Events

Harvard Kennedy School Study Group led by Dr. Karen Donfried, Belfer Center Senior Fellow

Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00pm

Over the course of six sessions, a study group, led by Dr. Karen Donfried, will examine key foreign policy debates flowing from Russia’s war against Ukraine. The objective is to provide a deeper understanding of the geopolitics of the war in Ukraine and the implications for U.S. interests.

Eligibility requirements: Harvard graduate and post-graduate students, who can attend all six sessions. We will seek to accommodate several undergraduates. Applicants with a strong interest in foreign affairs are encouraged to apply. No specific experience or first-hand knowledge of the issues is required. 

• Apply online through this link by 12:00 PM on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. Late applications will not be considered.

Please join the Harvard Kennedy School Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship for a seminar with Édouard Philippe, former Prime Minister of France, to discuss France's role in the world and Europe's current security landscape. France still aims to recover its « grandeur », regularly examining its role and influence. It's looking to find its place within the EU and questions the EU's ability to be a real power on the international scene. How can France and the EU defend their role in a broken and imbalanced world divided into spheres of influence? From China to Turkey, authoritarian regimes have grown, asserting their way to build stability and sometimes to achieve prosperity, threatening multilateralism. How can transatlantic relationship remain a strong pillar of global security? 

This conversation will be co-moderated by Natalie Colbert, Executive Director of the Belfer Center, and Svenja Kirsch, Fellow with the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship.

Please note: In person registration is now at capacity. Virtual registration is still open.

Over the last two decades, the EU has faced a myriad of crises. During the 2010s, it experienced the sovereign debt and migration crises. During the 2020s, the pandemic and the Russian aggression against Ukraine have confronted the Union with a new set of challenges. While the 2010s crises were averted through monetary policy and an established social structure, the 2020s crises have called the social structure itself into question. In particular, the Russian war is affecting the EU’s consensus on major strategies, such as the growth model and the security model. This seminar will assess critical questions on how Brussels is dealing with the consequences of the pandemic and the war to manage these crises successfully.

This event is part of the Center for European Studies' European Union Seminar and is co-sponsored by the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship.

Speaker

• Sergio Fabbrini– Dean, Political Science Department; Professor of Political Science and International Relations, LUISS Guido Carli
• Metin Hakverdi - Member of the Bundestag, Federal Republic of Germany; Board Member, Atlantik-Brücke; John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University

Chairs 

• Karl Kaiser – Fellow, Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, Harvard Kennedy School; Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
• Nicolas Prevelakis – Associate Senior Lecturer on Social Studies & Assistant Director of Curricular Development, Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University; Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University

Please join the Belfer Center’s Future of Diplomacy Project and Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship for a seminar on the current European security landscape with Audra Plepytė, Ambassador of Lithuania to the US; Kristjan Prikk, Ambassador of Estonia to the U.S., and Māris Selga, Ambassador of Latvia to the U.S. The Ambassadors will discuss how Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has affected transatlantic and regional security as well as increasing threats to critical infrastructure in the Baltic states. This conversation will be moderated by Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Senior Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project.

Please join the Belfer Center’s Future of Diplomacy Project and Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship for a seminar on the current European security landscape with Dame Karen Pierce, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the U.S., and General Sir Nicholas Carter, former Chief of the Defence Staff to the United Kingdom. Ambassador Pierce and General Carter will explore how Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has reshaped transatlantic security and future European and international defense agreements as well as the subsequent implications for the UK-U.S. "special relationship." This conversation will be moderated by Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Senior Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project.

Note: this is a hybrid event. In-person attendance is limited to Harvard ID holders. Members of the public are welcome to join online.

Please join the Belfer Center's Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship and the Future of Diplomacy Project for a discussion with Mr. Andrew Greenough, Desk Officer at the U.S. Department of State's Office of Eastern European Affairs. Mr. Greenough serves in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs where he focuses on Moldova and the regional consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine.  Prior to joining the office in 2021, he served at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, where he covered cybersecurity, emerging technology, and economic cooperation under the U.S.-Romania Strategic Partnership.  A career Foreign Service Officer, he previously served at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador.  Before joining the Foreign Service, he worked on the staff of Representative Joseph Kennedy III (MA-04) in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Please join the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship for a discussion with Jan Havranek, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Czech Republic to the U.S. and former Deputy Defense Minister of the Czech Republic, on the crucial role that Central and Eastern Europe play in NATO’s long-term stability. With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, the transatlantic alliance has solidified its position and strengthened its eastern border. Yet many questions remain in relation to the long-term sustainability of the alliance’s Russia resistance. Mr. Havranek will discuss NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept as well as the Alliance’s most pressing regional issues as a response to Russia’s war against Ukraine. This conversation will be moderated by Ilya Timtchenko, Belfer Young Leader Student Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project and Intelligence Project (MPP 2023).

Russia's aggression towards Ukraine has continued, profound consequences for European affairs and international politics. Daniela Schwarzer and Jolyon Howorth will examine the war’s impact on the European Union’s internal politics as it balances the divergent positions of member states. They will also discuss the foreign policy and security implications and challenges to transatlantic relations. 

This event is part of the Center for European Studies' European Union Seminar and is co-sponsored by the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship.

Speakers

• Jolyon Howorth – Jean Monnet Professor ad personam & Professor Emeritus of European Politics, University of Bath; Local Affiliate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
• Daniela Schwarzer – Pierre Keller Visiting Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School ; Executive Director for Europe and Eurasia, Open Society Foundations

Chairs 

• Karl Kaiser – Fellow, Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, Harvard Kennedy School; Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
• Vivien A. Schmidt – Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Boston University; Local Affiliate & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University

Please join the Belfer Center’s Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship and Defense Project for a seminar on the current European security landscape with Janne Kuusela, Defense Policy Director of Finland. Mr. Kuusela will discuss Finland’s recent NATO bid, security challenges for Northern Europe, the future of European defense cooperation and its implications for the transatlantic relationship. Professor Eric Rosenbach, co-Director of the Belfer Center, will moderate the discussion.

This event will be hybrid.

Please join the Project on Europe for a discussion on hydrogen with Marco Alverà, CEO of Snam, Nicola de Blasio, Senior Fellow, Environment and Natural Resources Program, Henry Lee, Jassim M. Jaidah Family Director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program, and Nathalie Tocci, Pierre Keller Visiting Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, moderated by Paul-Etienne Pini, Belfer Young Leader and an MPP candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Please note that this is a hybrid event. For Harvard ID holders interested in joining in person, please register here. For members of the public wishing to join via Zoom, please register here.

This event is co-sponsored by the Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program.