When Empires Strike Back

The purpose of this panel was to shed light on one EU candidate country that has been receiving the greatest funds and support from the EU but has not reciprocated its commitment nor showed progress. Rather, Serbia has distanced itself further from the EU and toward Russia, China, Turkey and other authoritarian powers. It has also been more bold in its FP since Russia’s war in Ukraine by weaponizing migration, extending cooperation with Russia, provoking conflict in Kosovo and continuously deteriorating democratically. The aim was to highlight the inefficiency or lack of response in the EU's neighborhood policy toward an aspiring but uncommitted candidate state. Rather than going into blocks of candidate states, Serbia has been a hot topic since the war in Ukraine and many are unaware what is going on and what should the EU do about it. It is supposed to be thought provoking.

As we have witnessed in recent years and decades, democratic backsliding is taking place all over the world. This process of gradual democratic erosion poses a threat to the world order and international security in an unprecedented way, not only to democracies from within. Prominent examples of this long-term development include the EU, with several member states slipping back into other forms of autocratic and illiberal regimes, the United States, Brazil, China, and Russia. However, this list is long and the West is seemingly struggling to anticipate this process.

This panel focused on the new fragilities emerging from this process, their implications for Western states, and consequently for the international rule-based order and current pressing security issues. The panel brought together speakers from France, Germany, and the United States. It shed new light on how liberal democracies can anticipate and manage these multifaceted decompositions.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and escalated into a full-scale invasion on February 24th, 2022, has had significant implications for international security. In the panel on post-war Ukraine, we delveed into the crucial question of what victory means for Ukraine, and what role the country will play in the global security landscape. Our discussion explored the key challenges facing Ukraine, and consider how the EU can support the country's efforts to overcome them. As Ukraine has gained candidate status for EU membership, these developments will have a significant impact on the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. We also examined the vital role of the international community in fostering a stable and democratic Ukraine.

The NATO panel, titled “A new era of EU-NATO cooperation? Crisis management in the dawn of new Defense Challenges and Hybrid Threats”, was scheduled for Saturday, the 27th of May. It discussed institutional cooperation and crisis management between the EU and NATO. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, happening right on the borders of both organisation’s members, has not only put the alliance on red alert but also jolted the whole EU out of its false sense of security and put EU-NATO cooperation to the test. With hybrid threats rising, such events may not be the exception, but to the contrary, they might become the norm. It is, therefore, a matter of urgency for the EU and NATO to strengthen their cooperation and security mechanisms to become more resilient guarantors of security, prosperity, and democracy in Europe. The panel particularly zoomed in on the EU-NATO future potential in the domain of hybrid threats, military cooperation, and defense research and innovation. On the one hand, we want to provide space for visions and innovative ideas in order to promote strategic foresight in Germany and Europe. On the other hand, it is our aim to formulate concrete proposals and bring a breath of fresh air into the discourse on an institutionalised security policy in Europe.

To which extent do we depend on the other side of the Atlantic? The Biden administration, the war in Ukraine, the German Zeitenwende, structural changes within NATO, misunderstandings in strategic planning and the recurring Angst behind making the relationship Trump-proof. Many issues are on the table when we talk and (re-)imagine the transatlantic alliance. Many priorities remain silent, such as current codependencies that make the Alliance weaker but also stronger. This panel re-imagined different futures for this partnership on both sides of the Atlantic, uniting diverse speakers from the United States, Germany, and the EU who will discuss most pressing issues and conflicting opinions about our common goals and objectives in the security arena.