Since the start of the European refugee crisis in 2015, millions of refugees have sought asylum in Europe, seeking protection from national and European Union institutions. Pascal Brice, Director-General of the French Agency for Refugees and Displaced Persons will offer a practitioner's perspective, providing insight into the numerous challenges involved in providing aid and protection to such individuals in the face of political, geographical and societal divisions. 

Future of Diplomacy Project Senior Fellow and former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, looks at critical challenges for the Trump administration, including its relationship with European and Asian allies as it attempts to mitigate global risk factors. Cathryn Cluver, Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project, moderates. 

Ambassador João Vale de Almeida will discuss EU and UN priorities in this context, articulating the EU’s vision for global engagement and identifying opportunities for the implementation of the 2016 EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy in a conversation moderated by Cathryn Cluver, Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project.

With centrifugal forces challenging the cohesion of the European Union, including the rise of populist parties across the continent from Poland to Spain, Britain's inevitable exit from the Union, a migrant crisis and the aftershock of the Eurozone crisis, many believe it falls to Germany to stabilize a continent in upheaval. More so, after increasingly isolationist policy proclamations by the Trump administration, many are looking to Germany to uphold a global order anchored in the strength of vibrant, multilateral institutions. Meanwhile, Germany faces a decisive year in domestic politics, with a national election in September which could see the end of a grand coalition government with Chancellor Merkel at the helm. What might this confluence of events mean for geopolitics? For Germany's role in Europe? We will address these questions with the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference and former German Ambassador to the United States, Wolfgang Ischinger.

Experts Gregory Maniatis, Jytte Klausen and Adam Hunter will endeavor to cut through the charged public discourse around these topics by offering a practitioner’s perspective on immigration and security policy on both sides of the Atlantic. Future of Diplomacy Project Executive Director Cathryn Cluver moderates.

The rise of populist movements across Europe, much like the election of Donald Trump in the United States, has been treated as a sudden and unexpected political development, confounding analysts, scholars and bureaucrats on both sides of the Atlantic. Scholar Yascha Mounk has challenged this view, drawing on empirical evidence that suggests a long-term trend towards ‘democratic deconsolidation’ in Western nations.

In a seminar moderated by Cathryn Cluver, Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project, Dr. Mounk, Lecturer in Political Theory at Harvard, will discuss the implications of this phenomenon and their potential effect on major elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands in 2017.

Breakfast will be served. 

David Saperstein, in conversation with Future of Diplomacy Project Executive Director Cathryn Cluver, will discuss the increasing importance of addressing the role of religion in international relations as well as the State Department's efforts to protect and defend freedom of religion.

Sandro Gozi, Italian Undersecretary of State for European Affairs, will join Future of Diplomacy Project Executive Director Cathryn Cluver for a conversation that explores the challenges facing Italy as a nation and as a member of the European Union.

Ziad Haider, Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, will discuss the importance of commercial diplomacy as a strategic tool in foreign policy.

Robert S. Ford, former U.S. Ambassador to Syria (2011-2014) and Algeria (2006-2008), will discuss the difficulty of directing U.S. foreign policy in a region marked by widespread violence, environmental challenges, and a complex system of alliances.