Launch event of the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy
The election of Joseph Biden has been welcomed on both sides of the Atlantic as an opportunity to reset a transatlantic relationship under strain. The new US President is a confirmed Atlanticist, and appears committed to rebuilding flailing alliances and restoring America’s position as a leader of the multilateral order. Biden has referred to NATO as the bulwark of the liberal democratic ideal. More broadly, his appeal to the need to revitalize the World Trade Organization, rejoin the World Health Organization and Paris climate agreement, and reevaluate the Iran deal promises to open up numerous opportunities for EU-US cooperation. However, it would be a mistake to assume that the transatlantic relationship with revert back to business as usual. Europeans remain committed to their agenda of ‘strategic autonomy’; and that agenda may create frictions with the United States. Moreover, trans-Atlantic disagreements on trade, data privacy, digital taxation, or the extraterritoriality of sanctions are likely to linger. Last but not least, and despite Biden’s Atlanticism and appeals to multilateralism, competition with China will remain the top priority in Washington, and that underscores Europe’s downgrading in U.S. grand strategy. Rather than seeking to set back the clock to 2016, it is high time to think about how to ensure a new transatlantic bargain that is fit for today’s world – and tomorrow’s. Join Luis Simón, Benedetta Berti, Barbara Kunz, Daniel Fiott and Linde Desmaele for a timely conversation on what this bargain could look like!
Please note that the event was held online on Zoom and the recording is available here:
Chair:
Prof. Dr. Luis Simón (Centre for Security Diplomacy and Strategy, BSoG)
Speakers:
Dr. Benedetta Berti (Office of the NATO Secretary General & Associate researcher at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, BSoG)
Dr. Barbara Kunz (IPRSP University of Hamburg)
Dr. Daniel Fiott (EUISS and Guest Professor at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, BSoG).
Ms. Linde Desmaele (Centre for Security Diplomacy and Strategy, BSoG)
About the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy
The international system is undergoing profound changes. The return of great power competition and the shift in the fulcrum of global politics towards the Indo-Pacific region are challenging many of the assumptions, norms and structures that have defined international politics since the end of the Cold War. Such changes are having a pervasive impact on statecraft, the conduct of diplomacy and international security – and upon Europe’s place in world politics.
The Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) was founded in 2021 as part of the Brussels’ School of Governance in an effort to enhance our understanding of the key contemporary security and diplomatic challenges of the 21st Century – and their impact on Europe. To do so, it builds upon a critical mass of scholars with expertise and an outstanding publication track record in the areas of security, diplomacy and strategy, and an ample network of contacts within the policy community.
