP Mogherini & Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy PARTICIPANTS Michal Adamowicz Jonata Anicetti Giovanni Baggio Leïla Bendimered Roberto Bordoni Gabriel Deutscher Viola Dreikhausen Jonas Driedger Neil Dullaghan Giorgio Falchi European External Action Service, Belgium Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa, Italy Webster Vienna Private University, Austria Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa, Italy Knauthe Attorneys, Germany University of Florence, Italy
Edouard Gaudot Thomas Grunert Marina Henke Matthias Kindel Adam Krzykowski Grzegorz Krzyżanowski Merje Kuss Christina la Cour Wiebke Lamer Richard Maher Robin Markwica Ivana Martac Hugo Meijer Tom Meredith Marinella Neri Gualdesi Sarah Neugebauer Valentina Petrovic Aleksei Pobedonostsev Gabriel Rached Sabrina Schärf Michael Smith Chiara Steindler Evelyne Tauchnitz Natalia Tellidou Vegad Torstad Paul van Hooft Ana Uria Weis European Parliament, Belgium European Parliament, Belgium University of British Columbia, Canada EIUC Venice, Italy Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa, Italy UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom University of Pisa, Italy Freie Universität Berlin, Germany University of Milan, Italy Federal Foreign Office, Germany University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom Madison University, Italy Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Belgium